Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

I recently read (and forgot to add it to the Current Reads blogpost) Matched by Allyson Condie. It's yet another dystopian novel, of which I've read literally ten in the last few months (i.e. Uglies, The Hunger Games Trilogy, Divergent and Insurgent, The Selection and The Elite), and yet another in which the government is completely tyrannical over those underneath them. This government goes so far as to say whom you may and may not love. At a ceremony, upon the eve of your sixteenth birthday, you are Matched, or basically told with whom you are to foster a relationship with the future goal of marrying and producing children. Typically all goes well, and the two comply to the matching and procreate and live on in complete ignorance of the fact that they are being controlled at every turn in their lives. Such is not the case with Cassia Reyes. When she's matched to her best friend it appears that she's going to live out every girl's greatest wish - not only getting matched to someone she knows, but having it be the smart, attractive and sweet Xander? Unthinkable.

When she goes to look at the chip with Xander's information on it, there's a glich... and the face on the screen isn't Xander's.  For a brief second she questions whether or not she was supposed to be with Xander - whether the government is right - and this question grows into general unease about the way things are. She begins to foster a relationship with the boy behind the face - Ky, a boy who is, unbeknownst to the general population, an aberration, someone who cannot be matched. Her act is seen as rebellion to government officials and is treated as such, the consequences being drastic. Cassia finds out that the government can give great joy, and can take it all away if she displeases them. Subtle acts of rebellion don't go unnoticed, and Cassia intends (in the later installments of the series) to do something much more than subtle.

All Will Be Sorted

I enjoyed the novel, though I'm getting to be a bit jaded about the whole formula behind the teen dystopian novel. The inner dialogue of Cassia's character was interesting in it's honesty, and Ky Markham is a bit of a puzzle to figure out. Towards the end of the book I felt rather sorry for Xander, and proud of his loyalty to Cassia as a friend. He's far more than he seems, which may end up being beneficial to Cassia throughout the rest of the novels. The idea of the government dictating who, when, and what I did with my love life was upsetting... admittedly, I'm not a hopeless romantic, but I still am far too rebellious and cannot stomach the idea of another allocating what I do with my life. I'd give the book 6 out of 10, but largely because this was like... the tenth book of its type that I'd read. As always, read on!

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series is comprised of four books: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras. I just finished reading the first book, and will move onto the second shortly (after finals end). Uglies is set in a time quite a ways from now when modern day technology is known as the "Rustys" (I don't know about you, but my Kindle is quite schnazzy, thank you very much!) and the government controls everything... literally everything. What you wear, what your job is, even what you look like! Upon your sixteenth birthday you are turned into a Pretty - being that complete body makeovers using plastic surgery is what makes someone pretty. The thing is that turning Pretty changes an Ugly's personality... and when a select few rebel against this social norm Special Circumstances gets involved.

Tally Youngblood

Enter Tally Youngblood. She's a bit younger than her best friend, Paris, and when he left she began to feel a bit lost. She meets up with this girl named Shay and they start pulling pranks together. Then Shay suggests a bigger prank than any Tally's ever done - Shay is going to leave before she turns Pretty. Tally is shocked at the suggestion that she'd go with Shay and declines, fully intent on becoming a Pretty, but when Special Circumstances says she has to follow Shay and lead them to the town of the rebels, named Smoke for the fact that it's nearly impossible to find, she has no choice but to find Smoke or forever be an Ugly. When Tally gets to Smoke, after a harrowing journey and nearly getting burned (...the irony), she discovers that being Pretty may not be all it's cut out to be, and that the government may be more sinister than she thought it was.

The book had an intriguing message, to say the least. It seemed to me as if it was tossing off the social norms of being pretty and aligning itself with not only being a good person, but with being intelligent and knowledgable about the threats that may be around you. Tally learned that not all Pretties are pretty inside, and that some Uglies may be wiser than she could ever know. The fact that the government was controlling it's people via making them placid and apathetically-minded is reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984, though a much more modern (and teenage-friendly) version of an omniscient government. The ending was... confusing, though I bet it'll be cleared up with the next few in the series. I'll definitely get to reading them shortly! I just gotta catch up on this Biology, take the final, and then I'll be back for more!

Current Books

Meaning of flowers

Hey! Okay, so, I'm going to list the books I'm currently reading, and I'll attempt to work through blogs concerning all of them.

1. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
• This one chronicles the life of an eighteen year old girl who had issues inside the foster care system while growing up. She discovers, through various means, that she can touch other people's lives through the meanings of the flowers she gives to them.
2. Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare
• This chronicles the tales of Henry IV and his son, also named Henry. The younger Henry doesn't quite live up to what his father, or basically all of England, thinks he should act like in order to inherit the throne in the future. Both go through a series of actions, following two different plot lines  culminating in one epic battle.
3. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris


True Blood

• Harris' book is the premise of HBO's popular TV show True Blood, which follows the life of telepathic barmaid, Sookie Stackhouse, and her beau, Bill Compton, in a very southern, small town in Louisiana  Interesting twist - Bill's a vampire, and there are a series of vampire-related murders going through their small town. Both Bill and Sookie's brother are suspects, and Sookie is set out to prove their innocence through any means possible.
4. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R.R. Martin



The Game of Thrones

• Another HBO television show, Game of Thrones, covers this series of books, set in the Medieval era, following the battle over the Iron Throne which was usurped after a huge country-wide war by one Robert Baratheon. After years of ruling the kingdom, he dies and  his wife, a member of the wealthy and powerful Lannister family, is discovered to be guilty of sleeping with her brother leading to the conception of Geoffrey, the bastard king. Whenever a member of the Stark family, Ned (also the Hand of the King), confronts the queen, she has him killed, leading to his family and their allies aligning against the Lannister king. Other factions claim their right to the throne, and full-on war ensues.
5. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld



Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld

• Yet another dystopian teen novel, Uglies is set in a time where, upon your sixteenth birthday, you are made over, through total remodeling surgery, to be a Pretty. Tally isn't sure she wants to be a Pretty, who seem to be empty headed thrill seekers, and when she meets another Ugly, named Shay, she discovers that there may be more to her city than she thought. Bad things can happen, even in a place filled with Pretties.
6. Glamour by Penelope Fletcher



Forest Fae

• In another dystopian novel (God! There are a lot!), Rae Wilder thought she was human... but do humans run as fast as the speed of light? Do they sprout wings and shimmer? No, Rae discovers that she just might be Fae - she might be a demon girl - what she's been taught to hate. She enters the world outside the Wall, and walks straight into a civil war - not just between the humans and demons, but within the factions of demons. Dealing with blood bonds, love and friendship is bad enough for a young girl, but being called upon to support an entire race? Rough stuff. 
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Gatsby is fantastic, sexy and mysterious. He throws huge parties in classic twenties flapper style, but there may be more to him than meets the eye. Nick is sucked into his world, along with a few of their mutual friends. Gatsby's way of life could lead to great connections, money, power, and everything Nick doesn't have. Or it could lead down a path that Nick would rather not even think about. Death, drama, love, mystery... The Great Gatsby pretty much has it all.

The Great Gatsby by Baz Luhrmann

That last is in honor of the upcoming movie premier, and it's more of a refresher, as I've read it already once. I'm attempting to finish books 1 through 4 of A Game of Thrones by the end of this summer, as well as the entirety of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. I may also work my way through The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, though I've already finished The Hobbit by that same author. If there are any suggestions on books or movie/book duos that you'd like me to review, comment in the below section! Thank you, and see you soon!