"Matched" by Ally Condie

From Goodreads: "Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow."

I couldn't help but feel extremely for Xander in this book- it seems like in YA the best friend of the heroine always gets the crappy end of the deal (ie. Simon in Cassie Clare's "Mortal Instruments" or Gale in Suzanne Collins "Hunger Games"). Right when the male and female best friends are on the brink of expressing their feelings towards one another or want to perhaps experiment, changing their relationship by becoming more than just friends, a new male comes along, capturing the girls attention and choosing the new male over her BFF- or as Ally's explains in her book, choosing passion over perfection (or comfort). Xander was such a great guy, I don't think that there would be anything that he wouldn't do for Cassia, no matter how much trouble he could get into.

In the "Hunger Games" trilogy I wasn't looking forward to the epic battle of the people and the government, and I think that the outcome really wrecked the series for me, so I find it surprising when I say that I am really looking forward to the epic battle that I am sure is going to happen at the end of this series. I think the reason why I am looking forward to it is that I think that Cassia is such a strong female character. I think that though she may not be as physically strong as the "Hunger Games'" Katniss, she is stronger mentally and emotionally (remember in the "Hunger Games" where Katniss would always get all stressed out and stop eating and lose weight/ beat her body up in doing so? Well in this book it explains that Cassia did the complete opposite, and she didn't let her rationed food take away from her drive whatsoever). I think that Katniss had a lot of help in her realization that her society/ government was corrupt, whereas Cassia was able to discover a lot more/ realize a lot more all by herself.

As for Ky? I don't even know where to begin. I know, I know I always go on and on about boys being swoon-worthy and I have a little list going on (ie. Alex from "Delirium", Dimitri from "Vampire Academy", Derek from "The Darkest Powers", Clay from "Women of the Otherworld" and whatnot), but Ky? He may just top them all and I think that he is a very close second to Jay Heaton from Kimberly Derting's "Body Finder" series. I mentioned that Xander was a really nice and caring guy, but I think Ky was even more so (plus Ky has the whole "I am an underdog and as such I have had a pretty crappy life and therefore I need to be loved" thing going on for him)...

All is all this is an amazing book and I am sure that the series is just going to keep getting better and better! If you like this book and are looking for other like it I recommend the aforementioned "Hunger Games" series by Suzanne Collins, the "Uglies" trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver, and "Shade's Children" by Garth Nix. 

Rating: 5/5