The Enclave by Ann Aguirre

The Enclave

By: Ann Aguirre

Like any reader, I pick my books firstly, based on their covers. This book has a cool-ass cover if I may say so!  Its this crazy blue holographic/metallic/shiny-as-wow cover that just sort of jumps out at you when you first lay your sad pupils upon it. On the back cover, there's this creepy looking hand that has long sharpened nails with two drops of blood falling off the fingertips. Pretty cool, and pretty awesome.

So here's the deal (Taken off the cover, not my own words pfft): In Deuces world, an enclave deep underground, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. Each unnamed "Brat" has trained to join 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 to the group while evading the ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She's worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothings going to stop her, not even a brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning. Fade doesn't like following orders, Deuce has never known a boy like him before, someone as likely to touch her gently as use his knives with feral grace. As Deuce's perception shifts, so does the balance in the battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat due to their sheer numbers, now show signs of cunning and even strategy...but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. No matter how hard she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she's ever known.

OK. So, yes. Overall, I liked this book. It kept up speed and stayed interesting with very little downtime when it came to the action.

BUT. With all that said...I have a good few problems. First of all, her name. Deuce? In the story. the brats earn their names in a ritual where they get their cuts (whichever number they get as far as their jobs) and they have a ton of random "relics" from the good 'ol days before her. She holds her arms out and sees which relic her blood falls on, thus whatever the relic is called or whatever is on it, becomes their name. Makes sense for the story, but I feel like Deuce is just NOT an attractive name what-so-ever even in the context of this story. Fade is pretty cool....and her friends are named Thimble and Stone which is acceptable but Deuce?? DEUCE!?

Next topic. As with most young adult novels, there's always some sort of romance between characters. Now, this is perfectly fine and dandy...given that their relationship has a foundation and actually events to make their relationship plausible. There wasn't much at all going on for them...and then just suddenly they were all like...in love and crap.

This also connects with the fact that Deuce is so dense....THEY'RE ALWAYS SO DENSE! Like "oh...this boy makes me feel weird" and they just don't see that MAYBE just MAYBE it's feelings of affection??? It's the most annoying this about young adult novels on the shelves today. Especially in this context of story where they are in their own community, own little world with their own rules on life and how relationships work.

But yes, overall it was ok. I read through it and it was fine, the ending sucked which was sad because it literally just ENDED there was no like...resolution....but more over just any events that would die down the action of before. it just sort of blind sided me. I would recommend this...but not actively. If someone asked me for a good book that was different, then maybe I would throw this out there. I give it a 3 out of 5.