The Matched trilogy is a young adult, dystopian fiction series written by American author Ally Condie, set in a centrally governed society.
The novel Matched was published by Dutton Penguin in November 2010 and reached number three on the Children's Chapter Books bestseller list in January.
Condie's Matched trilogy takes place in a futuristic, dystopian world in the present-day United States, known simply as the Society.
The Society maintains tight control of all aspects of its citizens' lives, from the food they eat, to the way they spend their free time, to whom they are allowed to love.
Good-standing citizens are eligible to be "matched" when they are seventeen years old to their most compatible partner, who is predetermined by the Society.
The next day when Cassia tries to research her Match on her microcard, it is not Xander's face that shows up, but that of Ky Markham, a boy in Mapletree Borough.
The Society limits the amount of artwork the citizens are allowed to consume, so by keeping these poems both Cassia and her grandfather have committed a secret infraction.
The poems are "Do not go gentle into that good night", by Dylan Thomas (1914–1953) and "Crossing the Bar" by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892).
To erase Ky's disappearance from memory, the Mapletree Borough is instructed by Officials to take their red pills.
The group stealthily enters the canyon and discover that it is a storage unit for tissue samples, which have been collected from the dead.
The series can be best described as young adult (YA) literature, because of its emphasis on the characters and their development over action and story building.
[6] The problem-solving skills that YA fiction characters use to reflect on their circumstances parallels the mental and emotional development in adolescents.
[8] The intensity of emotions in the trilogy, however, make it an important crossover series, since this is something that both teens and adults can relate to.
[6][9][8] Much of twenty-first century dystopian literature, including the Matched trilogy, falls into the category of critical dystopia, which takes a more hopeful look at society.
While Cassia's Society is flawed in its idealism, the characters are not overwhelmed by authoritarianism at the end of the series; rather, there is a hopeful resolution that political and social reform can occur.
[6] Like in many dystopian works, the governing Society in this trilogy seeks to control its populace through a number of methods.
[8][11] One method the Society employs is censorship of the arts, where the citizens are limited to viewing only one hundred works of poetry, painting, etc.
Condie uses the romantic relationship of Cassia and Ky as a literary tool to push her characters' thinking in a new direction.
[8] The Matched series encourages young adults to think critically about their own society, and not be afraid to challenge norms.
[9] The plotlines of the three books in the series seem to echo this thinking pattern: Matched emphasizes discovery, as the reader slowly comes to the conclusion that Cassia's society is dystopian, through her limited perspective.
[9][10] Crossed emphasizes critical thinking as the characters are removed from their comfort zones and forced to carve their own journeys towards what is right.
Placing the themes of reconstruction and hope at the end of the story arc is a pattern that is also evident in other dystopian works.
[12] The characters in this novel are driven to find a cure to the deadly Plague, a literary device that pushes the plot towards reconstructing the fallen, dystopian government.
As the characters in Condie's novel examine a democratic solution to the Plague, Cassia reminds the readers (through her decision to not vote yet) of the responsibility citizens hold to be informed civil participants.
The Matched series explores popular dystopian themes: determinism versus freedom, and the ability to choose.
[15] Agency, choice, and accountability are important themes in LDS Church gospel that Condie expands upon in the Matched trilogy.
Matched has been compared to Lois Lowry's classic novel The Giver, while still providing unique insights to the dystopian genre.
[17] Further differentiating the novel, the Los Angeles Times called Matched "cool and sophisticated" where Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games were "red hot and bloodthirsty".
[19] The lack of tension and intrigue in Crossed could be attributed to the fact that the second novel was intended to act as a "transition" between the first and the last books in the series.
[18] Kirkus Reviews described Condie's writing as "immediate and unadorned", and told readers that the "breathless finale" would keep them reading "all night".