Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Pro's/Con's
I know that a lot of people have said that they find the pace to slow and that it is a negative point for this book. But personally I thought it fitted the story very well. You get to taste the mood of the story and read about his world in a easy pace. It also gives you the chance to make up your own opinion. It isn't stated in the book that the Union is a bad thing, you can make up your own mind about it. Personally, in the beginning I thought it was a fine system (with exception of the fact that the Union decides when it's your time to die). But when I was reading more and more about it I, just like Cassia, began to change my mind. In this book you get the chance to see this system from multiple points of view which gives you a very nice insight into the system and the positive and negative points from it and I think that by doing this it gives you a fair chance to get your own opinion with a lot of background information.
Another thing that I have read multiple times as a bad point are the characters. Some call them shallow or boring and say that they don't have a mind and opinion of their own. And like my first point, I think that it fits the story very well. I mean, how would you be able to have your own opinion if the Union tells you what is good, what is bad, what you can read and what you can watch? They give the people no chance to rebel or to have a different opinion then the Union. So it fits the characters very well and I also think that Condie has done a great job with the character growth of Cassia and some others. In the beginning they are these mindless little puppets, just doing as they are told and as the story progress they start to rebel, they start to see that the Union hasn't created a perfect world and the way that they deal with it is written down in an amazing way and I have so much respect for Condie because of that. 
Even though the book isn't fast paced the ending is very exciting and very open. You can't say exactly what will happen in the next book, just some minor guesses but nothing concrete. I find that very nice and very frustrating because I want to know and read more! Another thing that you get to realize by the ending is that the book isn't just about romance, even though the title might suggest it. It's also about making your own opinion and daring to share that with the world even though they might not agree with you. I find it a very strong and nice theme for this book.

Recommend it?
Yes! Very much yes! Don't let all those comments of slow pace and shallow characters discourage you. If you take the time you will find out that Matched is a very nice and well thought dystopian novel which is about more then just romance. It's about creating your own personality and opinion and of the need to be free and state them if you want to. A very strong and well worked out theme.