Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library discussion

Last year I really got into dystopian fiction. I would like to say it was because I had just re-read Fahrenheit 451 for The Big Read but really it was more that I was looking for something different that was still slightly weird but didn’t have vampires as the main characters. I was hunting through Good Reads and came upon Matched. In Matched the story of Cassia and Ky begins when Cassia turns 16 and goes to her “matching ceremony”. The computer has a glitch and she is matched with someone who is not an eligible selection. Ky’s picture appears to Cassia instead of the picture of the person Cassia is destined to be with. Matched is spooky and really fast paced and has just enough romance to keep you wanting to turn the page. At the end of the novel I was wishing there was more.
It was then I discovered that Matched had a sequel and so I waited with anticipation for Crossed to come out and so I could see what happened when I last left Cassia and Ky. Crossed is a journey story in the tradition of many a great love story of star-crossed lovers who are separated by circumstance and who must try to find each other once again. I had great expectations for the story. The journey would be arduous and each character would suffer and worry if they would ever see the other but it would be worth it in the end.
Much of the story does follow that simple pattern. Cassia and Ky spend most of the novel just missing each other. Each learns more about the Outer Provinces and makes decisions along the way that lead to each other. My biggest disappointment with the story was that after the journey the spark and mystery I saw with Cassia and Ky in the first novel (Matched) just wasn’t as exciting when they finally got together. There were few big reveals and the pace ended up feeling a little bit like watching tennis just waiting for the volley from the other player. I still love the overall premise of both books that you just can’t match up with just anyone. The selection of your true match needs to be carefully selected. That as a society we are not smart enough to make our own choices and that society will make a better choice for us.

Since you liked the "Matched" series, if you haven't read it, you should read Delirium. It has the same premise of a dystopia choosing your life partner, but the story revolves around a society that has "cured" love. It took me two days to finish it, I had my face plastered to the pages almost the entire time.