Stefani K. (stef140) reviewed on 2/18/2012 + 28 more book reviews

Not often do I sit back and decide upon a rating for a book and realize there is only one rating I can possible say is fair, a 5 star. In this case it was most assuredly deserved.

This story tells the story of Ember Miller. She is seventeen and remembers a time before the entire country was turned upside down during the wars. No one speaks of the Constitution or Bill of Rights anymore, they have been tossed out the door. The government no longer exists the way it always had before. Instead of a police force you have the Federal Reformation Bureau, or as Ember and her friends like to call them the Moral Militia. They enforce the Statutes of Morality, the new highest law in the nation. Also unfortunately for Ember, her very existence is in violation of one of those Statutes. Further making her existence untenable is the fact that the man she loves, Chase Jennings, has gone away to join the Moral Militia. But things are about to get much worse when her and her mother are arrested for violating Article 5 and their worlds are thrown into chaos as they struggle to survive.

This novel moved along at such a quick pace that I was shocked when I reached the last page, there was so much more that I wanted to know! The characters were engaging, the plot was intriguing, and the action kept me turning pages almost faster than I could read them. But the one factor that clenched the 5 star rating for me was the emotion this book took me through. Every ounce of despair, anger, fear, and aching sadness bleed right through the words. I could not help but feel exactly what the characters were feeling, and not many books have inspired that in me. I will be following this series and the author very closely in the future. A home run for this debut novel in my opinion.

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