Book ReviewMatched

BOOK ONE: MATCHED SERIES.  Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.
 
I’ve often found how much a story resonates with us leans heavily on where we are in our heads or our lives at the time we begin page 1. There is a flood of apocalyptic writing in the YA market right now – especially since the success of Hunger Games and the subsequent movie. When this book fell into my reading pile, I had just come from a string of disappointing reads – Insurgent – which I was too tired to battle alongside the main character in, and the hotly debated Fifty Shades of Gray and when the blush travelled from my cheekbones, past my forehead into my roots and finally hit the deck at the back of my neck, I set the series aside just 200 pages in and said, “This is not my cup of tea.” Matched, in contrast to the set aside novels of Insurgent and Fifty (or as I like to joke, Fitty Shades of Pink) was like a breath of fresh air. Yes, it’s apocalyptic but being the first in the series, it is light on the drama.
 
Matched is the awakening book in the series and as such, does not hold as much intense drama or razor’s edge uncertainty. It is more like walking down a sunlight path in the forest that slowly but subtly shows a sinster side of its leaves. The romance factor between Cassie and Ky is not a blood rush – and I was ok with that too after the too hot to handle Fitty Shades. I’ve used the adjective light more than once, but I would say this novel is a light doomsday, rebellion brewing behind the scenes type read. If you’ve never read these types of books before but would like to dip your toe, this is a sure bet. If like me, you don’t feel like having a racing pulse for once in a fight for your world and freedom type book, this again, is a perfect read.