Matched Trilogy box set

A dystopian society. A love story. But, in my opinion I was overall disappointed.
I liked the first book a lot. Sped through it. I understood the rules of their world. The love story was exciting. There was mystery and I was SO curious by the end. From the 3 books I liked the exploration, hunger for knowledge and self-expression.
The bad. The second and 3rd book moved at a glacial pace for me. I was starting to get so bored with everything. My only hope was that some reviews said the ending redeemed it and was good... Only the end made up for a mediocre middle to the end? It didn't for me.
I felt like I wasted my time and wished I hadn't read the whole thing at all.

I was incredibly disappointed with this trilogy and by the time I was a quarter of a way through the 3rd book I was struggling to not give up.

Ally Condie has created a world which is very clinical and very controlled and it is the place in which our protagonists find themselves but she doesn't do much to elaborate much more on the Society.

Instead, we have a group of lovelorn teenagers fighting to overcome a system they've known all their lives whilst reconciling their own feelings. This is really the crux of the story on which the entire trilogy rests but doesn't go much beyond that.

Where Matched fails is where series such as the Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner have succeeded. The worlds in which those books inhabit are detailed and complex. The world in Matched is not.

Ally Condie could have done SO much more with this series by elaborating more on the Society, it's history, the displaced communities who live beyond it's boundaries and who and where the Enemy and the Otherlands are.

Instead, I feel this was just a cheap shot. A love triangle set against a dystopian backdrop will appeal to most fans of this genre but the older readers might be as disappointed as I was.

OK so I've been seeing this series everywhere and it has been suggested to me on the store and goodreads. I gave in to buying/reading when Entertainment weekly wrote an article about it. It was just okay. What hooked me was that someone said it is "hunger games meets Twlight love story." I don't regret reading it but just wasn't that great to me.

I bought these books for my niece's 15th birthday gift and thought I'd read the first book to make sure the contect was appropriate for her. Little did I know I'd fall in love with the characters and couldn't put the books down! My neice is going to love them and now we'll have something else to talk about. Can't wait for the movies to come out!

Throughout this entire series the thing that most compelled me was the idea of government and rebellion. Unlike most dystopian novels of our day, the Matched series, in the end, doesn't have an obvious villain. In a series based around making choices, the author did a fairly decent job of leaving the reader with questions regarding what they would choose. That's what separates this series from so many others.

Unfortunately, the characters didn't reach me in quite the same way. Whereas they started off interesting in Matched, by the time I turned the last page on Reached, the characters, for the most part, had worn me out. Cassia's POV was laden with entirely too many metaphors. I didn't have a real sense of why either Ky or Xander loved her so much, for so long, and through so many trials. Honestly, the series would've been better served without the romantic baggage.

I do know I'll read this series again, if only for the poetry and how it affects the characters. I also think there are many elements that pertain to our world today and I'm sure with as quickly as I read it I probably missed a few things along the way.

***SPOILERS***

What happened to satisfying endings? Young adult dystopian (and I use the word loosely) novels are intriguing as we become engulfed in their struggles; watch them fight against incredible odds and then- for what? I am seeing a very discouraging trend in the endings of these addicting books. After such desperate struggles doesn’t one deserve a satisfactory outcome? What happened to hope? Instead we see our protagonists become shadows of the people they were. Don’t characters deserve a reward for their struggle?

Cassia never really explains why although she loves Ky and is willing to risk her life to be with him at one time, but is fine being separated from him for a couple years due to a new (just as restricting) government. On top of that, poor Xander has to get the bad end of the stick on everything, until he can’t see any hope and is left to always be a little bit empty.

Other Examples:
Hunger Games: So Katniss forfeits her involvement with improving society, a discouraged Gail surrenders any hope at being with Katniss because she’ll never forgive him for something that we’re unsure if ever was really his fault, and Peeta will forever have to question whether Katniss’ love him for him is “real”. Isn’t that encouraging?

Maze Runner: So Thomas is never able to forgive someone whose only intentions were to save his life? And then when she dies for him, he seems to feel nothing- then he never cares to regain his memories or reunite with friends. Or really anything that could somehow be considered a satisfying conclusion.

Divergent: She dies! Do I need to say more?

Can’t I just have one satisfying ending?

A lot of people are comparing 'The Hunger Games Trilogy' to this one. Even though both serried includes rebellion and a love triangle I believe they aren't very much alike. 'The Matched Trilogy' focuses a lot on the romance where as 'The Hunger Games Trilogy' focused on it less but portrayed it enough to know it was a key note in the books. Also they focus a lot on the main character and the things around her but in this series it's more about other people, the world around her, but still has a lot about her role playing into the society and rising. I just don't like how people compare these two series. Just because you like 'The Hunger Games Trilogy' doesn't mean you'll like 'Matched', 'Crossed', and 'Reached'.

