Article 5

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., have all 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The Bill of RIghts has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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 don't usually 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 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.

In the three years since the war ended, 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 what's worse, one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings...the only boy Ember has ever loved.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved this book! It was sucn an intoxicating read! Scary too! Not in the "monsters and give you nightmares" way, but in the "this could seriously happen someday" way. There was so much intensity, and raw emotion in this book!

I loved the characters! Ember, who only wants to be with her mom and stay under the radar. Chase who loves Ember so much he risks everything for her. I did get a little frusterated with them at times. It is sooo obvious how much they care for each other and yet, they are both so stubborn and keep pushing each other away. There was a part where they finally reconciled and I was breathing a sigh of relief...only to have it yanked away moments later! AUGH!!

The world that Simmons throws us into is no place I would want to be! It is scary, cut throat and you wonder how anyone could have survived...and to continue to want too! The ending was perfect...just enough to wet your appetite for the next one!

I gave this book 5 apples!