Matched by Ally Condie

In Cassia's world, the Society makes every decision for you, from what you eat to who you marry. When her match contains a surprising mistake, Cassia begins on a journey that will lead her to question everything about her life, including herself.

Okay, I see why people really love this book. The world-building is intriguing and well-imagined; the ethics very blurry. Nothing is truely what it seems, nor is anything black and white/good or evil. Cassia herself is both likeable and irritating at turns. And the boys, even moreso.

I especially liked how the romance was handled in the story. Cassia loves them both; she really is torn for most of the book. And the relationships change in a believable manner, over months and due to time spent together and things learned, just as real romances do. Cassia becomes an adult, in a way that many of the adults around her never do.

Even the side characters are well-drawn and believable. Gavin, her Grandfather, her parents, they all seemed very real and very stuck in the world they live in. Even when they make the "right" decisions (as if they really get to make any) things can take an awful turn.

I'll be thinking about this story for some time. And while I do see the similarities others have mentioned to The Giver and A Wrinkle in Time, I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing...