Hannah W “Matched” Letter Essay #6

Dear Classmates,

 

I just completed a great novel titled Matched by Ally Condie. This genre of this 368 page book is dystopian fiction. Matched is the first book of a trilogy. It was published on November 30th 2010 and has been sold in 30 different countries. Ally Condie has written 9 books. I’ve come across this book many times but I never really liked it after reading a couple pages. When we had to choose books for book club I put this on my list because I finally wanted to read it. It wasn’t my first option but I’m so glad I got this book because it was really good.

Cassia, a seventeen year old girl, lives in a world where Officials decide when you die, where you live… and who you marry. Cassia always thought that the Society was correct. That everything they did was always right. So when Cassia gets Matched to her best friend Xander, she can’t be happier knowing she will get to spend the rest of her life with someone she already knows and cares about. But when someone’s face (that isn’t Xander’s) pops up onto the screen, Cassia realized that the Society isn’t always right. She can’t live with the fact that she might have two matches, so now she must decide. Xander or Ky?

The genre of this book would be dystopian fiction because this whole book was people trying to create a perfect life for their citizens. The Officials got to decide how these characters had to live their life. Ally Condie created a world where the Officials thought everyone was happy and that life was perfect. Well, they didn’t know that it wasn’t. That there would always be errors and there really is no such thing as perfect. If people can’t choose their own life and make their own decisions how can anyone be happy? A quote from this book is “Now what? We let people choose where they live and when they die”? This is from an Official who thought their system was the best it can be. The people who ran this world thought that the way they were running things were the best.

 

I liked the way the author made Ky seem very bad and dangerous in the beginning and then change him throughout the story. Ky (who was Cassia’s second match) started off being a very scary and dangerous character. People were told to stay away from him just because of his father who wasn’t a good person. As Cassia grew closer to him, she realized he was so thoughtful as he taught her cursive or how he remembered Cassia’s favorite poem. The author of this book made Ky into an amazing person.

 

Something I wish the author added in Matched was the perspective of Xander. He was probably going through a pretty hard time knowing that his best friend, and Match, didn’t really love him. To me, it would have been more interesting knowing who and what Xander was like. We got to know so much about Ky, but were left wondering  how Xander was doing. I did like how the author shared memories Cassia had with Xander like the time when they were diving into the pool and Cassia crushed all the very important tablets but Xander didn’t get mad. That memory helped us realize how good of a person he is and how important Cassia was to him.

 

I was surprised with how the author ended the book. Even though this book is the first of a series, I felt like it didn’t really tie all the knots together. When it ended, I felt like the story had just begun. But I’m excited to read the rest of the books to see how it really ends.

 

I was interested in this passage on page 34-35. In this part of the book, Cassia is realizing that Xander isn’t her only Match when another face pops up on her computer screen.

 

“I smile as Xander’s face appears on the port screen immediately following the recorded message. It’s a good picture of him. As always, his smile looks bright and real, his blues eyes kind. I study his face closely pretending that I’ve never seen this picture before; that I’ve only had a glimpse of him once, last night at the Banquet. I study the planes of his face, the look of his lips. He is handsome. I never dared think that he might be my Match, of course, but now that it’s happened I am interested. Intrigued. A little scared about how this might change our friendship, but mostly just happy. I reach up to touch the words Courtship Guidelines on the screen but before I do Xander’s face darkens and then disappears. The portscreen beeps and the voice says again, “ Cassia Reyes, the Society is pleased to present you with your Match.” My heart stops and I can’t believe what I see. A face comes back into view on the port in front of me. It is not Xander. “

 

I really liked this passage because this is when the main plot of the story happened. This created so much suspense for me and got me so excited to keep reading. I found that this passage had a lot of detail that made me want to keep reading this book. I would rate this book an 8 out of 10. It was very well written and for the most part was very good!!

 

Sincerely,

 

Hannah Wergeles

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4 thoughts on “Hannah W “Matched” Letter Essay #6

  1. Hannah,
    I’m glad that you, when you finally gave the book a chance, really liked it, and I hope you like the rest of the series as much (I know Caroline T. has read at least the second book in the series). You wrote an excellent letter-essay, especially in the Reflection. You really elaborated, using specific details/scenes from the book to support your writing; always do that. Thank you for posting this.
    Sincerely,
    Mr. Jockers

  2. I really liked reading your letter essay! It was very descriptive and you wrote a great summary. I am reading this book now and I agree with you on the passage that you quoted how it was suspenseful and exciting.

    -Sara

  3. Dear Hannah,

    Your Letter Essay is good, and I like how you put so much description into it. I’m thinking about reading this book because I liked the summary and thought it was good. I like how you said the author should have added the perspective of a certain character into the book. I like the passage that you chose. Was there any specific things that you really did not like about the book?

    From,

    Nick

  4. Dear Hannah,
    I really liked the detail you provided in your introduction about the author and why you read the book. I also liked the way you were able to say what you wish the author had done, which is very difficult to do. Try to add detail for what the author did in the specific passage you chose. Great Job!
    Sincerely,
    Samantha Romaniello

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