That feeling when you devour a book, eagerly check out other reviews, only to discover it has an average rating of 2.99, and then you silently question every decision you've ever made. 😂I don't know what to say other than I really enjoyed *Matched* by Ally Condie. I thought it was fresh, original, and super entertaining. The plot was captivating, I genuinely cared about the characters, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series. It's a great read for those looking...

I'm about to drop a bombshell—said no one ever:I was *that* kid. You know, the one who ate lunch in the English teacher's classroom back in middle school.Her name was Ms. Costello. She was probably, like, 25, had this super intense celebrity crush I can't even recall, and once casually mentioned that you should always put lotion on while your skin's still wet. I took her wisdom to heart so hard that now I literally cannot stand the feeling of lotion on dry skin.She's important to me, okay? I'd p...

1.5 stars [Matched] by Ally Condie… well, where do I even begin? This book promised so much, a dystopian world with forbidden love, a society controlling every aspect of its citizens' lives. Sounds amazing, right? But the execution… oh, the execution. It fell flatter than a pancake left out in the rain. The characters were about as deep as a puddle. Cassia, our protagonist, is so passive she makes Bella Swan look like a revolutionary. And the two love interests? One's bland and predictable, th...

Official TranscriptsJune 21, 2001 • AOL Chatroom AuthorTalkACondieHottie: Oh my gosh! Lois Lowry! You're actually online!2timeNewbery: Sigh. Hello, Allie.ACondieHottie: It's Ally. With a 'y'!ACondieHottie: I can't believe u forgot! Don't u read my letters?2timeNewbery: I've received them, yes.ACondieHottie: Ur my favorite author! Ur books R so rad!ACondieHottie: Especially The Giver! I love that one! It's so aweum!ACondieHottie: Jonah's world is so neet! I want to write a book just like it!ACond...

Yeah.This is one I might be too old for. A lot of people compare this to *The Giver*, and I get it, in that they are both these forced-utopias, but then, so is *The Stepford Wives*, yeah? But since I didn't like *The Giver*, I can't really complain that **Matched** by Ally Condie was a rip-off, because neither of them did very much for me, so I'm not going to go waving any flags around in either's defense. You are on your own, books...But if I had to.This one may have been slightly more entertai...

So... the basic storyline is about a society where officials decide every aspect of a person's life, from the big stuff like who they'll marry (or be 'matched' with) and when they'll die, to the little stuff like what they eat, how they dress, and their daily routines. The story tells how Cassia is matched to a boy but falls for another and suddenly begins to question the rules of the society, heading straight into a world of secrets and danger. Sounds like a great plot, right? Too bad it turned...

Book ReviewOkay, I promised I'd write an in-depth review of *Matched* by Ally Condie, so here it is, and I'll try not to drop any major spoilers. (I'm going to use a Q & A style for this review.)What made you pick up the book?> I actually saw a book trailer on YouTube (the link was buried way down there somewhere), and yeah, I was intrigued by the video. Then I went to Goodreads and read reviews about it. I was a bit shocked by the mixed reactions; some were positive, and some were negative. ...

As seen on The ReadventurerFirst things first. I think Ally Condie owes at least half of her seven-figure paycheck to Lois Lowry. The entire dystopian world is lifted directly from Lowry's The Giver. Almost everything interesting in Matched is very familiar – the idea of a highly controlled Society (the Community in The Giver), the prearranged Matches, uniform clothing, the pills suppressing emotions, predetermination of everyone's life course, euthanized elderly, regulated personal possessions,...

Everything in Ally Condie's *Matched* is so CLEAN! I absolutely loved that. You have to understand, I had a "thing" for dystopian societies back in high school. *Brave New World*, *This Perfect Day*, *Harrison Bergeron* . . . oh, yes! I devoured them all. And what struck me about some of them was that they were supposed to be these perfect, future societies, but everyone always seemed so… sweaty. But not so in the Society of *Matched*. Everything is carefully sanitized. Clothes are clean, or qui...

The unique premise and beautiful cover of Ally Condie's *Matched* initially drew me in, but unfortunately, that's where my fascination ended. I really wanted to like this book… actually, I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't. I had a very hard time getting through *Matched*. I even had to take a break from it completely. I only kept reading because others who had read it encouraged me, insisting that it would get better. For me, it didn't improve much.I think my biggest problem was that I was...