Mundie Moms

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Interview with Ally Condie, author of Matched

I am so excited to have Ally Condie on our site today. I am a huge fan of her soon to be released book, Matched. Here's a synopsis:

Society MATCHED them, but love set them free.

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Cassia has always trusted their choices. It's barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one...until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path no one has ever dared to follow-between perfection and passion. (quoted from ARC)

How would you describe Matched to our followers?

This is a story about a girl who learns to choose. Who discovers poetry and passion and the ability to create, and who falls in love for the first time.


I really admired Cassia and the choices she makes. What did you admire most about her?

I liked that she was willing to break away from the safety of her very cozy world, but that she also cared about the consequences of that choice and how it might affect others. She’s much more brave than I would be!

What character surprised you the most in terms of their character growth?

Cassia’s parents did. At first, they were kind of bland, generic parents—nice but sort of uninteresting. And then I got the sense that their stories had more depth,that they weren’t entirely who they seemed to be.

As a reader or a writer, what do you like most about a dystopian book?

The first dystopian book I read was 1984 by George Orwell. I loved the sheer terror and agony I felt as I read that book. I think that’s what I still like to find—the fear and catharsis in reading about a world that isn’t your own, but could be unless you do something to help prevent it. I think the best dystopian fiction has this aspect about it—it feels like it truly could be real someday.

If you were a character in Matched, what job would you want to have and why?

I think I’d like to have Cassia’s mom’s job. She works outside with the plants, flowers, etc., and is in the rare position in the Society of actually creating and caretaking something, rather than just guarding or destroying it.

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Thank you Ally for being with us today. Thank you to Penguin!

If you haven't already, I highly recommend pre-ordering Matched. It's a fantastic read!
You can read my review here: http://tinyurl.com/25lrxlz

You can find out more about Matched at these following links:

Breathless Reads commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpUuk60Thx4
Breathless Reads portal site (where there is an excerpt of Matched for download): http://www.breathlessreads.com

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the interview! I can't wait to read this book. I've been entering all the MATCHED giveaways :-)

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  2. Great interview. I can't wait to read this book. I like what she said about dytopian books being able to be real someday if we don't prevent it.

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  3. I loved 1984 and I've been eagerly awaiting Matched's release!!!! Looks awesome!

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  4. I haven't been this excited for a book in a while!

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  5. I pre-ordered this ages ago and I'm eagerly anticipating it's release =D

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  6. Added your button to the top of my blog as you're one of my favourite blogs. :)

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  7. Rachel- Thank you!! I hope you win it!

    Nicole- Thank you, I appreciate that.

    Sophie- You'll love it!

    Aylee- It's a fabulous read!!! All the hype about it is spot on.

    ComaCalm- I hope you enjoy it! I loved it. Thank you so much for adding us to your site!

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  8. :) This is such an awesome interview! I really like the layers to Cassia's parents' characters.

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