Matched

Dystopia and Romance? yes please! I loved Cassia she was a lil rebel and I love that she did what she wanted but also worried about her choices. This book really set up such an interesting concept of living. Living somewhere where all your life choices are chosen for you? I cannot imagine that in real life. They pick where you work, who you marry? Woah. It really had me thinking... I feel like the start was a little slow but it definitely picked up and had me HOOKED. I honestly stopped reading for a few days because I was not ready for this book to be over. The ending felt a bit rushed BUT it was also a good build up and cliffhanger for book two of the series.

I spotted the covers of this series first; they drew me in, then the blurb hooked me, so I bought the 3 books. So this is my review for the first, I have just started book 2 so that will be up in a week or two.In Cassia's society ‘officials dictate your perfect partner for life, how many children they have, where they work, and even when they die, and it seems that the inhabitants are happy with this status quo…or are they, as you read the cracks start to appear, and when its Cassia’s turn to be matched things start to unravel for her and her family.I really enjoyed this book, I like how in one way it shows that after a long time of citizens being dictated to about everything, that there is still a spark of rebellion in each of the characters introduced. The book reminded me of another YA dystopian book series, Flawed by Celia Ahearn.This story really begins to develop with Cassia’s Matching Ceremony, where she will be shown her match. Who turns out to be a childhood friend, Xander, but when she is given her ‘card’ with information on him, it’s not his face that appears on the screen… Its Ky’s another friend she grew up with.In the book all the characters are perfectly fine living their life's being controlled by Society, and the 3 teenagers live in a suburb called Maple tree Borough in the futuristic Oria Province (at least until the Officials tear down the maple trees and rename it Garden Borough – agh that bit made me sad – oops mini spoiler I guess!) OK we have the typical YA love triangle between Ky, Cassia, and Xander. So we have the dilemma of ‘who should she pick’ but even with the ‘Officials’ hurried explanation to the error, it is enough of a seed for her to start to question the process, this along with the scheduled ‘death date’ for her beloved Grandfather, Cassia begins to see the anomalies in the way the ‘Officials’ dictate everything in their lives.I was pleasantly surprised that although there is a ‘Love Triangle’ its more about the morality and the outcome of Cassia’s choice’s, but in the end, the heart wants what the heart wants, and Cassia tries to be open and as honest with both boys as she can. Trying to be a good friend to both, its about honesty and also the dilemma of keeping secrets and who you trust with them.Xander I guess has been too close for her, Ky is a mystery, and there is always something more intriguing about the unknown.By the end of Book 1 the ‘Officials’ have once again taken choice out of our characters hands, and the more sinister sides of Society are revealed to the characters and of course the reader… And I can’t wait to see what will happen to Cassia, Ky and Xander in book 2.The book reminds me of 2 favourite old films, Logan's Run, and Soylent Green in some aspects, so if you enjoy this type of dystopian theme (Divergent, Hunger Games), this book is for you.