4 Stars | Through a Seattle Looking Glass

Cassia Reyes has been waiting seventeen years to attend her Matching ceremony. A right of passage event when eligible teenagers receive their chosen matched partner. The officials have worked everything out. Each citizen is prepared to have the maximized proficiency for their life: Food is fuel, not taste, activities are for body performance, not enjoyment and life moves on with peace.

Cassia receives her match and her life is scheduled to be everything she had hoped. Until the day when there’s a flicker of doubt on her tablet screen. Suddenly someone else replaces, if only for a brief second, her match’s face. This doubtful seed gives birth to a love Cassia is not supposed to feel. A strict follower of the rules Cassia begins to see them for what they are. In a world full of control can there be room for freedom?

I’ve been so excited to get my hands on Matched. I loved the premise of the story and I can’t wait to continue Cassia’s story. I see it as a Young Adult version of Orwell’s 1984. I was struck by the sadness of the loss of physical writing. It’s such a simple little detail, but it’s a relevant one that goes unnoticed today. The passing of Cassia’s grandfather is also more emotional than most YA’s go.

The emotion that is engrossed in the pages gives the book a broader audience, meaning that younger readers will enjoy the love and romance, whilst older ones will see the deeper meanings. Condie has got more than just a romance on her hands and I thrilled that the final instalment in the series, Reached was published last month. If you’re not a fan of romance there is other interesting aspects to this book so please don’t be thrown. Matched is not a traditional romance Young Adult!

Logan Langly is twelve years old living in the small town of Spokie, a part of New Chicago. Soon he will receive his Mark allowing him to get a job, ride public transport and buy things. It’s a right of passage, the right of pledging to become a full citizen of American Union. Everyone is excited to get his or her Mark this year, everyone that is except for Logan.

Five years before, Logan’s sister Lily went for her Mark but never returned. Ever since that tragic day Logan has been convinced he’s being watched, hunted with no idea why. When he goes for his Mark, he’s sure to come back isn’t he? The bumps in the night sing a different tune and Logan will have to make up his mind what to believe in before his 13^th birthday and time is running out.

I was surprised and unaware that this book was written for the middle school range. It took me a while to remember my books of my youth such as Animorphs and Goosebumps to get my head around this kind of story. It’s a bit younger than what I like but once I was able to get into the right age frame I grew to enjoy the book and was impressed with the effective story telling.

Swipe is more than just a story of a missing sister, there is so much more to this new North American world. The aspect of politics is slowly introduced and the struggles of family life because of survival make this a darker read than I expected. The characters are full of life and each has a clear and consistent voice. Most of the characters are male as well and although ‘romance’ is slightly present it doesn’t distract from the real heart of the story: reuniting a family. An excellent book for boys who don’t like to read, I’d suggest Angler’s series to anyone who has a tween-aged reader.