Now to the review:
All the books are very wonderful although predictable. For example the whole (Spoiler Alert) Laney thing is very predictable. Even though I couldn't very well remember all that happened in 'Matched' and 'Crossed' I could still see that coming.
I liked the books but I couldn't get over how people just got over things. (Spoiler Alert) Like in 'Reached' all the deaths, cheating, and a lot of terrible unreal moments.
The books are wonderful but not my favorites. If you are interested in reading romance novels with a little bit of rebellion I recommend these.

I've been hearing about these books for some time now, so I bought the box set. Wow! These books are amazing! It takes place in a dystopian society where the government predicts and controls everything in your life.

The trilogy is about Cassia trying to help take the government down so that she can be with a society outcast instead of the boy the government picked for her. Through many adventures, journeys, and plot twists, the main characters grow and develop, as well as change the world they live in without hardly any blood or violence, setting this book apart from most other Dystopian novels out there.

Although I'm not usually a fan of love triangles, these books were able to pull it off. Condie writes from all three characters views, giving you insight into the thoughts and motives of the main characters, helping you understand them better and make them real and lifelike. She does all this, and keeps the romance between them at a good level, making this book appropriate for younger teens as well as her older audience.

Each book adds a new layer to Cassia's story and keeps you hooked until the end. I would definitely recommend this book to any Hunger Games or Divergent fan, as well as any teen or young adult looking for an quick, exciting read.

So, I got this box set for Christmas, and started reading right away. The concept is what got me interested, as the occasional dystopian society book is good (Hunger Games, The Uglies, etc.) But, while good, it was a little below my expectations.

The first book, Matched, was probably the best one in the trilogy, with the basis of setting up the universe these characters are in. It also does a good job setting up the main cast, and their relationship to the main character, Cassia. The writing was a little mediocre though, as was all of the books in the trilogy, but I might be biased having just read Game of Thrones. Other than the writing, there weren't a lot of issues with Matched. I enjoyed the conflict, even though it might be seen as a cliched love triangle plot at first, that doesn't really cause tension between Cassia, Xandar or Ky. All in all, the first book was a good intro to the series.

The second book, Crossed, was my least favorite, feeling slow and drawn out, despite the short length. I don't really like when the characters are placed in either a cave, desert, etc. and remain there the whole book. When that happens, there isn't much in the way of exploring how this society may be living. I would have much rather preferred if they took a more detailed approach to what the Society is really like from an insider's perspective. Still, the different character perspectives were a good change of pace, and offered insight into how Ky thinks.

The last book, Reached, is a little hit and miss for me. The addition of giving Xandar chapters, and character depth was good, and it almost made me want to know his story more than Cassia and Ky. The intro was good with Cassia getting involved with getting insider information, but could've been more in depth and explained. Other than that, unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy the whole Pandemic conflict. The explanation of the Society's background was a little vague and confusing as well, and the payoff at the end was just sort of rushed.

So, even though I didn't enjoy it all that much, I can see how other people might. It is YA, and it might be a little out of my range for reading, but it's not horrible. The concept is good, it just could've been written a little better.

These books were good - they weren't the best, but they were good. Many of the central plot line would have failed to materialize if the main character had only chosen a different path.. a path that would have been easier and many would have chosen. I found myself complaining throughout the first book about how none of this would have happened had she chosen something different.

If you are looking for a dystopian trilogy to read you are definitely on the right track it wasn't the best dystopian series I have read: Legend and Divergent are both much better, in my opinion. This is a good series to ponder some of life's questions, but it just didn't hit home with me for some reason.

The writing is well done, with a few typos (less than five in the series) scattered among the pages.

The second and third books use alternating perspectives, which can be a pain when reading but can offer a different perspective. Sometimes I had to go back and see whose point of view I was actually reading.

I exchanged a book I received as a Christmas gift (that I had already read) for the first of this trilogy. I am so glad I did. Once I finished the first book I downloaded the second two on my Kindle and read them in one night. The first book is definitely the best, the next two a little weaker.I always have to see where the story ends so I continued through. The concept is interesting and the characters will draw you in. I used the concepts from the book to start some interesting conversations with my kids!

The series was brilliant, the writing stupendous, when I started to read, the line between prose and poetry seemed blurred, the words were challenging, it was a bit of a pleasant surprise as I was expecting some dumbed-down writing to accomodate a younger audience. I loved every second of it, it is a truly unique twist on dystopia that never had a dull moment and ended in a way that didn't seem too-good-to-be-true, but was 100% satisfying. Amazing read. Thank you Ally Condie.

I started reading these, falling in love with the characters almost immediately. I read all 3 books in less than 2 days, actually. I really loved the first 2 books, but the ending was a huge letdown. I didn't feel that there was a just resolution, overall. I was disappointed in the way things went for many of the characters.

These books are a great fit for young teenagers. I enjoyed the fact that they are a fantasy. It keeps you busy for quite sometime considering how thick the books are. It was easy to read with some zesty words thrown it here or there. I would recommend this book to younger people.