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 The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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 behaviour - 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 non-compliance 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.
http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/article-5-by-kirsten-simmon.html Article 5 was entertaining, but somewhat predictable. An authoritative and cruel government creating a well behaved society where no one is granted individuality, a common theme with Dystopian novels, but the storyline seemed to lose it's way.
What begun as a false imprisonment, a cruel detention center for girls where they are beaten and tortured if they step out of line, morphs into a road trip once Ember has been freed. The action them settles into a strange lull through the bulk of the second half, only to explode once again with only a chapter or two to go. It was good, not great though.
I did enjoy the characters, even the villains, which were difficult to identify. I've noticed with my focus on Dystopian novels this month, reading them back to back, that the majority either fall into the category of being incredible and blow your socks off, or they're safe, predictable and boring.
Sadly, this didn't blow my socks off, but overall, still somewhat entertaining.
