In this series we see a society where everything is organised for you in an attempt to keep things effective. What you eat, where you live and work, who you marry and even when you die is organised for you. While this brings security, for me it felt claustrophobic and intensely stifling.
The majority of people who live around Cassia and her family accept these interventions in their lives without question. Some cannot reconcile themselves to a world without choice, but for our narrator this realisation is a long time coming!
Cassia has always been someone who follows the rules. She does what she is supposed to and doesn’t question the things that don’t feel quite right. Cassia has known Xander a long time, and they are good friends, so she is pleased when they are Matched (yes, they even sort your relationships for you). However, she then sees a brief glimpse of a second face – another person she knows – and this rouses her curiosity. Who is to say which of the two would be the better match? Why can’t she decide for herself?
What follows was a rather typical story of someone questioning the status quo. Cassia wants to rebel, but is worried about breaking out from the confines she lives within. The love triangle doesn’t really bother anyone, since Cassia can’t make her mind up what she wants for the majority of the novel. It felt like events were rather dragged out on occasion. I would have liked to know more of the past and how this society came into being.
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the book, but I felt it could have been a lot more powerful.