Matched

By Ally Condie

4/5

 

I think this is the first book I've read where I've found myself appreciating first person present tense. I was reading book reviews about Matched before I picked it up myself and I kept hearing the same things "beautiful writing" "like poetry" (paraphrasing) so that was something I was paying close attention to from the very beginning, and I would have to say I agree. I still dislike first person present tense as a writing style for the majority of the time but I think in this instance it worked. Especially when we look at the plot it went along with. It somehow fit the storyline and made the whole thing flow. It did remind me of poetry, very drifting and musical, feeding you the characters emotions through words that dwelled on the way the silky green dress felt and the way the lingering dirt on a rock looked. Most YA fiction is very plot driven so the writing style to this book made me happy. Not that I have anything against plot driven books, but it's refreshing to see books like this making an appearance.

 

( I guess part of the reason that I've been reading more YA fiction these days is because I'm a writer. I want to publish my own books someday. It feels a bit one sided, if that makes sense, to be dreaming of publishing my stories and hoping to have them read, when I have hardly read any of current titles. It's also been really interesting, and I've found quite a few of them that I've enjoyed. Plus, it's fun to review YA. There's always plenty to talk about. You have things that you really enjoyed and things that you really disliked. It's no fun to talk about a book that you found nothing to dislike in. You end up just repeating "I just really loved it. You really ought to read." This got a bit off topic but I was really just going to say that as a writer I really enjoyed the writing style in Matched. Bravo, Ally Condie, and I approve of all the book reviews I've read commenting on the writing.)

 

Can I just say that all dystopian novels that I've read have had the same affect on me? I end up walking away feeling very, very thankful. Sure, there's a lot of problems in our world today, but lets take a moment to count our blessings, shall we? Yes, we still have cancer, but would we want to live in Matched where the government is saying who you should marry to ensure good genes matching with good genes leading to a population of perfectly healthy people and thus eliminating cancer? Sure, there's a problem with over eating and under eating, but just take a moment to feel thankful that you know the taste of deliciously baked food, and that your diet isn't being overseen and restricted to the perfect amount of calories. Sure, there are rotten books and music out there, but gosh am I thankful there are if it means that we have an equal amount of GOOD books and GOOD music being created. Would we want to live in a world with just one hundred books and one hundred songs and no creating of anything new? I say long live that rotten paperback being sold at the grocery store if that means a book as good as that one is bad is being written at the same time!

 

Also, I think Matched presents a very good example of what happens when we lose our value for human life. In this story the government sets a year that you get to live to (I think it's eighty) and you get to live till that birthday- and then they kill you. They say it's eliminating all the horrors of old age, sickness and dementia etc. YOU SEE WHERE I'M GOING? It's a very slippery slope, people. First we convince ourselves that abortion is okay, suddenly we're saying it's okay to say "hey, you've reached your eightieth birthday, that's it. Done. Over." Where's the line? /Pro-Life speech for the day.

 

I will say I found the love triangle a bit annoying. I mean, it was better than most. It actually had a point to it, which most love triangles don't, but why are you playing with my emotions like that, book? I don't need this right now. I always, always end up feeling sorry for the poor little third corner of the triangle even if I originally liked the second corner better. Pet peeve = love triangles.

 

On another note, I would like to mention that there was nothing holding me back from recommending it wholeheartedly. No violence etc. (unique in the dystopian genre...) I wouldn't say it's my favorite book of all time, but it's won honorable mention on my list.

 

 

Devergent

By Veronica Roth

4/5

Oh my goodness, I could not put this book down. I read it in less than twenty-four hours and it's a thick book. (Actually, I have to say it's the perfect size. Nice and plump and yet not so thick that it would smash your face in if you dropped it while holding it over your head. Of course, it might give you a bruise but as long as the danger is not life threatening, allowances must be made for plump books. Besides, it would technically be our fault dropping books on our heads. Obviously I don't trust myself when it comes to anvil like books in close proximity to my head.)

Divergent is a dystopian novel (I've read a couple of these the past couple weeks and Divergent has been my favorite so far. That is, if we're not counting Fahrenheit 451. It's an interesting genre.) In this book society has been split into five different factions, each dedicated to upholding one particular virtue: Selflessness, Intelligence, Courage, Peace, or Honesty. On their sixtieth birthday the children of this society must choose which fraction (and virtue) they wish to dedicate their lives to. They may either choose to stay with their parents in the faction they've grown up in, or choose a different faction and separate themselves entirely from their previous lives. A person who is "divergent" shows equal strength in more than one virtue (basically a normal human being, right?) and thus considered dangerous.

What I found fascinating about this book was the idea of dedicating your life to one virtue. It's really thought provoking. Right at the beginning I found myself wondering alongside Tris which faction I would choose if given the choice. I started comparing the value of each virtue; comparing the lifestyles. Which really proves the point doesn't it? The people of this story weren't being forced into submission by an all powerful government (something you see in dystopian novels) they were choosing this life for themselves. (Of course, if they hadn't chosen something bad would most likely have happened, but that aside, THEY WERE CHOOSING) The problem is that all virtues are tied together; out of selflessness comes courage etc. and when we eliminate the other virtues we have an incomplete virtue. The whole point is off. Instead of valuing intelligence as something to be used for the benefit of others, it is used to gain power and riches. Besides which human beings are by nature complicated, their decisions and the conclusions they come to are created by a massive amount of different factors. When we look at a people focused on one thing and one thing only, we are looking at a very disturbing image.

It's a good example at why extremism is so bad. There needs to be some middle ground, a place where people from both sides can come to a compromise. I was doing some research recently for an essay I had to write on political gridlock, and this reminds me of that. Even if something might be good to begin with, when it is blown out of proportion and taken to extremes it loses the original object.

In the end, I started thinking about how beautiful humanity is. God gave us the ability to feel more than one emotion at a time, to think more than one thought. We were given free will and intellect, the ability to be compassionate as well as honest with one another, courageous as well as selfless. People are complicated, and that's what makes them so beautiful. We have the ability to go above and beyond any calculated expectation.

I probably would have given this book 5/5 except for the amount of violence. Too much. There were a couple bits that would make me hesitate to recommend it to everyone. Also. Can I just take a moment to say how much I dislike first person present tense? Ugh. Why is this writing style so popular right now? Present tense is pretty and poetic when used in small doses. VERY small doses. Please, dear young adult authors, no more first person present tense. I'm begging you. It's not poetic. It's robotic. Thank you.