All her life, Cassia has been waiting for this moment. Now that she’s seventeen, she is eligible to be Matched. In under an hour, she’ll be told the name of her optimal partner, the person she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Nervous but excited, she shares the moment with her best friend Xander who is also preparing to be Matched. Never could she imagine that his is the face that she will see as her Match – but only after another face flashes before her and then quickly disappears from the screen.

As curiosity gets the better of her Cassia sets out in search of the boy that could have – perhaps should have – been her Match, Ky Markham. It is almost by accident that she finds him and when he helps her conceal a dangerous secret, they form a close bond that could just be the end of everything they hold dear. They both know that the rules the Society has put in place must be strictly adhered too or they risk losing their Citizen status and become an Aberration. Even as Cassia feels her friendship with Xander beginning to strain under the pressure of her new found relationship, she is beginning to realise that something isn’t quite right about the Society and that her bond with Ky could be the catalyst to a discovery that will change their world forever.

Dystopian young adult fiction doesn’t get any better than this. With heart-pounding suspense and danger lurking around every corner, Cassia’s journey of awakening is a gripping read. It is also a beautiful, heartbreaking story of first love and the consequences of seeking the truth and not liking what you may find. Matched, and the other two books that follow, Crossed and Reached, are a series that will open your mind, break your heart and then piece you back together again.