Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night? My wings aren't white or feathered; they're green, made of silk, which shudders in the wind and bends when I move - first in a circle, then in a line, finally in a shape of my own invention. The black behind me doesn't worry me; neither do the stars ahead.
On her 17th birthday, Cassia Maria Reyes is called up to attend her Match Banquet and finally learns who is her Match. The Society chooses your perfect Match so that the Society can achieve maximum results: happy, strong, healthy Citizens. People are Matched when they're 17, Contracted at 21, and have babies before their 35th birthday.
In the Society, you are called up to attend a Matching Banquet when you are 17 years old. On the 15th day of each month, in every City Hall across the country, the Matches are announced in alphabetical order according to the girls' last names.
For one night, Cassia sheds her plainclothes for a gorgeous green silk dress and eats unregulated portions of savory foods and dessert. When it's her turn, she stands to see her Match on the screen - it is dark and stays dark.
Your match is here this evening.
Xander Thomas Carrow. Cassia's best friend. Even though it's very unusual to know your Match, Cassia is happy to be matched with Xander. But this moment marks when everything begins to change.
When Cassia finally gets an opportunity to see the information on the microcard she was presented at the Match Banquet, she is stunned. Xander's face darkens on the screen and disappears.
"Cassia Reyes, the Society is pleased to present you with your Match." My heart stops, and I can't believe what I see. A face comes back into view on the port in front of me. It is not Xander.
The Society controls everything. Where you work. Who you'll marry. When you'll die. To unclutter people's minds, many things have been simplified - 100 songs, 100 paintings, 100 stories, 100 poems; everything else has been elminated. Cassia believed that the Society did not make mistakes. She knows what it means to be a sorter, and she's one of the best sorters. But she recognized the second face on her microcard - Ky Markham.
Encourged by her grandfather as he died on his 80th birthday, Cassia begins to wonder. Is the Society perfect? Who is her perfect Match: Xander or Ky? She loves one, but is in love with the other. And most importantly, Cassia wants to know why people can't make their own choices?
Matched feels a lot like the society in Lois Lowry's The Giver, but Matched probably a more exciting read for teens and young adults. It's romantic, but very appropriate for teens and young adults.
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars
To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!
The second book in this series will be released on November 1, 2011.
