Friday 15 May 2015

Summer Reading!

 
Hello! Summer's almost here, and it's nearly time to create a summer reading challenge. I recently found the Sarah Dessen reading challenge on Twitter where you can read one of her books for each week of the summer and I thought it would be fun  to do! So providing that I can find copies of the books, I'll be reading and reviewing each book over the Summer!
-Kathryn
 

Friday 10 April 2015

Matched Ally Condie Book Review


Book: Matched

Author: Ally Condie

Publication Date: 2010

Thoughts: Well I first heard about this book on Pinterest where a pin was advertising books that you should read if you like Divergent (or the Hunger Games). So when I found this book in the charity shop I didn’t think for a moment before buying it (plus 50p is a bargain, who can say no to a 400 page book for 50p?)

Anyway, the first thing that made me want to read the book was the cover, I don’t normally  judge a book by its cover but to me the cover of ‘Matched’ stands out and  it gives you a good idea of what the story is about. On the cover a girl is trapped which is more or less what ‘Matched’ is about since Cassia the main character is trapped in a world that society has created.

The book is in the young adult dystopian genre (similarly to the Hunger Games and Divergent) but when I was reading the book it was more like ‘Big Brother is watching you,’ since society controls people lives e.g. who a person marries, when they die and where they work… If you pick up this book don’t expect it to be a copy of Divergent or the Hunger Games because although it’s the same genre they are very different novels.

However although Matched starts off as different from other Dystopian novels, by starting with the Matching (which is when you find out who you’re going to marry), It also has some cliché aspects of a Dystopian novel such as the main protagonist starting to question society similarly to The Hunger Games and Divergent.

I thought that the Society was very cleverly created; one thing that definitely intrigued me was that there was only 100 things of everything, e.g. 100 books, 100 songs, 100 movies (can you imagine? Having to watch the same film over and over?) And the Matching definitely interested me (what happens if you’re matched with someone you don’t like?) However although some aspects of the Society such as the Matching were described well some parts such as the Sorting left me asking even more questions.

The story is told from Cassia’s point of view, and it starts soon after she has been Matched with her best friend, and for a while its perfect, until she finds a glitch which makes her start to question society.  The main characters

I wasn’t a fan of the whole love triangle in the novel (mainly cause it didn’t feel like one, throughout the book we knew who Cassia was going to choose) I wished there was more of an insight of the relationship between Cassia and Xander.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of five. Why? Because I felt that relationship between Cassie and other characters was really fast paced and not really believable, I just don’t understand how you can know some throughout childhood and then suddenly fall in love with them after they realise that they are ‘different’.  As well as this I also think that some things about the Society could’ve been explained better such as why Society felt the need to limit the books, drawings, to the 100 drawings, books etc...  

Film: There is currently no film adaptation, but apparently one’s in the works, hopefully not for a while though since I’m not sure how much more young adult Dystopian films I can take!

Blurb:

On her seventeenth birthday,

Cassia meets her match. Society dictates

He is her Perfect Partner for life.

Except he’s not.

 

In Cassia’s society, Official decide who people love.

How many children they have.

Where they work.

When they die.

 

But as Cassia finds herself falling in love with another boy, she is determined to make some choices of her own.

And that’s when her whole world begins to unravel.

Buy now!