Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Title: Article 5
Author: Kristen Simmons
Series: Article 5 #1
Genre: YA/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Dystopian
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Format:  Hardcover copy from personal library

Rating:  Break the Bank!

Synopsis:

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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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

Review:

I've been extremely interested in reading this book since I first came across it on Goodreads.  The premise of the book really caught my attention...No Bill of Rights!?  Men are the breadwinners of the family!?  It goes on and on.  Naturally I pre-ordered this book and did a little happy dance when the UPS man left it on my doorstep for me.

Article 5 did not disappoint.  The best way for me to describe the world in which Ember and Chase live in is....Think of what the world would have been like if Germany and Japan had won WWII. If you don't follow the Moral Statues to the letter you could just up and disappear. What I really loved about this book was that it was non-stop action from the very beginning.

 Ember's mom is arrested for an Article 5 violation and Ember is sent to a reform school.  As the book progresses you learn a lot about Ember and Chase's previous relationship....The one before he was drafted into the MM (Moral Militia as the citizen's refer to the soldiers).  That Chase sounds like a really great guy, the Chase that we see in the book now has "blood" on his hands, he's hard and at times borderline animalistic. Ember I think started out the book in a pretty sheltered life.  Then things hit the fan and Ember's life is all in an upheaval.  When Ember starts learning about how things really are out there in the world in the beginning she seemed a little bit on the weak side but she did toughen up by the end of the book considerably, even though it was a slower progression that I particularly liked.

Overall, Article 5 is a great beginning to this series.  If this book isn't on your wishlist I strongly suggest adding RIGHT NOW!  I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes from the book...

“He was my anchor in the hurricane, yet at the same time, the hurricane itself, so that I nearly always felt safe and afraid simultaneously. There was nothing in the world as confusing and powerful as being close to him.”

“I could not fall back in love with Chase Jennings. Doing so was like falling in love with a thunderstorm. Exciting and powerful, yes. Even beautiful. But violently tempered, unpredictable, and ultimately short-lived.”