Tag Archives: kristen simmons
Breaking Point
Article 5, Book 2
Juvenile Fiction
Tor Teen
2014-01-07
416
After escaping prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings are taken in by the Resistance, but when Ember tops the government's most-wanted list, Chase urges her to run and Ember must decide whether to hide again or fight back.
Review:
I really enjoyed “Article 5” and had high hopes for the series. Unlike many dystopias, this series continued even more strongly than it began, with “Breaking Point” upping the ante on everything in the lives of Ember and Chase.
This book was nonstop from the minute I picked it up, with no lulls to speak of throughout. I found myself wondering if all of it could happen within the specified amount of time, and much to my surprise, the author answered the question herself in her notes. Someone was put in charge of making sure their calendar was logistically possible, and they accomplished a herculean test by mapping all of it out. Though they may be tired, our young protagonists kept it all real.
The writing, which was not bad at all to begin with, noticeably improved with “Breaking Point”. None of it felt awkward and the flow was good. The characters developed in important ways, leaving even the minor characters with fully developed backstories. It isn’t difficult to care about them and their fate.
I wholeheartedly recommend the series. It’s a new take on the old dystopian tropes that is both terrifying and thrilling. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one.
Content Warning:
Strong Language, Animal Death, Violence, Brief Sexual Situations
Article 5
Article 5, Book 1
Juvenile Fiction
Tor Teen
2013-01-08
384
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 The Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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. 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:
“Article 5” is a dystopian novel that is set in a world where a super-charged version of the moral majority has taken over in a civil war. Ember is forcibly removed from her home for committing the “crime” of being born out-of-wedlock. When she is arrested by the former boyfriend who was drafted into the military, her entire world seems to fall apart.
This was a terrifying book for me and a good cautionary tale against becoming overzealous with ruling by morality alone. What I would have liked to see more of was the backstory of how the war started and why they ended up in such a dire governmental system. The book would have been much more enjoyable had those explanations been present, but I am holding out hope that it is covered in the next installment.
Ember is a character about whom I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, she has led a sheltered life in one very small section of a city, only to be suddenly yanked into a very terrifying world. On the other, she seems hellbent on not trusting Chase, who can reasonably expect to be changed due to traumatic circumstances. The problem is that she does not bother to ask, or believe a word or action from him, and it became frustrating to me. She is an intelligent girl, so writing her with such a slow ability to adapt in some areas while adapting quickly in others was very out of character.
The action is what makes me want more. It was fast-paced and intense. Lots of questions are unanswered, but the end of the book and change in character awareness make me want to know more. I have high hopes that the next book will build on the improvements found at the end of this one. The writing is solid and obviously from a talented author who has the potential for great storytelling.
Content Warning:
Language, Violence, Sexual Situations
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