This Novel was not a Match for Me

I, honestly, don't know what I expected. I go into every popular young adult novel hoping, PRAYING, that this one will be different. That this one will break against the mold and I can finally, in good conscience, recommend it to someone. 

Today is not that day. 

To start, Matched is boring. Honestly, all you need to read is the beginning and the end. Everything in between is just useless drivel. I'm glad I had it as an audio book, since I could be doing something else while I got through the filler. My sister, who read the physical novel, did not have this luxury. Sorry, Liz. 

The reason the novel is so boring is that the plot is not strong enough to carry a novel this size. The only real conflict going on is between Cassia, the main character, and the two people she is matched with. That's it. And, let me tell you, I could care less about a girl's struggle between two different guys. Is that because I am a 20 year old college student who the novel is not made for? No, because I asked Lizzie, my 14 year old sister what she thought of the book, and she said the same thing: it was kind of boring. 

The only thing this book has going for it is the progression of realization about how corrupt the government is. Cassia starts off fully trusting the government and all of it's rules, but you can see, as the novel goes on, that this naivete begins to disappear. I loved this. However, the plot was still too focused on the love triangle and not focused enough on questioning, and perhaps eventually overthrowing, the government. This aspect was seen only as a side piece or as a way to further the relationship between Cassia and one of her matches, which was annoying. 

This novel is just another stereotypical copy out of it's genre. I mean, I've read a ton of YA novels in my time, and there is nothing different about this book. You're better off re-reading a dystopian novel that you like than reading Matched.