Matched

Matched follows Cassia, a girl living in a Utopian/Dystopian society where everything is predicted and controlled by the government including who they will be mated with for life.  Cassia's government mandated match is a lifelong friend of hers but when she plugs her data card in to see his information another face pops up on her screen.  Cassia falls for Ky and starts to question the rules of her society.

Cassia's dystopian world is more like The Giver than other horrifying dystopian societies that have been popular in recent dystopias such as the Hunger Games.  Her society is seemingly perfect but also heavily regimented and controlling.  To make things more frustrating everytime Cassia does something that she feels is out of the ordinary one of the officials tells her that she was predicted to act in that way.  She's never overtly threatened and there is no risk of bodily harm but there is always a risk of being watched.  The romance and love triangle which is heavily featured in the story is sweet.  There is a large focus on poetry and art which could encourage younger readers to seek out the poem that Cassia treasures.

Age Appropriateness:  This is a story that will be enjoyed by the entire YA audience.  The story is complicated enough for older readers, yet the romance is set at a distance enough that younger readers will not be put off.  The romance is the focus of the story (making this a girly book) along with the importance of poetry and creating things that are original.  There is nothing in this novel that would disturb parents.  The romance is G rated and there is no substance abuse or violence.  The society is disturbing but in a thought provoking way as opposed to one that would give an easily influenced child nightmares.  The lexile is 680 putting it around a fourth grade reading level making it a good book for reluctant readers.

Review copy obtained from Amazon Vine