Enclave

I read this on kindle and listened to most of it in audio book format.

I seem to be reading lots of dystopia/post apocalyptic in the new year! What's up with that?

Well... I'm glad I read this book!

The Enclave takes place in a time where people have been forced to live in underground communities. No one has real names and only live for one of three purposes; to build, to hunt or to breed. It's all about survival, following the rules and carrying out your duty. People in these communities die at a young age and are considered elders at age 21. They are not only trying to survive famine, diseases and lack of water but they have to survive the Freaks which are zombie like creatures.

We begin our journey at Deuce's aka Girl 15's naming ceremony where she has been named a Huntress. Deuce, a model citizen has always followed the rules trusting that her elders have them for good reasons. Everything the elders did and do is for the good of the community, that is until a series of events lead Deuce to question their motives and ends up being exiled. To be exiled means to be sent Topside. Deuce has been taught to fear Topside. Topside has poisoned air, the Sun that melts your skin and absolutely nothing is alive Topside. How is she to survive?

Right from the start this book launches you into a series of intense moments. You feel the urgency to survive and to never let your guard down. You feel the urgency to get somewhere and fast before the next zombie comes after you. The author did a great job in developing the characters, describing each of the different communities and their people, in getting the message across that most if not everyone is living in a desperate time.

As the story unfolds Deuce is paired with Fade as her Hunter partner and once exiled he chooses to leave with her. They then meet Tegan and Stalker along the way. It was great to see how each of these key characters grew throughout the book. You could see how love interests sprouted in spite of the constant running to survive. Although I couldn't understand one attraction at all!! YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN YOU READ IT. You could see how some became leaders when they were once followers and how the leaders learned to be followers. There were so many things going on and yet it all unfolded nicely. Not once did I feel there was entirely too much going on.

I actually liked the ending. After so much fighting and crap happening to Deuce and her traveling partners it was nice to find some peace. Funny thing is that as peaceful as the ending was and as hopeful as it was I couldn't get rid of the anxious feeling I still carried around since the beginning of the book! LMBO while shaking my head!

I definitely recommend this book as I feel it is quite unique and quite interesting. I'm curious to see where Ann Aguirre takes this story in the next installment of this series which is to be released sometime in September of 2012.

This is one of those books I wish I could give a higher rating to. It had so much potential, but sadly it fell short for me. I really enjoyed reading it, but it's not leaving a lasting impression with me. Parts of the character development happened too fast, while other parts were believable. And in a rare occurrence, I loved the first half of the book so much more than the second.

I think the biggest problem was that there was no real climax. There were tons of little moments and battles that were really engrossing and I hoped they would culminate into some plot twist or main event toward the end, but...nope. This would have been more acceptable had there been a real cliffhanger (as this is the first book in a series); there were many questions that weren't answered, but not in the intentional-cliffhanger sense. I literally turned the last page thinking there was another chapter or an epilogue. And it wasn't in the “oh wow, that cliffhanger was so crazy and evil but I'm so excited for the next book” kind of way. It was more like “why did that book end in the middle of a chapter?”

Overall, I really did like reading this book, but the ending was definitely lacking.