Matched by Ally Condie started off in an unexpected way. I felt like readers weren’t properly introduced to The Society. We’re introduced to Cassia and Xander on their way to the Matching Ceremony, which is the story’s initiating event. I kept trying to get into the world Ally Condie created, but it wasn’t deep enough to immerse myself in it.

While the narrative was quick to go to it’s catalyst, it took an unusually long time for readers to meet Ky in person. The strange slowburn had me questioning if Ky had any feelings towards Cassia at all, or if it was just in her head. That would’ve been a delicious wrench to throw into the classic YA Love Triangle, but alas, Ky had always been sort of in love with Cassia. The fact that Cassia and Ky knew each other from childhood also had a weird dynamic. In the early stages of the book, it seemed like they knew about each other but weren’t close, but later it felt as though he was a part of the core friend group. It made it even weirder that we learned about Ky from an Official, instead of Cassia going over her memories of him.

Even after we met Ky, it took a second to see his personality. It took awhile for me to warm up to his character, though I continued to dislike how Cassia described him. Out of everyone introduced, he was the one most connected to the past (our current day), probably from his outer territory upbringing. However, what he shared of that always seemed to be connected with his adoration for Cassia. I found that such a basic, boring schtick to assign to the most realistic character of the novel.

This was in contrast to what we saw of Xander. Readers met him immediately and you picked up on his personality quickly. However, despite being best friends, we didn’t see much of him in this book. It made the love triangle awfully lopsided. While love triangles always have an element of predictability, this one was obvious just because Cassia never really had a romantic connection with Xander. Don’t get me wrong, Condie tried to write one, but it leaned too heavily on the “Safe Nostalgia of Childhood Friends” Factor. Cassia just seemed hesitant to give up her life as she knew it in general, not that she was choosing between two boys.

Given less “screen time” than Cassia and Ky, Cassia’s family make for an interesting mix of characters that I hope become bigger players in the story to come. From her grandpa to her little brother, each member of Cassia’s family that we meet performs small, silent acts of rebellion. None are outright disobeying, per se, but they rebel in unexpected ways. My favorite is Cassia’s grandpa gifting her the words of two forbidden poems. Condie sets up a world where poetry is the language of radicals.

As I encountered the watery world of The Society and characters that I wish had more meaningful depth, I almost considered abandoning the series. However, Condie kept me intrigued with the promise of more intricate elements. The biggest point of interest for me was the red pill, and how the Society told them never to touch it unless told by an Official. I assumed it was something deadly, but instead it wiped your memory of the time leading up to taking it. The three pills - for sustenance, calm, and memory loss - were already interesting. Then, Condie shows that some people are immune to the red pills and can remember what the Officials don’t want them to remember. I believe that to be quite deadly, actually.

While I had many issues with the characters and world building, there was just enough intrigue included that I didn’t want to abandon the series altogether.