Article 5 Review

Title: Article 5
Author: Kristen Simmons
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: Dystopian, Sci-fi

Blurb: (from goodreads) 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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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.

Me: A fast-paced Dystopian with frightfully real aspects.

The Ups: I think that the most important concept of the book, and what made it stand out from other dystopians, is that the government, the society in this book had the prospect of being real. I mean, anything can happen, but this book felt like it was more realistic than other dystopians I've read. The Moral Militia, the different Articles, the Sisters of Salvation, all targeted concepts that are still concerns today. It made me really think throughout the book of not only how this is something that people around the world might be facing right now, but also how to prevent this from getting so extreme. 

It was also decently easy to get through. I had a hard time getting through the beginning, only because I didn't have much time to read, but I then read the rest of the book in one sitting. I liked Ember, and I think that by connecting to her and watching her make her journey is what really kept me going. It was fast-paced.

I also enjoyed the romance, because it wasn't overpowering. It was nicely embedded into the story and the book didn't revolve around just the romance. 

The Downs: That being said, I felt like the plot was a bit unoriginal and drab. There were no cliffhangers, no moments that I really loved. Chase also got annoying after a while, and sometimes I couldn't quite understand the relationship between him and Ember. Also, besides Ember, I didn't really connect to any of the other characters, which made me feel a bit disconnected from this world they were living in. 

Overall: A good dystopian that made me think. 

Rating: 4 kisses!