For review: Puffin. Published 2 December 2010
From Goodreads:In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.
I found this one really thought provoking! I kept asking myself what I would do if I were Cassia - if I found myself in this world where all our choices are made for us.
We first meet Cassia on the night of her Matching banquet - a night where her 'ideal mate' is revealed to her. But later that evening, she sees a different face appear on her matching screen and suddenly the world she has always trusted shifts. Now she starts to question the society and all the choices that are made for her...
I loved Ally Condie's writing style. There is something very beautiful about it and it really held my interest. The story and style is not action packed and intense - but there is something very gripping about it. I found I didn't want to stop reading - I wanted to get to know Cassia more and more. What was really interesting for me was how Cassia grew. I loved watching her start to realise that she should make choices - that not everything about the society is as good as she thought it was. The rose tinted glasses definitely come off so to speak!
I found the whole premise for this book really intriguing. The society has so much control over every aspect of peoples lives. Everything is monitored and enforced by them. What you eat, what you do, who you are partnered with, how many children you should have. They even control when you die! It is scary when you think about it too much because of how possible it potentially feels. How can you fight something that is that powerful? And even more chilling is the acceptance - that the characters take it all for granted because they don't know any different - they don't realise they should be questioning it!
The characterisation was superb. I loved Cassia's family - especially her grandfather. And, of course, Ky and Xander were great. I could honestly understand what Cassia saw in them both. And although I wasn't disappointed with the love triangle - both boys are wonderful - I think I may be rooting for the wrong one! I guess time will tell!
I'm really looking forward to seeing where Ally Condie is taking us. I get the feeling it will be an impressive journey and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
From Goodreads:In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.
I found this one really thought provoking! I kept asking myself what I would do if I were Cassia - if I found myself in this world where all our choices are made for us.
We first meet Cassia on the night of her Matching banquet - a night where her 'ideal mate' is revealed to her. But later that evening, she sees a different face appear on her matching screen and suddenly the world she has always trusted shifts. Now she starts to question the society and all the choices that are made for her...
I loved Ally Condie's writing style. There is something very beautiful about it and it really held my interest. The story and style is not action packed and intense - but there is something very gripping about it. I found I didn't want to stop reading - I wanted to get to know Cassia more and more. What was really interesting for me was how Cassia grew. I loved watching her start to realise that she should make choices - that not everything about the society is as good as she thought it was. The rose tinted glasses definitely come off so to speak!
I found the whole premise for this book really intriguing. The society has so much control over every aspect of peoples lives. Everything is monitored and enforced by them. What you eat, what you do, who you are partnered with, how many children you should have. They even control when you die! It is scary when you think about it too much because of how possible it potentially feels. How can you fight something that is that powerful? And even more chilling is the acceptance - that the characters take it all for granted because they don't know any different - they don't realise they should be questioning it!
The characterisation was superb. I loved Cassia's family - especially her grandfather. And, of course, Ky and Xander were great. I could honestly understand what Cassia saw in them both. And although I wasn't disappointed with the love triangle - both boys are wonderful - I think I may be rooting for the wrong one! I guess time will tell!
I'm really looking forward to seeing where Ally Condie is taking us. I get the feeling it will be an impressive journey and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
4 comments:
Awesome review. I am so anxious to try this one.
Nice review. It's nice to see the similarities and differences between different reviewers' impressions of this book.
It's so frustrating when I find myself rooting for the wrong guy! There was a quote on the back of Paranormalcy that said something along the lines of "one of the love interests captured the MC's heart, and the other captured mine." I liked that quote. It made me feel a little better about choosing the "wrong guy." :P
This looks like a great book! I hope that I get a chance to read it soon, great review!
Great review. I loved this one too. Interesting that you liked Condie's writing style. I think it was just the concept that I was hooked in by.
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