MATCHED by Ally Condie

                                                                                    
Book rating: *****
Clean rating: *****
Genre: dystopian, romance
Series: First of a trilogy
Pages: 384
     In Cassia's world, everything is supposed to be perfect. The Society makes all the choices for you: where you live, what you eat, what your job is, who you marry, and even when you die.
     At Cassia's Matching ceremony she'll find out who her perfect mate is. Usually your match lives thousands of miles away, but Cassia's turns out to be none other than her best friend, Xander.
    Then Cassia takes a look at Xander's file and receives a surprise. Xander's picture is replaced by Ky. Cassia has known Ky for years, but never gave much thought to this quiet boy with a mysterious past. But now she's intrigued and the two of them quickly becoming friends. And then something more. She knows this is forbidden, but she can't help the ways she feels about his looks (gorgeous), the secret messages (not exactly within the rules), and the poetry (very, very, forbidden) that he writes. Soon, Cassia begins discovers things the society doesn't want her to know, and she'll have to pay the price.
      Unlike many romance novels, MATCHED doesn't have overly flowery dialouge, though the many metaphors and symbols were starting to annoy me. The obstacle to their love is society, not parents or pride. Another bonus is that Ky is a likable character. With many romance novels, I can't see why the girl bothered to fall in love with the guy in the first place. Lastly, MATCHED is one of those books that keeps you up till two in the morning because you need to know what happens next.

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