Review: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

From the ARC:

ARC, 364 pages

January 31, 2012, Tor Teen

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police – instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior – instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested don’t usually come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

In the three years since the war ended, Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And what’s worse, one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

Source: Alexis from Tor Teen (Thank you!!)

My Thoughts:

Ember Miller has learned the art of surviving in her harsh world. She blended in, managed to pass random house inspections despite the fact that her house was filled with contraband and she lived on after Chase left. But everything changed when her mother was arrested for noncompliance to Article 5, for having a child born out of wedlock. Ember was taken to reformatory and rehabilitation center for girls who were now ‘properties’ of FBR (Federal Bureau of Reformation.)

Ember was fiercely loyal, protective and determined. After her mom was arrested, Ember didn’t stop trying to find her. I love Ember’s strong connection with her mother. Ultimately, this love was what pushed Ember forward. But in a reformatory where every girl who ever tried to escape was dead, how could Ember possibly get out?

Chase Jennings was Ember’s first love. He was a soldier working for the FBR, the military unit that made sure everyone followed the Moral Statutes. However, being a soldier meant that he needed to change and FBR’s ways of convincing people to change were not exactly pleasant. I was introduced to two kinds of Chases. The first was the new Chase: calculating, distant, cold, hard and practical. He was a deadly killing machine. He was also good-looking and at 6’3, he towered over everybody and his new attitude put a neon sign on him saying ‘irresistible bad boy.’ He was different from the old Chase. The old Chase was thoughtful, concerned and loving. He was sweet and he actually smiled and laughed unlike the new Chase. These two sides collided at times. I could see how they merged together at some scenes in the novel. I liked how the author built Chase’s character. He was just so complex. I loved that about him!

As the two were thrown back together by fate, they must learn to face each other – and their past. The relationship of Ember and Chase was complicated. They were once friends turned lovers who went their separate ways. It reminded me of an old love who came back but couldn’t really pick up the pieces right away. Let’s just say that Chase and Ember’s ‘pieces’ were trampled on, broken into tiny little bits that they’re almost forgotten. Almost but not quite. In Ember’s flashbacks, the zing, the thrill and the sweetness of their relationship poured all over the pages. It was a first, hopeful but brief relationship.

The plot was just wow. It was thrilling, exciting and action-packed. There were real wounds, blood, pain, and danger – the kind that makes even the reader gasp and worry! I can’t spoil you, my dear readers, but I’ll tell you this: it gave the same feeling of adrenaline rush as Divergent & Legend. I was never bored with this! How could I? When in every other scene something good happens?

Simmons’ world was sometimes empty, sometimes chaotic, sometimes terrifying and sometimes inspiring. Imagine a world where there are ‘zones’ that are evacuated and forbidden, with patrol cars roaming the cracked roads and 99% of the vehicles are driven by soldiers who may or may not give you a citation and from time to time, you’ll pass by a bulletin board of some sort wherein the Moral Statutes and the faces of the missing persons are posted. That’s the world of Article 5. People were bound by the Moral Statutes, cuffed by the FBR and restricted by fear. It was startling to see how the lives of two citizens were affected by the ones in power. It was devastatingly realistic. What really terrified me was that it was SO close to reality.

Article 5 is a dark, thrilling, surprising and romantic dystopian journey into the future, the unknown and the past. Beautifully written, breathtakingly, heartbreakingly, earth-shatteringly amazing, this novel blew me away! You need to read this ASAP!! I highly recommend this to dystopian readers and romance readers! Grab Article 5 on January 31!

 

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