Matched

Matched is a science fiction novel for young adults by best-selling author Ally Condie. Published in 2010, it is the first novel in the Matched trilogy. It was followed by Crossed in 2011 and Reached in 2012. Matched was a critical and commercial success—as were the other two books in the trilogy. It was a New York Times bestseller and named one of the best children’s books of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) also included it in its list of Teens’ Top Ten for 2011. It has been translated into over 30 languages. Condie’s other best-selling books for young adults include Atlantia, published in 2014 and Summerlost, published in 2017.

Plot Summary

Matched begins on the eve of protagonist Cassia Maria Reyes’s Match Banquet—which also happens to be her 17th birthday. The Banquet is a required event for nearly all citizens of the Society—a dystopian reality that exists at some point in the future. Nearly every facet of life in the Society is tightly controlled, including romantic relationships, which are initiated at the Match Banquet. Cassia is thrilled to be Matched with her best friend, Xander Carrow, whom she has known since childhood. She enjoys a life of comfort living in Oria Province with her parents and 10-year-old brother, Bram, and looks forward to her future with Xander. She naively accepts the path laid out for her by the Society.

However, Cassia’s life begins to change when she inserts her microcard containing information about Xander into her home port (a computer). After Xander’s face appears on the port screen, the face of another boy whom Cassia knows, Ky Markham, also pops up. An Official, a member of the Government police force, soon pays Cassia a visit to tell her that her Match with Ky was a mistake. She explains that Ky is classified as an Aberration—which means he can never be Matched. At first, Cassia is content to dismiss the error and enjoy her Match with Xander, but she finds herself increasingly drawn to Ky.

While Cassia struggles with her Matching predicament, her grandfather, known as Grandfather, passes away at his Final Banquet—the Society’s practice of forced euthanasia when citizens turn 80 years old. Before he dies, Grandfather gifts Cassia two poems—which are considered illegal because they are not on the list of the Hundred Poems which the Society has chosen to keep. Grandfather tells her that he has faith she will one day understand their meaning. She reads one of the poems—“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”—at her new hiking activity, and it resonates with her; Ky is also a participant of hiking. Cassia later incinerates the poem.

Cassia and Ky are soon paired up at hiking and begin sharing their secrets with each other. Ky stokes Cassia’s newfound love of art and poetry by teaching her how to write—a forbidden act—and giving her self-portraits drawn on napkins, with accompanying poems. The pictures tell Cassia the story of Ky’s struggle with his own identity, as well as his painful past living in the Outer Provinces. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle in Oria Province after his parents were killed. Although Cassia has to burn Ky’s artwork, she retains his stories in her mind and gradually falls in love with him. In return for Ky’s gifts, Cassia shares Grandfather’s illegal poems with him from memory. Cassia and Ky vow to protect each other’s secrets as long as they can.

As Cassia develops a passion for learning and Ky, she begins to reject the predetermined path set for her by the Society. She starts to desire the freedom to make her own choices in life. While her primary goal is to be with Ky, she also wants to be in control of her career, diet, exercise regimen, and education. Cassia begins to reject her job as a sorter, especially after she is required to go to Ky’s jobsite and categorize him and other workers into tiers based on skill. Although she sorts Ky into the highest tier possible to try to get him a better job, her decision backfires when Officials go to Ky’s house to cart him off to war.

Cassia learns from Ky’s aunt and uncle that the Society’s war with the Outer Provinces is going poorly, and they need people to fight. According to Ky’s aunt, Ky’s involuntary servitude is tantamount to a death sentence. Cassia’s sorting job was designed to determine who was strong enough to serve in the Society’s army. From this moment on, Cassia makes it her mission to fight back and find Ky. She gains the support of her family and Xander, who reluctantly accepts her rejection of their Match. The novel closes with Cassia on a work detail in the Outer Provinces, plotting her next move to find Ky.