A man whose future is assigned – A heart that yearns to be free.Lee Kennedy’s destiny is controlled by the Algorithm. It’s the reason he’s still in college, regardless of his good academic performance. He’s switched his major repeatedly and stalled on his Master’s thesis, but there’s only so much longer he can hold out. Because once he graduates, the Algorithm must be triggered.Everyone in Lee’s … triggered.
Everyone in Lee’s family has allowed the Algorithm to match them with a spouse. As has everyone on his block. His neighborhood. In fact, everyone he’s ever known. Pairing with his own chosen match seems inevitable…until, at his sister’s wedding, he meets Roman.
The waiter lives in the Taxable District, a run-down neighborhood that’s only a brief train ride away, but feels like another world. The seedy District is governed by different standards—different expectations—so it’s not exactly a surprise that Roman isn’t married. But it’s definitely a shock to taste his lips.
One forbidden encounter has Lee reeling. He questions everything. His past. His future. And especially the Algorithm. He longs for the freedom to choose not only his own partner, but his own destiny.
When defying the Algorithm will cost everything—family, home, and even livelihood—is Lee strong enough to take another path?
If you like journeys of self-discovery with a futuristic bent, you’ll love this complete standalone story of character-driven adventure.
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Jordan Castillo Price always finds a way to put a unique spin on dystopian society, and her Imperfect Match is a clever take on predestined mates. There’s wonderful world building in this one, which is no surprise to fans of Price’s other wonderful novels. Imperfect Match stands alone, and makes a fantastic audiobook.
The audio edition is narrated by Joel Leslie, who makes full use of his extensive range of voices. There’s a diverse group of characters in Imperfect Match which varies between the highly educated folks of the Benefit Sector and the low income residents of the Taxable District. I enjoyed the snark he infuses in the discourse between the two groups. It made for some terrific scenes, and Mr. Leslie makes the most of Price’s quick-witted dialogue.
There’s a fair bit of tongue in cheek humor centering around the main character, Lee, and his excessive reluctance to committing to a loveless marriage. I enjoyed watching him step outside his cloistered world and find a way out of his predestined future. It takes some real courage, but Lee seizes control of his life and works hard to find his happily-ever-after.
Beautifully written, with interesting characters, and some fantastic love scenes, Jordan Castillo Price’s Imperfect Match is a winner!
an audiobook copy of Imperfect Match was provided to me by the author for the purpose of my review
This is a cool take on arranged marriage in the future. I’m not crazy about hard core sci-fi so thank goodness this isn’t that. It’s more of what would it look like if people of a certain class all get partnered based on an algorithm instead of free will and choice. I’m still waiting to find out what happened to birth the algorithm that drives everything, so that is odd.
Lee is a guy desperately trying to avoid the algorithm. He doesn’t want to marry, but the taxes imposed on his family if he doesn’t are astronomical. So here comes Roman, a man giving Lee practical advice on his brother of the bride speech and information. Information is Lee’s catnip. And oooh! My catnip is cool metaphors.
Lee balks at drinking vodka straight. So Roman takes a knife, jabs at the ice sculpture of flowers and flicks off a petal, which he gives to Lee. Then he licked his thumb and smoothed over the spot so it blends. So yeah, he just chipped off a bit of Happiness, Hope and Love and handed it to Lee. Insert hearts in eyes here.
Okay, I will confess that I didn’t catch the subtext until the second listen and found even more on the fourth. Hehe. I love it when an entertaining story can be re-read and enjoyed in different ways many times over.
And I soooo enjoyed this story. I was not a fan of the narrator’s performance, though. Lee’s voice reminded me of Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island during the first listen because it sounds querulous and posh. Sigh. I mean, it fits the character like it should so I can’t hate it. The accent didn’t deter me from listening to this story multiple times and it won’t stop me from doing so in the future. I CAN hope for a sexier voice for the MC’s. That’s the only reason the performance is a 4.5 instead of 5. Overall, Joel Leslie is very good at bringing the story to life.
“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.”
Audible Review:
Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars
I wouldn’t mind more!
Imperfect Match was such an interesting story. I really wasn’t sure what to expect going in, as Jordan Castillo Price is a fairly new to me author, (I’ve only read a short story by her) but I knew I’d at least enjoy Joel Leslie’s the narration. I’m happy to report I not only enjoyed the narration, I really enjoyed the story as well!
I’m a fan of dystopian tales, and even though this was a short listen/read, JCP created a an intriguing world and characters I came to care about. Lee was quite an endearing rebel, although I’m not sure he’d consider himself a rebel- he was just doing what he could to avoid a situation he didn’t care for! Along the way he really comes into his own, which sounds kind of an odd thing to say about an almost 30yo, but considering the circumstances not too surprising.
Meeting Roman triggers something in Lee, making him realize exactly why he’s been resisting bending to societial requirements. Roman was good for Lee, opening his eyes, showing him that things could be different.
But I liked how Lee took his time to figure himself out first, before embarking on a new relationship.
I found the end of the story to be really sweet and would have definitely liked a bit more!
And sure, it would have been nice to learn a little more about how their world came to be- how and why society was divided like it was, but overall this was very engaging story.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.