Matched

Matched by Ally Condie, 369 pages

This is yet another futuristic young adult novel featuring a heroine trapped in a love triangle. Cassia's life is monitored and regulated beyond comprehension, down to how many calories she eats each day and who she'll marry. When she's matched to marry her best friend Xander (who I kept picturing as the character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), she's convinced that the system works…until a different name and face pops up on the info card about her future mate. The whole story revolves around Cassia's internal fight: does she stick with the system or risk being ostracized or banished by bucking the rules?

Cassia comes down on the midpoint on the Katniss-Bella scale of YA heroines. She seems a bit too gun-shy to pull off something worthy of even one of Katniss' milder moments, but she isn't quite as much of a pansy as Bella. Condie left this book ripe for a sequel and I can only hope she'll let Cassia become more of a rebel as the series progresses.