Title: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
Published: January 31st, 20152 by Tor Teen
Source:
Library
Format: Audio
book
Challenge(s): Support Local Library, ABC Challenge, Debut Challenge
Grade rate: B
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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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 usually don't 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 for her 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.
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 one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.
My Review
Well, Article 5 is
a very different dystopian, actually the worst imaginable future. I did enjoy the story though.
Overall I liked Ember’s character. She was resourceful, brave, and loyal, BUT I
had a few issue with her. She was
impulsive and did things without thinking that nearly got her killed and
certainly got her in deep trouble. The
inner workings of her mind were strange.
I mean, anyone could see from
a hundred miles away that Chase was crazy in love with her (but her, of
course!) I don’t want to spoil the book
for you, thus I will restrain myself of telling you the specifics of the dumb
decisions she made. I am glad that she
seemed to be more mature by the ending of the book.
On the other hand, I LOVE Chase. Ember and Chase were next door neighbors and
have more or less been in love with each other forever. For reasons unknown Ember figures out that he
stopped loving her after being drafted; I don’t think she ever thought of what
poor Chase had to go through. Chase is
loyal, loving, practical, capable and gorgeous, his one and only focus is Ember
and how to keep her safe. I love knights
in shining armor, and Chase did not disappoint. Other characters are transient and minor, but
very well crafted.
The story is disconcerting.
From all the dystopian books that I’ve read this is by far the worst
imagined post-war ever. I’m not exactly
sure about the war itself, but the world after is awful. There is a president that seems to think that
reverting back about 100 years ago (in mentality, family structure, and women’s
attire) and talking away all the citizen’s liberties was a good idea. This new world is violent, full of injustice,
starvation, want, need, and dictatorial.
I do hope that the resistance can do something about it and I’m looking
forward to that. The plot is really
good, and the story is full of action. The
writing is very good, well paced, with enough background for us to understand
and follow the story.
About the cover: Yep, that’s about right. All major cities are gone; here we see a
ravaged city with Ember and Chase looking down.
I love the red elements of the title and Chase’s shirt.
I found Ember's decisions annoying at first but at least it gives her room to grow. I wanted a bit more information on the war. Hopefully we find out more in the sequel. Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I liked Chase's shirt on the cover too. :D
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I'm looking forward to reading this one. It's been on my TBR for a while...
I hope you do, all in all it was worth it :)
DeleteFab review! I love the use of red on the cover, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading this one. I'm a (bit) obsessed with dystopian novels at the moment... it's almost masochistic, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI really like the cover of Article 5. It is what first drew me to the story. I loved Chase too, couldn't stand Ember though.
ReplyDeleteGood to know I wasn't alone in my opinion of Ember! Thanks for stopping by :)
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