Breaking Point (Article 5)
The story that began in Article 5 (2012) continues here as 17-year-old Ember and her boyfriend, former Moral Militia soldier Chase, try to outrun the Federal Bureau of Reformation (FBR). And run and run. There is so much running—including when the duo becomes part of the Resistance—that the choppy story never manages to quite coalesce. Even those who like action might find what’s here a little hard to follow. Still, this has some good character development as Ember and Chase attempt to become closer to each other, in spite of the fact that there is still so much bad history between them. When the character of Tucker, the soldier who killed Ember’s mother, is reintroduced, there’s plenty of opportunity for skepticism as he tries to prove to Ember and Chase that he is not the wind-up soldier he once was. Simmons has put a lot of heart into her characters, so readers will want to follow them to the next book. But the momentum seems to be with the FBR. Watch out, guys. Grades 7-12, --Ilene Cooper