Matched
Cassia has always followed the autocratic Society without question. So when Xander's face is displayed on the screen at the Matching ceremony, she knows that they are the perfect mates. However, Ky Markham's face also flashed on the screen, if only briefly. Although the Society claims it was a glitch and Cassia knows she is to be with Xander, she cannot stop thinking about Ky. In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Cassia has always trusted their choices, but she begins to question just how perfect her world really is when she notices things are not what they seem. As Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility, she 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.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Matched
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In Cassia's Society, an algorithm decides who you marry, what you do, and when you die. At her Match Banquet, her best friend's face appears on her chip, and then, briefly, another boy's. First in the Matched trilogy.
Ally Condie's Matched trilogy has three books: Matched, Crossed, and Reached. The trilogy is complete.
Yes. Matched is YA dystopian fiction in the wave that included The Hunger Games and Divergent. It is suitable for readers 13 and up. There is no explicit content.
Matched was written by Ally Condie, published in 2010 by Speak.
Matched is 369 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Matched takes most readers 6 to 8 hours to finish.
Matched is a standalone novel by Ally Condie, not part of a series.
Matched is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.