Review: Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons

Breaking Point

Kristen Simmons

Series: Article 5, #2
Genre: YA Dystopia
Publication date: February 12nd 2013
by Tor Teen

After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.

Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper’s true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….

Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself.

Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways.

With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding…or fight back?

*A copy was provided by Macmillan for review*

 

As I got back into the desolation that is is Ember's world, it didn't take long until the rush of it all came right back. The first book, Article 5, was a lot of fun with tons of action and wonderful characters, leaving me dying for this one. The sequel begins where Article 5 one left off, with short recaps along the way for those of you, like me, who forget everything they've read previously. I often have difficulty getting into a sequel because don't remember the story, nor my connection to the characters, but Kristen has a great way of bringing it all back as if no time had passed.

In Article 5 she created a world that was extremely dreary, yet believable for a futuristic setting; in Breaking Point, we get to see even more of that world. We're brought into conspiracies and meet rebels who are trying, like everyone else, to survive and get justice in this cruel controlled environment they've been forced to endure. And in this world, we have Ember and Chase who are on the run after faking their death. These character, who I already greatly enjoyed in the first book, go through even more development and growth in this sequel, both individually and together as a couple. Ember becomes even stronger after having to live through so much loss and pain, rediscovering who she is. Her courage and will make her a great protagonist for this story. However, I found the side characters to be the ones who really stood out for me this time. Their personalities and charisma shine through, and they're all dealing with their own personal issues which add in interesting, sometimes mysterious, subplots.

The plot does not cease either, there is action in this novel from beginning to end. We cover a lot of ground, discovering more of the workings of this world along the way. When the adrenaline finally breaks, we get to enjoy the sweet romance that mists this series. There is less of it in this sequel than its predecessor, though I never once thought there wasn't enough. I appreciate the fact that they have a believable relationships that doesn't need to be overly dramatic or mushy. It's there, it exists no doubt, and it's completely real, but it doesn't become the essence of the story. I also commend Kristen for not daring to a love triangle when it's clearly not needed.

A sequel with minimal middle book vibe is always a satisfying read. Breaking Point does just that, progressing the story to a point that is sure to bring us into an exciting finale in book 3!
 

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The Article 5 Series

Find my review of Article 5, here!

Cover Reveal x 4

All the Broken Pieces
Cindi Madsen
Release date: December 11th 201
by Entangled Publishing

 

What if your life wasn't your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

The S-Word

Chelsea Pitcher

Release date: January 8th 2013

by Simon & Schuster

 

Lizzie wasn’t the first student at Verity High School to kill herself this year. But the difference is, she didn’t go quietly.

First it was SLUT scribbled all over the school’s lockers. But one week after Lizzie Hart takes her own life, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie’s own looping scrawl. Photocopies of her diary show up in the hands of her classmates. And her best friend, Angie, is enraged.

Angie stopped talking to Lizzie on prom night, when she caught Lizzie in bed with her boyfriend. Too heartbroken to ask for an explanation or to intervene when Lizzie got branded Queen of the Sluts and was cruelly bullied by her classmates, Angie left her best friend to the mercy of the school, with tragic results.

But with this new slur, Angie’s guilt transforms into anger that someone is still targeting Lizzie even after her death. Using clues from Lizzie’s diary and aided by the magnetic, mysterious Jesse, Angie begins relentlessly investigating who, exactly, made Lizzie feel life was no longer worth living. And while she might claim she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, her anguish over abandoning and then losing her best friend drives Angie deeper into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Breaking Point
Kristen Simmons
Series: Article 5, #2
Release date: February 5th 2013
by Tor Teen

 

No synopsis available

Article 5 series so far:

Touched

Corrine Jackson

Release date: November 27th 2012

by Kensington Teen

 

Remy O'Malley has the power to heal people with her touch, but here ability comes at a steep cost, Every illness or injury she heals becomes her own.

Don't know about your, but there's lots of eye popping om my end! First of all, All the Broken Pieces! LOVE love it! It vaguely reminds me of the cover for Shift by Em Bailey, too. The S-Word may look plain, but I read that the cover was going to be indented where all the markings are so that could be really neat! Breaking Point! OH EM GEE I'm excited for that sequel! I loved Article 5 and this cover just rocks my face! And for Touched, I like the simplicity. The synopsis doesn't give much away but it does reminds me of Touch of Power. I'm definitely going to check ALL of these out!

What do YOU think, lovelies?

Review: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Article 5
Kristen Simmons
Release date: January 31st, 2012
by Tor Teen

Goodreads / Purchase

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.

*A copy was provided by Tor Teen for review purposes*

Imagine a world where Hitler would have won. A world where if you don't follow the right religion, you won't ever be seen again. A world where its against the law to hang out with the opposite sex after curfew unless you're married. A world where being born from an unwed mother can get you killed - or worse. This is life in Kristen Simmons' Article 5. It's a truly frightening world where everyone is helpless against this corrupt government and their inconceivable rules.

There is barely any room to breathe during this story. It's so action packed that I'm surprised the pages can stay intact. This is surprisingly not overwhelming, however. It simply makes it a book that keeps you reading until you turn the very last page. As someone who's read a lot of dystopians, this one still stands out and brings about a new shocking world that can't help but fascinate you. It's not a fun dystopian like Divergent or Uglies where you get a cheerful rush from the new exciting future before it turns ugly. This one starts, and ends, with the characters running for their lives. This is serious from the start; you are scared for them on Every. Single. Page.

Our protagonist Ember is a character that matures tremendously during this novel. She starts off as this timid girl, blind to the cruel world around her, but once her mother is arrested she is forced to grow strong and confident if she plans on surviving -and she does. Although she does tend to self-blame a lot which gets increasingly worse as the stress of the situation builds on her. This is probably the intention of the author, but it can get just a tad frustrating at times. Her incredible determination still makes it easy to root for her. I also enjoyed her relationship with Chase which is extremely rocky, like walking on eggshells. He's been broken by what he went through since the war. Kristen writes his unpredictable state of mind incredibly well.

As a dystopian, Article 5 delivers with a gruesome world, non stop action and heart pounding energy. Fans of Veronica Roth's Divergent and Marie Lu's Legend should get a kick out of this!

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