Review: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Article 5
Author:Kristen Simmons
Release Date: January 13, 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen
Article 5 Book #1
ISBN:   1429987731
ISBN13: 9781429987738
Genre: Young Adult/ Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Publisher 

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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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

I am so loving the Dystopian genre. I really didn't know what Dystopian was until the beginning of 2011 but I have not read one yet.

When Ember's mom is arrested for violating Article 5 Ember is taken away to be rehabilitated. The story follows Ember's journey to escape and find her mother at any cost. Chase the one person she loved and lost when he became a soldier has a huge part in helping her along the way.

Ember was erratic, loyal, frustrating and hard headed but easy to root for. The one thing that was super annoying about her was her all out obsession with finding her mom it was a little over the top. I definitely thought she should be worried but it kinda consumed her and the decisions she made because of her obsession made me want to scream at her most of the time. Chase was hard to read but everything he did had a purpose and brought a little more understanding to the inner workings of his character. Their relationship was full of tension and frustration but was worth the struggle to get them together to were they needed to be in the end.

The world building was fantastic. I could not imagine living with the ridiculous rules that Americans have to in Kristen's story. There was a ton of action and suspense throughout ARTICLE 5. The tension was knocked up a peg at every turn and the writing sucked me in. Count book 2 a must have on my wishlist.

I gave it 5/5 stars