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Enclave

Book 1 in the series:Razorland

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In a post-apocalyptic future, fifteen-year-old Deuce, a loyal Huntress, brings back meat while avoiding the Freaks outside her enclave. When she is partnered with the mysterious outsider, Fade, she begins to see that the strict ways of the elders may be wrong and dangerous. The story follows Deuce and Fade as they navigate the dangers of their world, facing challenges, forming unexpected alliances, and questioning the society they live in while trying to survive in a dark and treacherous environment.

Characters:

The characters are well-developed, particularly Deuce, a strong female lead, and her partner Fade, as they navigate their challenges and evolving relationships.

Writing/Prose:

The writing is engaging, with a straightforward style that focuses on action and character development, drawing the reader into the dystopian world effectively.

Plot/Storyline:

The story follows Deuce, a young girl in an underground enclave, as she becomes a Hunter and faces the threat of the intelligent Freaks. After being exiled with her partner Fade, they must navigate the dangers of the surface world.

Setting:

The setting alternates between the dark, oppressive tunnels of the enclave and the dangerous, unfamiliar world above ground, highlighting themes of survival and adaptation.

Pacing:

The pacing is quick and engaging, with frequent action that keeps the reader invested, though some feel that certain sections, particularly towards the end, may seem rushed.
Today was my birthday. Each one added a layer of fear, and this year, it was worse. I lived in an enclave in which our oldest had seen twenty-five years. His face was withered, and his fingers shook w...

Notes:

In the world of Enclave, children are not given names until they turn 15, after which they earn a name by receiving scars that signify their role as Hunters, Builders, or Breeders.
The protagonist, Deuce, becomes a Hunter and is paired with Fade, an outsider who was found living alone in the tunnels.
Freaks, which are zombie-like creatures, are a significant threat to the characters and become more intelligent as the story progresses.
The story takes place in the underground remnants of New York City, which has been devastated by a second holocaust, leaving survivors to navigate a harsh underground world.
Deuce and Fade find themselves exiled to the dangerous Topside, where they must survive in a world filled with gangs and mutated creatures.
The book explores themes of survival, authority, and the questioning of societal rules, as Deuce learns that the elders may not be as wise as they claim.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include themes of violence, death, abuse, and discussions of rape.

Has Romance?

There is a medium level of romance in the story, primarily involving Deuce and Fade.

From The Publisher:

Ann Aguirre's thrilling young adult novel Enclave is the story of two young people in an apocalyptic world-facing dangers, and feelings, unlike any they've ever known.

New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters-or Freaks-who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight-guided by Fade's long-ago memories-in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs.

Ratings (23)

Incredible (4)
Loved It (8)
Liked It (7)
It Was OK (2)
Did Not Like (2)

Reader Stats (67):

Read It (25)
Want To Read (28)
Did Not Finish (1)
Not Interested (13)

5 comment(s)

Did Not Like
1 week

It was rather decent in the beginning not great but an okay read, but then I got bored with the story and wasn't engaged in the story. It wasn't my jam

 
Incredible
2 weeks

My review, Alice-Style, can be viewed

here.

 
Loved It
1 month

This was a fun start to a new series. I loved the details of the world, it felt so rich and realistic. Dystopia is always fascinating to me... I love reading about the kinds of societies that struggle together after the modern world crumbles to dust. Something about modern people being reduced to an almost medieval lifestyle is just really fascinating.

Though I wish Aguirre had been less of a miser with some details. What happened?

We are given indications of a virus... a generation nearly wiped out, sickness a constant fear, and that brief glimpse of a heading indicating that the CDC has failed to develop a vaccine. But who are the Freaks? They eat the dead. The Topsiders called them Muties. How did the virus cause this? Why do they seem to be evolving?

I imagine these details will unfold as the series progresses, but I am greedy, I want to know now!

The one thing I struggled with, which I tend to really struggle with in YA, is the relationship building. The immaturity of the characters tends to be frustrating, as they try and understand the complicated emotions in a budding relationship. That frustration is generally accompanied by a fair bit of angst and melodrama (see: Fade's brooding over Deuce's cluelessness). I really would have liked for them to figure SOMETHING out before the end of the book, make SOME progress there. Also

the triangle-vibe related to Stalker was mildly nauseating. He's not a good guy. He hunted them. He planned to rape Deuce. He headed up a gang that he allowed to gang-rape Tegan and other girls. I am not saying he can't change - I like complicated characters that evolve in a solid arc. But that kind of change - a change to his entire worldview - doesn't happen over the course of a couple days or weeks. He's dangerous, cold, calculating, and wouldn't risk himself to help them. He shouldn't even be contemplated as a possible pair to Deuce without some serious evolution to his character, and when the book teased that direction, I was irritated.

Anyway, I am definitely looking forward to reading onward in this series. When is the next one due out?

 
It Was OK
2 months

I'm a huge fan of Ann Aguirre's novels, and this is the latest of my perusal (or, inhalation) of her backlist. Aguirre is good at kick-ass heroines, moral shades of gray, and strong relationships between her characters - not just romantic, but platonic as well. I love what she does in

Enclave - after some sort of apocalyptic event, many humans have retreated to the tunnels below the city, where they create enclaves and trap rats to survive. Deuce has just joined the Hunter corp, tasked with patrolling the tunnels, collecting trapped meat, and killing any "Freaks" who come too close to the enclave. When events conspire to make Deuce question the strict way of life in the enclave, ostensibly to keep them all safe, she and her partner Fade are forced Topside to fend for themselves. There they find more people surviving in different ways.

For an Ann Aguirre novel, three stars is low for me. However, I just couldn't get over the love triangle thingie (it was loosely defined) between Deuce, Fade, and someone I won't spoil. That third person's actions would be hard to swallow in an adult novel, and in the "instant love" environment of a young adult novel, it was even weirder. It just didn't sit right with me.

I have a feeling Aguirre might blow me away with an answer to this conundrum in the sequel, but for now we're at three stars.

 
Incredible
3 months

Definitely not for everyone, but I loved this series.

 

About the Author:

Ann Aguirre has been a clown, a clerk, a savior of stray kittens, and a voice actress, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but she now lives in a terracotta adobe house in Mexico with her husband and two adorable children. The post-apocalyptic novel Enclave is her first book for young adults. She also writes the romantic science fiction series about Sirantha Jax, starting with Grimspace, as well as urban fantasy and paranormal romance. As Ava Gray, she writes paranormal romantic suspense.

 
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