Article 5: Book Review

Article 5

Kristen Simmons
Tor Teen
January 31st 2012
Young Adult | Dystopian | Romance

Official Blurb -

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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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

This book really is more of a romance than anything else. This isn't necessarily a bad thing unless you are opposed to romance being the main staple of a book. As far as all things unrelated to romance there isn't much. Only a handful of days pass during the whole book. They aren't boring days but very action packed. Most of them are full of close calls. In fact the moments without romantic elements are really extreme. I almost put the book down I was so horrified by the cruelty of this world. Ember gets punished simply for being alive. Those who are in control are malicious and take pleasure in inflicting pain on others. Thankfully just as the violence was going to go too far the character is in a different situation with a bit more freedom. The rest of the book is emotional fodder that provides for characters that can really draw your attention. No matter how horrified I was by the cruelty on the pages I just had to know what would happen to the main characters. The memory replay was a really nice touch for this story. It was a great way to get familiar with the delicate intricacies of the characters. Ember also became so much more real as she would compare current moments with those of the past and try to find her way between the two. She had such a hard time discerning her way at times because she was so caught up in believing that the past was the only way it could be.

Miscommunication is the drill for this romance. Ember and Chase are so lost in their own minds they can't see what is so obvious in front of them. Yet even with their troubles they are great characters. There is a point near the end that I was severely disappointed with Ember. She gets a bit too careless and cruel.

To wrap it up, I would say this book is a mix of Jane Eyre, Persuasion, and a splash of dystopian. Once you get past the concentrated violence at the beginning of the book it is very hard to put the book down. Not even the sense of impending doom will break your need to turn another page. Hard to read yet even harder to forget. It will haunt you until you finish.

Content:

Sexual: Mild

Violence: Heavy
Swearing: Mild