Enclave

Title: Enclave

Author: Ann Aguirre

Date Finished: June 3, 2011

Personal Book Count: 22 out of 75

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

First Line: I was born during the second holocaust.

Why did I pick this book?: was recommended to me by a sale girl at my local bookstore, when I purchase another book by Aguire.

Summary and Review: taken from anneaguirre.com-

“In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed ‘brat’ has trained into one of three groups–Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear—to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning.”

*SQUEE* I just went online to look up a summary, and I notice there is a sequel coming! Ehm. Sorry. Sometimes the excitement overwhelms.

So, I think by this point you can tell, I loved this book. Deuce was my favorite. A tough girl, but has the tendency to speak or act before she thinks. I think this made her relatable. Sometimes as teens, I think we all did this. Fade, I liked, but I’m not sure where to slot him. More of a big brother, or love interest? Or both? I like Tegan, but so far, she is just kind of a tag-along. I have high hopes of her blooming in the next book though. Striker… I’m not sure what to say. So far, not a fan, but maybe he will grow on me. At first it stressed me out when the setting changed. I didn’t like it much, although I understood why. But the longer they were ‘out’ the more I liked it. It will be interesting to see where they go in the next one.

I am a girl who was born without a sense of smell. So I found it particularly interesting when it was mentioned that their sense of smell had become dominant. Someone like me would never survive this book. I loved the ending. But. I felt like there were a lot of loose ends left. More like the book just stopped, rather than ended. By now, I think we all know why *grin*, but at the time it really bugged. Right at the back of the book, after the ending, Aguirre writes a couple pages on the research she did, and how she came to believe that this scenario was possible. I loved this bit! I thought it was brilliant, and love the author sharing her thought process, and ultimately her creativity. It was fascinating to me to see where all this came from. I wish more authors would do this. Now, how many minutes till the next one comes out? ;)

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D