Rating: 3 stars
I’ve really got to hand it to Ann Aguirre for writing a fascinating post-apocalyptic YA that I was able to finish without rolling my eyes. To be honest, the amount of Dystopian YA’s being published bores me. Every one of these YA’s are being courted as the next Hunger Games, just like every single YA with vampires, fairies or fallen emo angels was the next Twilight.
Ms. Aguirre takes interesting chances with Enclave, and it’s not for the weak of heart. Nothing is sugar coated here. The first half of the book gave me a claustrophobic feeling while reading. Unfortunately, the second half faltered because the action wasn’t as intense and the author falls back on all too familiar trope found in present day YA: the evolution of a love triangle that will most like appear in Outpost, the second book in this series.
Enclave reads like a teen version of the sci-fi film, 12 Monkeys. Enclave takes place some time after the second holocaust of the Earth. Humanity has suffered immensely from some unknown catastrophe that has occurred (most likely an atomic World War III). We’re introduced to this world through the eyes of Girl15 who becomes Deuce on her naming day, her birthday. Deuce lives underground and has never gone up to the above.
Upon further reading, I would say Deuce lives in the former subways of New York City. Everyone has a role in the enclave and Deuce’s role is to become a huntress, who hunts for food in the tunnels. Deuce lives in a dark and dank world both literally and figuratively. Disease is rampant and hygiene is not the best. Some women are solely used to breed children, known as brats, while others keep their fortress strong and safe from the Freaks—monsters who feed on the flesh of the living and even themselves.
Deuce is teamed up with a hunter named Fade. The duo soon figures out that the Freaks are not the mindless creatures that the elders think them to be, and because of this oversight, everyone is in danger. Fade is more than willing to break away from this prison like community and move on, but Deuce is scared, as the enclave is all she has ever known.
However, when Deuce does something that gets her exiled, Fade joins her and together they go up to the above where a new fascinating world of danger awaits them.
Enclave has a great atmospheric feel to it. The sounds, scents and mind-numbing fear are strong. Fade is a great partner for Deuce and they both bounce off of each other very well. These two are the strongest and most well rounded and dimensional characters in the book, which became one of my main issues while reading.
Characters come and go without any real meaning of substance. Because the story is so centralized on Deuce and Fade, everyone else pales in comparison. I couldn’t connect or sympathize with anyone else because they came across as flat as the paper they were written on.
Enclave will appeal to those looking for something different with from the usual dystopian novel. If the first half of Enclave continued on to the very last page, it would have been one of the best books I read this year. Overall, it’s a solid read that could have been so much better.
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Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; 1 edition (April 12, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0312650087