Title: Article 5
Author: Kristen Simmons
Pages: 364
Release: January 31st, 2012
Synopsis:
(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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with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.
My Thoughts:
Article 5 is a book that I probably would not have
picked up on my own. I was not a big fan of the cover, but one day I turned on my
nook to find it was in the library. Only to find out later that my dad thought
it looked good and bought it.(Yeah, my Dad reads YA books! He’s just that
awesome!) It turned out that my dad had the better judgement this time around
because Article 5 was great!
Article 5 is a dystopian set in several different states
in the US. One thing I immediately loved was that the main character Ember was
from Louisville, KY, so she’s from the same state as me. I don’t know why but I
always feel very proud when books are set in my state because we are generally
not a popular setting for a book. Speaking of Ember, she is a really
interesting character. Half of the time I really love her but most of the time
I am saying “EMBER! Y U NO LISTEN?!?!” because she NEVER listens and makes very
impulsive decisions. That also makes her character very realistic in my
opinion. There’s also Chase who I won’t say much about cause I feel like he’s
one of the best aspects of the book, but he is the kind of character that
breaks your heart and then re-mends it several times throughout the book.
I was a little slow to warm up to Article 5 but once I
got past the first 50 pages I was hooked. It’s a great story that kept me
wanting more and was very hard to put down. It also appears that it will be a series, although it could totally be a standalone book and is summed up in the end very nicely.
In Short:
Rating: 4/5
Purchase or Check Out?: Purchase
Would I read it again?: Yes
