Book Club Kits: Matched

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Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

• In Matched, author Ally Condie has created a world with no choices. How would you feel about this? Would there be any positive aspects to limiting or removing choices for everyone? What are the negative aspects?
  
  
• Would there be advantages to having your “perfect match” chosen for you? What would those advantages be? What would the disadvantages be?
  
  
• Why was the sorting performed by humans rather than computers in the Society?
  
  
• If Cassia had never seen Ky’s face at the end of her video, would she have been perfectly happy with Xander? Why wasn’t she happy with Xander once she saw Ky’s face?
  
  
• Was Ky really entered into the matching pool by mistake, or was there something more sinister going on behind the scenes? Was it truly random that Cassia happened to be matched to two different boys that she actually knew?
  
  
• Cassia is to be assigned as a data sorter. If you were to be assigned a role in The Society what would it be and why?
  
  
• Why did the Society cut down all of the trees in Cassia’s neighborhood?
  
  
• What is the purpose of the three emergency tablets each member of the Society is required to carry with them at all times? Why is Cassia encouraged to never take the green tablet? Consider the lack of effectiveness the tablets have on both Xander and Ky. In your opinion, does this put them at an advantage?
  
  
• What artifact from your life would you choose to pass down to your children or grandchildren? Why is that item significant to you?
  
  
• Why did the Society go to such great lengths to restrict citizens’ access to music, art, literature and films?
  
  
• Cassia has a special relationship with her grandfather. Why do you think he gave her the poem even though it was so dangerous?
  
  
• Why do think that Cassia is so inspired by Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night?” Does her understanding of the poem change throughout the novel?
  
  
• Now that you’ve read Matched, will you read the sequel, Crossed? What questions do you hope the author answers in the next book?