Matched by Ally Condie

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3Q 4P M S

Condie, Ally. Matched. Dutton Juvenile, 2010. 369 p. $17.99. 978-0-525423645.

Cassia Reyes, like most teenagers in the Society, is excited to be Matched to her perfect mate. When her Match turns out to be her best friend, Xander, she is very pleased.  But when she inspects her microcard at home with her Match's information, she sees another face on the screen: her childhood friend, Ky.  How can Cassia have two Matches?  The Society does not make mistakes, and the Officials are quick to try to clear up the incident.  But when Cassia starts falling for Ky, everything becomes unclear.  Could this be the most perfect mistake of them all?

In the midst of many dystopian novels, Ally Condie spins a romance in a world eerily similar to that of Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993).  Cassia's Society gives its people very little choice, under the guise of efficiency and structure.  While Condie may draw in readers with the promise of a love triangle, it is decidedly one-sided from the beginning.  Readers will have to continue on in the series if they are devoted to seeing all sides of Cassia's potential relationships.