Review: Breaking Point

Title: Breaking Point
Author: Kristen Simmons
Series: Article 5 #2
Published: February 12th 2013
Rating: 4.5

After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.

Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper’s true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….

Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself.

Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways.

With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding…or fight back?

Once again Kristen Simmons managed to deliver nonstop action-packed novel that left me utterly frustrated at times then a complete one eighty in other parts that made my heart ache and made me careless puddle of feels on the ground. Like really, Kristen Simmons must be some kind of goddess of making my feels feel  like a freaking  roller-coaster because, one minute everything would be find and dandy, my feels would feel safe and protected, then BAM next minute I'm seating at the edge of my seat quickly scanning through this nail biting intense scene that my feels definitely can't handle and are bound to com-bust with anxiety at any second. That there my friends sums up my whole view of Breaking Point.

Ember was an absolute delight as always - wait..no..that's not right..I must be thinking of some other cheerful character in some other book I've read because Ember Miller cheerful? *scoff* Yeah not likely. In Breaking Point we see that Ember is still heavily grieving over the execution of her mother and may be prone to occasionally take that anger out on poor Chase. Not that Ember doesn't have any right not to be upset and let that emotion out sometimes, I just wished she did it in more a productively way. Yelling at Chase is not going to bring her mother back and I think Ember finally realizes that towards the end of the novel, thank God. I really wanted to throttle her sometimes, I got so damn frustrated when she would unnecessarily hurt Chase but, then again I think this is the first time I've seen in a YA book where they've dealt with death how reality would and I think for me I wasn't use to the characters having such struggles with the death of a loved one. 

Nevertheless Ember and Chase's relationship was put through quite the test - one I personally believed they past- we see many conflicts and outbursts (mainly Ember) that was hard to read at times because of such the raw emotion the characters were feeling, it was like I was invading their privacy and I shouldn't be seeing such a personal moment. But like always these struggles they were put through made them closer then ever, and I believe the third book we'll get to see more steamy and romantic moments between the two- something that I'm all for, I wish they'd just jump each-others bones already. 

 Breaking Point is set a month after we last saw Ember and Chase in Article 5,they are now amongst  the resistance, people who fight against the FBR. I was not a fan of the resistance for numerous of reasons, first being that I plainly just disliked their personalities- I found them quite rude and outrageous at times- and secondly being when a mysterious sniper was shooting off FBR soldiers they all felt the need to celebrate? They felt the need to celebrate someones death? Someones murder? The resistance never once questioned or wondered if those soldiers who were shot were like them? Forced into something they didn't want to do? Look I know most of the FBR soldiers were jerks and probably deserved to get shoot but, I bet their were others who were just like Chase. People pushed into the FBR with no choice about it. Sorry for the rant but that really bugged me. 

The plot line of Breaking Point was the rescue of Rebecca. Now I'm not going to say much more on that because I don't want to spoil you. but what I will say though that there are plenty revelations, twists turns, high-stakes, surprised reappearances and jaw dropping moments filled during the duration of the novel to get to the point of where the characters need to be to rescue and find Rebecca. 

Now I'm going to leave it at that and let you be the judge. Go read Breaking Point because I thought it was down right kickass and deep levels of badassery.

-Taylor X