Rachel Falb

Rachel Falb
Matched
Ally Condie
Sci-fi/ Dystopia
Just Right
230

1) Currently in the book, Cassia the main character lives in a Utopia, the Society. She has recently received a computer chip, all about her match Xander, but she doesn't bother to look at it when she gets home from her match banquet because she's known him all of her life. Later on in the week, she decides to look at it just to see if there is anything she didn't know, but when she puts the chip into the port, the face that appears is not Xander. The officials re-assure her that it was a mistake and the face that she saw was a boy named Ky. He is adopted and is considered an Aberration in the Society. An Aberration means that he cannot be matched with someone because of something that had happened. Ky didn't do anything, but his real father committed an Infraction and the Society cannot overlook that. Cassia and Ky take a hiking class together. Ky and Cassia are partners and they hike through the woods together. Ky has been bringing poems everyday to their hikes for Cassia to read. She goes home, reads them and then burns them every time. She is slowly learning more and more about Ky's past and how his parents died. Cassia then soon begins to drift away from being in love with Xander and starts to think about Ky and she wishes that she was matched with Ky, instead of Xander. And that is what is currently happening in the book.

2) So far, I have truly enjoyed this book. Condie has made me intrigued by having astonishing changes. One major shock was when Xander and Cassia were matched at the banquet. It was astonishing to the readers because Condie led the readers to believe that they would not be matched because they were best friends. For instance, they rode to the match banquet together on the air train, and Xander compliments her in a friendly way on how she looks and wishes her luck.  They even share how nervous they are about who they will be matched up with. The book is interesting to me because I usually don't read Sci-fi books, and when I do they usually don't appeal to me. I love this book because Condie pulls me in with the plot and unexpected twists.

3) A theme that I have seen appear in the characters is betrayal. The first place where this appears is when Cassia betrays her grandfather. Before her grandfather dies, he shows her a poem in the compact from her grandmother. Nothing of this sort would be allowed in the Society. Cassia knows this and realizes that she needs to get rid of the poem after her grandfather dies, even though he told her to keep it. She takes the poem, brings it to her dad's worksite, and throws it away. She betrayed her grandfather, and he would be very disappointed that she didn't keep it if he were still alive. Another place where the theme of betrayal is displayed is when Cassia betrays Xander. She and Xander are matched and Xander loves her and Cassia likes him very much, but she is cheating on him with Ky. When she and Ky are hiking, she lets him kiss her twice. This is not allowed in the Society because he is an Aberration and she is matched with someone else. They are not only breaking the rules, but Cassia is also betraying Xander by being disloyal to him.

4) My favorite character in the book is Ky. He is my favorite because he is so truthful. When he's hiking with Cassia, he tells her everything. He shares about his parents death through drawings, even though they are painful memories. Ky is also very amicable. As well as sharing stories while he hikes with Cassia, he also teaches her to write. It is so kind and daring for him to do this because they are not allowed to know how to write, but it is something that Cassia wants to learn. Ky's most impressive trait, is how thoughtful he is when he is with Cassia. For her birthday, he got her a forbidden poem. Not only did he trade his compass, his artifact that is very important to him, to get this poem, but the first line states, "My birthday began with the water-." He then says that he chose this poem for her because he remembers the first time they met was in the pool. These are some of the reasons why my favorite character is Ky.

5) My least favorite character in this book is Cassia. She is my least favorite character because of the way she treats Xander and how she lets herself fall in love with Ky. The way she treats Xander is very unfair. Xander is so kind to her and is willing to do anything for her, but whenever they are together Cassia is thinking about Ky and when she will see him next. She is also my least favorite character because she falls in love with Ky even when she is matched with Xander. I agree that it is unfair that they have to be matched with a certain person.  However, the rules of the Society are that one cannot change their match. Cassia is asking for trouble because she signs up to do her leisure activities with Ky and she spends most of her summer with him. She also wants to create an infraction to show how much she wants to be with Ky. These are some reasons why Cassia is my least favorite character.

6) I predict that the ending of this book will be dramatic. I predict that the people within the Society will overthrow the government. I can make this prediction because Ky told Cassia that he thinks there is a war happening in the outer provinces and because her mother is being called to emergency trips for her work. I believe what Ky says about the war going on so I think that everyone will be called into battle to fight against the people on the borders of the outer provinces. But, I think that people will unite and fight against the officials because the people of the Society hate being restricted by them. Once the officials lose control, Cassia and Ky can finally be together. This is how I predict the book will end, from the evidence that Ky has given Cassia.