A Goodreads Summary...
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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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.
My Summary and Thoughts...
Seeing as how I am going through a hardcore dystopian phase right now, this book definitely fit the bill. (If you are unfamiliar with the dystopian genre, here is an explanation.)
I was fooled by the summary into thinking the entire story would be based on the small description but was happily surprised to find that it only covered the first few chapters of the book. Unfortunately, because of that, I don't want to elaborate too much on the rest of the story for fear I might ruin it for someone.
The heroine of the story, Ember Miller, seems like a normal teenage girl living in what she believes is a normal (by her standards) world. She shoulders the burden of caring for her mother and herself while nursing the broken heart she suffered at the hands of Chase Jennings when he left her to become a soldier. After her mother's arrest, she and Chase meet again unexpectedly.
With the perfect combination of romance, action and suspense, the tale of Ember and Chase kept me on the edge of my seat...and kept me up until 1am this morning until I made myself turn off my Kindle.
This book is a fantastic read for those of you looking for something interesting with a hint of backstory and love. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads but really would rather have given it 4.5 out of 5.
