Matched

Mar 18

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

To avoid the wars that plagued the pre-cured world, the government in Delirium has come up with a cure for the ultimate disease, love. And Lena Holoway, a 17-old girl living in Portland, Maine, is eagerly counting down the days until she is cured. But then as she enters the summer before her cure, a series of events cause Lena to start questioning not only the strict rules of her society, but, as she becomes infected by love, even the cure itself.

If you loved Matched, you should definitely check out Delirium. Like Cassia’s world in Matched, the government in Delirium chooses your mate, the number of children you will have, your job, basically every facet of your life. Unlike Cassia’s world, the government in Delirium goes one step further. They remove the ability to love, and with the removal of this emotion, they gain even more control of their citizens. With the loss of love, you also lose part of your identity.

When you think of the initial idea behind this book, it seems like it could become a bit trite. But as the story evolves, you find yourself drawn into this world, empathizing with the characters, feeling their pain and their ultimate loss. Oliver has taken a seemingly simplistic concept and created a rich work.

Her characters are equally rich. They are each motivated by their own complex issues. As you learn more about each character, you discover their true depth, and you want to see them succeed.

The writing was also a pleasure to read. Oliver’s use of imagery was magical, creating rich descriptions in ways I never could have thought of, but which so perfectly described things. It was like candy for my senses.

This book is a must read, especially for fans of Matched. As a bonus, while not as dark, Delirium, is also a great void-filler for those Hunger Games fans out there still feeling empty by the ending of the Hunger Games Trilogy.

Feb 18

Matched, by Ally Condie

Rating: 5 out of 5

Cassia lives in a world where Society makes all of her decisions: what to eat, what to study, what career to undertake, and, most importantly, who to marry. And Cassia is fine with this. She believes in Society’s decisions, and so when Xander’s face appears at her Matching Ceremony, Cassia accepts that he is her best option for a future mate. Until Ky’s face appears on her chip. Although she is told that it was merely a glitch, that Xander is still her match, Cassia cannot stop thinking about Ky and wondering ‘what if?’. As she questions her Match, Cassia also starts to question Society as a whole and for the first time in her life, she wonders whether Society has a right to control her life.

For starters, the cover is amazing. And once you’ve read this book, you will see how appropriate it is too. If there is any book you are going to judge by it’s cover, let it be this one. Whoever designed this cover, I want them to design the cover for my future books. But moving on to the actual story.

At the beginning of the book, I was reminded of DuPrau’s City of Ember. Cassia’s world is ordered in a similar way to Ember. The citizens are told what to do and they do it. The only difference is that in Cassia’s world, the decisions are made by mathematical equations and super computers. Probabilities determine the best course of action.

As the book progressed, it diverged from City of Ember. Matched is intended for an older audience. The characters and their conflicts are more mature. The consequences more dyer.

Condie does an excellent job creating this new world. The tension and the need to conform to the rules set forth by society drip from the pages. I could clearly see the world; I felt anxiety for the characters, about the decisions they were making, and the ones they were not making.

In addition to the world creation, I also enjoyed the character development. Most characters, even secondary characters, grew as the book progressed. This helped to create a dynamic story. So often in books only 1 or 2 characters show real growth, but I could see the change in many characters as the hold of Society began to slip, as more people began to question the role of Society.

The interactions between the characters was also very well done. There were back stories and different levels of tension, and everything was revealed slowly, adding to the reality of this world and these characters.

All in all, I thought this was a wonderful book and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Nov 30

Phew. The last day of November. I just uploaded my 50K+ words to NaNoWriMo and received my winner badge. And now I can get back to a regular blogging schedule.

Since I’ve been a bit awol as of late, I thought I’d give a little summary of the things you’ve missed during the writing marathon I just underwent. So here goes:

I decided on the new design for my website. It should be up and running by the end of the year. Can you guess which design I went with?
I saw the new Harry Potter Movie. Review to follow, but just as a teaser, I was pretty impressed and now I feel like I have to reread the book. More on that though.
My work started blogging. Ok, I started blogging for work, but I’m roping in some additional authors from around the archaeology lab. If you have ever wondered what a real life museum person/archaeologist does, you should check out the NMSC Archeology Blog. It will also give you some insight into what I do when I’m not writing.
I went home for the first time in 2 years and met my niece for the first time (she’s 2 in February). I also saw my almost 4 year old nephew. Not only are they super cute, but they reminded me about the little things kids find fascinating.
I’ve read a lot. Hard to believe with all the writing, I know, but this month I’ve read: Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews; The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong; The Awakening, Kelley Armstrong; & The Angel Experiment, James Patterson. I’m currently reading The Duff, Kody Keplinger and School’s Out-Forever, James Patterson. As of this afternoon I will also be adding Matched, Ally Condie to my reading list, which came out today. So I’ve been busy and am now way behind on book reviews, but before you know it, I’ll be all caught up, I promise.
And, my biggest achievement – I finished NaNoWriMo! My first draft is not finished, but I’ve made pretty good progress. And, now that NaNo is over, it means I can return to my other WIP. The away time has been good and I’m ready to dive back in and get that sucker ready to go.

It’s been a busy month and I won’t lie. I’m kind of happy to see it come to a close. How was your November? Any exciting things happen? Did you catch any good books or movies? Come up with a new idea for a book? Any big plans for December in preparation for the start of another new year?

Book Review Friday – Delirium

Book Review Friday: Matched

November Roundup