Review #139: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Article 5 is the first in a series by Kristen Simmons. Goodreads states:

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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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

I gotta be honest, I almost gave up on this novel. For the first half, I just wasn't interested. Then I decided to not give up, and Article 5 turned out pretty decent. I found the concept incredibly scary, as well as interesting as a dystopia. I can't explain why, but that first half just threw me off, and I was utterly bored. Thankfully, the second half picked up, and I was completely hooked. The pace picked up, the romance developed more, it was all so freaking good. Definitely made me want to continue this series.

Ember was awesome. I loved how she went from subtly subverting the new regime to outright fighting back, it was glorious. I rooted for her the whole time, wanting to succeed. Her growth was perfect for this novel. Chase............I don't know how to feel about him. For a good chunk of the novel, despite his intentions/actions, was a huge asshole. I'm sorry, but he was. he got better during the second half, and grew on me. I will make my final ruling on him when I read the second book. Characters like Sean made the novel better, and I loved the wide cast of different but vibrant side characters. 


Ms. Simmons' style is touch and go for me. Like I said, I hated the first half of the novel, so there's the touch and go part. I did like how she built her world, it was extremely interesting and frightening. I just hope she explains more on why the War occurred and why the country ended up the way it did. 

Was it worth the hype? Eh, sort of.


I'll next be reviewing Everneath by Brodi Ashton.

Until next time, viva la literature!