Just recently I was bemoaning the fact that I’m no good at book reviews but I’m taking a crack at this one.
I pre-ordered Matched by Ally Condie, so I’ve had it for a few weeks, and finally got to it this weekend. It’s not exactly my typical read. Mostly the YA label. I don’t run from YA by any stretch of the imagination, but I seek out the adult versions first, barring a recommendation. Still, sci-fi is right up my ally. (See what I did there?)
The cover on that this is breathtaking. Gorgeous book. The writing too is lovely. It’s clean and stark, beautiful in its simplicity.
Having said that, it was beautiful prose… written in present tense. I just can’t help it, present tense grates on my nerves. It feels off to me, you just wouldn’t hear this story from anyone as it’s happening. And it makes for all sorts of contradicitions. One really obvious example is when she’s doing something that takes a lot of concentration and she can lose herself in it, putting aside her worries for the moment. The text goes something like ‘so as I sit here I don’t think of this, or that, or him, or her, or tomorrow…’ and my head is screaming ‘YES YOU ARE! Otherwise how can you talk about it at all?’
Even when the story got engrossing enough that I didn’t notice it as much, present tense is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I can eventually ignore it if the story is interesting enough, but I’m still always slightly on edge because I can’t make the annoyance go away entirely.
Because of that, present tense writing keeps me at a distance from a story. I just can’t sink into it and lose myself in it.
My only other complaint with the book is, in part, not the book’s fault at all. The problem is The Giver, by Lois Lowry. If I’d never read The Giver I think Matched would have had a more powerful effect on me because it deals with an important theme–that of self-determination and balancing the rights of the individual vs. the whole. Ally does this very well and presents this by making us feel connected to the protagonist and allowing us to identify with her struggles.
The problem is, The Giver did that first, and, if not better, at least with higher stakes. The settings are just far too similar to resist comparisons between the two books. The Giver tackled this issue with the life of a child as the thing the protagonist must either protect by rebelling or abandon in the name of obedience and conformity. In Matched, Cassia must either conform and marry a boy she loves, or else fight for the freedom to… marry another boy she loves.
In then end, it felt like such a washed-out, dumbed-down version of the conflict in The Giver that I reluctantly walked away from a book I wanted to like feeling a bit patronized. I don’t imagine this would even be noticed by someone who hadn’t read The Giver.
In spite of the tense and the less-than-impressive stakes, it was an entertaining story, beautifully done, well worth the read. Even with my reservations, as a stand-alone, considering only the book itself, I’d give it four stars.
Maybe I was missing something, but I found MATCHED to be quite…sterile. I wanted more danger, more of a sense of consequence. Cassia never seemed to be in extreme danger…even in the end. I, too, really wanted to like this book, and finished it feeling a little let down. (And I haven’t read THE GIVER, so perhaps it’s not just that?). The cover *was* gorgeous, and much of the phrasing was elegant, with nice ties into poetry. However, in a way, THE HUNGER GAMES explores many of the same themes, with more peril and a scrappier heroine. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE does as well, in a messier, more constrained, claustrophobic environment…and it rocked in an edgy, creep-tastic way.
You read Across the Universe already??? Lucky.
I see your point about no real sense of danger. It certainly wasn’t overt. Actually, I never felt that Cassia was in any danger at all, but I did worry for the other guy, so maybe that’s what created the sense of consequence for me.
But it’s interesting that you felt the same way not having read The Giver. I was hoping that was the only reason I felt let down by this read. I really did want to like it.
Now I really need to get to The Hunger Games. Though I hear that’s in present tense too?
I was really looking forward to reading this book when I heard all the good reviews. When I finally read and finished the book, i was very disappointed. The plot is great but it needs more action. Also it needs more description to how Cassia feels and what Ky and Xander think. If you are thinking of reading this book, read it when you are bored and read other books with really good reviews first. Save this for later.
Sorry Allie Condie. It might be just me and I am missing something or. . . . this book needs more 🙂