Breaking Point

January 15, 2013
The lengthy sequel to dystopian romance Article 5 (2012) sees fugitives Ember Miller and Chase Jennings deepening their involvement with a resistance operation. Ember and Chase are stationed at the Wayland Inn, a resistance headquarters at the edge of Knoxville. Their job involves helping transport fugitives to safe houses, but anonymity becomes complicated for Ember when her name, somewhat inexplicably, appears on a list of suspects in a series of shootings. A mission to rescue Rebecca, Ember's roommate from the reformatory and resistance fighter Sean's girlfriend, gives the story some shape, but the action is largely episodic. Characters spend more time reacting to dangers than planning for them, and thoughtful readers may be frustrated when even the climactic rescue operation is carried out with relatively little forethought. Too often, Ember's motivations are assumed to be obvious, when in fact many readers may not share her assumptions. Why, in a pivotal scene, should readers agree that her friend Beth is too naive to run a safe house? What fuels Ember's opposition to fighters targeting government officials even though other resistance members support it? Tensions among Ember, Chase and the pair's old enemy Tucker Morris run high, but when none of the trio makes an effort at communication, their interactions quickly become repetitive. A slog, with perhaps enough moments between Ember and Chase to appease romance devotees. (Dystopian romance. 12-16)

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October 1, 2013
Gr 9 Up-After escaping from one of the Federal Bureau of Reformation's detention centers in "Article 5" (2012), Ember and Chase rejoin the Resistance to hide out in the second title in Simmons's dystopian trilogy (2013, both Tor Teen). It's not long before Ember's picture is plastered across the country. She's now one of the FBR's most wanted, sought in connection with the sniper attacks that have killed several soldiers. The leader of the Resistance wants to use her sudden celebrity to inspire people to revolt against a society where the Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes, and Ember agrees to come out of hiding. Things quickly go south, and Ember and Chase are soon on the run again, determined to get to Chicago and rescue Rebecca, the girlfriend of their friend Sean and Ember's old roommate from Reformatory. They are joined by Tucker Morris, the now ex-soldier who killed Ember's mother. Ember can't bring herself to trust Tucker, but realizes they will need his help to pull off the rescue. Jennifer Ikeda's youthful voice is ideal for the first-person narration. She gives a solid performance, conveying the range of emotions Ember experiences and highlighting her determination with a controlled pace. Listeners who have followed Ember and Chase through both titles will be anxious to see how their story ends in the final volume.-"Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL"

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2013
Grades 7-12 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 runningincluding when the duo becomes part of the Resistancethat 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
In this sequel to Article 5, Ember and Chase are struggling to balance romance with their activism as resisters to an increasingly hostile and dominating government. Exposition masking as dialogue and a weak, frustratingly impulsive protagonist mar what is otherwise a compelling story of how a well-intentioned government can go intensely awry.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)