Matched.

Apparently, Matched, the book by Ally Condie, has been out for over a year. I guess I live under a rock because I didn't know about it until I was invited to read and review it for the BlogHer Book Club.

And now, after reading it, I'm itching like crazy to get my hands on the next two books in the series.

Series? But you don't like series!

It is true. I don't like series. Especially trilogies. And yet . . . this book got me. It hooked me and . . . well . . . here I am, hooked.

The fact that I'm hooked on a trilogy is irrelevant. Sorta. My point today is to let you know that Matched was quite the read.

I enjoyed it. Sure, it was super easy YA reading so I breezed through it in no time. But it was also thought-provoking. Matched is the story of Cassie Reyes who, because she is turning 17, is being "matched" to her future husband. Matches are made by the Society -- in this world people don't pick who they can marry. Nor do they pick what they eat, how much they exercise, where they work, what they can read . . . it goes on and on. Lives are controlled by Society.

It is scary stuff.

But Cassie is perfectly happy, until something goes a bit wrong with her match. I won't give away too much of the story because you should go out and read this book and I don't want to ruin it for you. Let me just say that the mistake -- along with a glimpse of two poems that are not among the official, Society-approved poems -- sets off a series of events that makes Cassie question Society in a way she never has. There is plenty that is formulaic about the story as it unfolds but, still, it got me and at times I couldn't put the book down.

After reading Matched, I feel a little techno-phobic. Just a little. I still love my phone and my laptop and all the great gadgets that we have today to make our lives simpler. But Matched shows a world where people can no longer write with pen and paper -- they can only type on their scribes. And they only read electronic books.

Yuck.

Again, scary stuff.

Before I get into more details about the story, I'll stop. You should check the book out for yourself. And if you've already read Matched, what did you think? Did you like it? Have you read the other books in the trilogy? 

~ Felice

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.