Cornerfolds Dystopian Reading Challenge 2016 - Book 7: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Title: Article 5 (Article 5, #1)

Author: Kristen Simmons

Publication Date: January 31st, 2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 362

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The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.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. -Book Details Courtesy of Goodreads, INC. 2016

This was a good book.  There was never a chapter that I was not interested.  Some books it takes a bit to get you involved, but others like this one get you from the beginning.

We meet Ember Miller, a girl living in a post-world society.  Basic rights have been removed and in their place a set of "Articles" on how life is supposed to be lived.  You can be fined and arrested for simple infractions...but what is worse you can be jailed and executed if the new ruling regime thinks you violated an article.

Ember's mom is arrested and Ember is sent to a reform school as an "Article 5" violater, which basically meant her mom had her without being married.  The shocking part for her is that the guy that is helping arrest her is a boy she once loved, Chase.  Why is he here? What is he doing?  Ember then decides that she is going to escape and find her mother.

Will she find her mother? What will happen with Chase?  Well, read the book, because if I say to much I will give the book away.  Solid read all around.

Cornerfolds Dystopian Reading Challenge 2016 - Book 6: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1)

Author: Veronica Rossi

Publication Date: February 7th, 2012

Publisher: Atom

Pages: 374

WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.

DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers. - Book Details Courtesy of Goodreads, INC. 2016

What  book! Not even sure where to start this review.

You meet Aria, a "typical" teenager living in a world where she knows nothing outside of the pods she was raised in...and by pods, I mean virtual realms.  Somethings are real, but mostly lives are lived in the realms.    She is trying to find information on her mother Lumina who is working off at another pod after she has not heard from her.  She tries to get on the good side of the counsul's son by going into a restricted space and this is where her world changes.

After they boys go crazy, she awakes to the news that only her and the counsul's son survived the fire.  And of course, who is going to take her word against his?  She is made to believe she is being transported to her mother when she is shoved out the door and into what is called the Death Trap during an ether storm.  She sees a figure running towards her and realizes it's a savage.  What does the savage want, are the stories true?  Little did she know they had met before.  In the end they are both searching for someone.  Will either of them find who they are looking for? Guess you need to read and find out.

I loved this book and the character development of Aria and Perry.  They are both headstrong individuals and both afraid of letting people see who they really are.  I'm pretty excited to read the second book.  Definitely leaves you slightly hanging at the end to see who she was running towards, though it's not hard to figure out.

Cornerfolds Dystopian Reading Challenge 2016 - Book 5: Champion by Marie Lu

  

Title: Champion (Legend #3)

Author: Marie Lu

Publication Date: November 5th, 2013

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Pages: 369

He is a Legend.

She is a Prodigy.

Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. 

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything. 

With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

- Book Details Courtesy of Goodreads, INC 2016.

What an absolute crazy ride this whole series has been.  Kind of sad that I've finished this series.

Readers meet up with Day and June and the Republic as they continue to fight against the colonies.  Day is growing weaker from his condition and it is finally revealed to June of how serious his condition also is.  The colonies are now wanting a cure to a plague they claim the Republic gave to them.  That if they do not produce it they will revolt against them.  Little do they know the colonies are not exactly being honest with how the "plague" truly got its form.

The colonies are now invading and it's up to June, Day and Anden to find a cure, which could be linked to Day's brother Eden. Could he actually hold the cure?  

The book's ending, to me is just heartbreaking.  If you want to read the book, then I suggest you not read this any further because it is a spoiler. I actually cried at the end when Day is dying and then again when he wakes up months later and cannot remember anything about June.  I wanted to scream "Why let them have all of that and then not remember her!!!"  Though I also feel like there was an opening left at the end.

Such a great series.

September Reading Goals

 Hey Everyone!

I am a major reader and I love giving book suggestions, so I thought why not share what I'm reading with all of you.  You might actually find something that you will like from my list.  A lot of things will be going on in September and I am not sure how much time I will actually have to read. I decided to give you five of the books that are on the list to tackle in September.

1.  Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan  This book I'm excited to read.  We are actually reading it for my local library's Let's Talk About It Oklahoma which is a annual book discussion where a scholar comes in and does a program over it.  Kind of a suspenseful thriller about a Native American agent who is sent to Oklahoma to investigate the murder of a woman.  She discovers fraud to say the least.

2.  I Swear by Lane Davis This book has been on my "to-read" list for a long, long time.  It was a book on my list last year that I never got around to reading.  I read a lot of Young Adult Fiction, to be honest, a lot of Adult Fiction bores me to tears.  This book deals with the fallout from a suicide of a bullied girl and the real consequences associated with it.

3.  House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday This is the final book in my libraries Let's Talk About It Oklahoma series.  This has been a really great book series.  In Momaday's book he tells the story of a Native American man who has returned home from war to find himself caught between the world of his father and the modern world.

4.  A Year in the Word by Frances Mayes I am very excited to dive into this book.  I'm trying to leave the world of armchair traveling and really get out there and see this country and world.  In this book you follow along with a woman (and usually her husband) as they travel around the world together.  I've read a few of the pages as a preview and you can almost picture what she describes as you read it.

5.  The Barcode Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn I stumbled onto this book from a suggestion list of books if you like the Hunger Games.  I will be excited to read this trilogy.  Dystopian books are really becoming popular, well more popular after the success of the Hunger Games.  In this book dangerous events begin to happen after a girl decides to go against norm and not get the barcode tattoo.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.  I came across her when I read her Grisha Trilogy earlier this year.  Fantastic new writer.