This is my second time reading Enclave by Ann Aguirre and I have to say that I didn’t enjoy it as
much the second time through as I did the first. I read it for the first time
over two years ago, so I had not been exposed to as many books as I have now.
That being said, I still really enjoyed it, just not as much as the first time.
Deuce lives
in an underground society and the tunnels of the New York City subway are all
that she has ever known. The world above them is fraught with danger where the
rain burns your skin clean off your body. Or at least that’s what she’s always
been told by her enclave’s elders. Deuce has spent her entire life preparing to
become a Huntress, one who hunts for food and fights Freaks, mindless monsters
that ramble through the tunnels. But then, she gets stuck with Fade as her
partner, a boy with a mysterious origin that appeared at the enclave out of the
blue. As the two grow closer, Fade shows Deuce all of the corruption that
exists in the enclave’s governing body. When they are wrongly accused and
exiled for a crime that they did not commit, Deuce and Fade must escape to the
surface. There, they find that it is livable, but gangs and Freaks run rampant
through the streets. The two then attempt to find the safe haven that Fade’s
father always talked about and they are joined by more “friends” on their
journey. Will the pair successfully make it to the place of their dreams? Or
will they get overrun by Freaks and gangbangers before they can glimpse their
paradise?
Deuce is a
hard, determined person. She’s a strong female protagonist, there’s no doubt
about that. In the beginning of the story, I thought she was just a little too
obsessed with becoming a Huntress. I think the word “Huntress” may appear over
100 times in the first two chapters, I kid you not. Also, Deuce has this “Huntress
voice” in her head that tells her what to do to survive, but it only ever tells
her to do awful things, like killing her best friend or leaving a poor,
defenseless child alone in the Freak-infested tunnels. Sometimes, I just wanted
to smack the Huntress voice and tell it to just shut up because there is really
no need to kill your best friend, okay? Even though I just spent that whole
time bashing Deuce, I didn’t really think she was that bad of a character. She
was strong and independent. She cared about others, but didn’t know how to
express it. Overall, a good character with some annoying qualities, but not so
annoying that I disliked her.
Fade, on
the other hand, is amazing. He may be a Hunter, but he doesn’t only do what he
needs to survive. He cares about other people and puts others before himself.
He’s one of those people that are hard to warm up to, but then are amazing
friends once they like you and his compassion and strength are apparent in
every action he performs. If you can’t tell, I think Fade is wonderful. Enough
said. J
The story
line was interesting and it kept me engaged from beginning to end. It was an
interesting idea to have people living below the ground and people living above
the ground, yet they know nothing about each other. The writing was an
interesting style. Because Deuce was not exactly a scholar, I can understand
why the narration is a bit choppy and most of the times it made sense, but then
there were other times when it just… didn’t. Good thing they were few and far
between! The writing was not too flowery, which matched the action-packed story
line perfectly. Overall, Enclave was
a good read, but it didn’t exactly blow me out of the water. Next I shall read
the sequel, Outpost, so look out for
that review in the next couple of days!
This book was really entertaining! 4 Smileys!
