saluki's review against another edition
4.0
In the underground enclave/tribe there are only three occupations; hunter, breeder and builder. Girl15 finally loses her brat status and becomes huntress Deuce on her naming day.
Deuce's perspective is narrow due to an enforced limited existence, but that changes when she is partnered with Fade. Fade mostly keeps to himself because he is originally from Topside, a place no one has seen, and he's treated as an outcast. Assimilated into the enclave at about ten-years-old, Fade is regarded with disdain and suspicion. Deuce begins to question the ideals, motives and codes of conduct of her elders so the life she has dreamed for herself, being a respected huntress securing meat for her tribe and defending against flesh-eating Freaks, is radically altered.
The female abuse and disregard is not for the faint-hearted and I'm sure it will anger some readers. Even though some actions are unpalatable Aguirre offers reasoning behind the actions and consequences in this bleak future.
Why, oh why, did I wait so long to read this! There are very few comforts in this post-apocalyptic telling. It's a world I would be terrified to live in... but nail-biting good to read.
kcoccia's review against another edition
4.0
Love love this book! Finally! I was starting to think that this "only okay books" thing was going to last forever. But yes Deuce and Fade are awesome! They compliment each other like crazy in every way. I dont have much to say about this other than I love Enclave and I love Deuce and Fade and Im assuming ill love the rest of the books :)
roseybot's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to call this book apocalypse porn, because it falls into this category of "let's explore the landscape where our world has fallen apart" without any other story. Tell me if this is familiar: the world ended, and the main character, a pretty, delicate fighter/hunter, is shoved out of her safe space, and then travels the world in order to find "the green place"? That's apocalypse porn. It's trying to explore the world that died instead of telling an interesting story. It's all "ooo, what happened?" and "solve it with NATURE!"
Maybe it's time for me to admit that survivalist type books -- where the main character's goal is to survive -- don't interest me. I'd rather there be a Kira type character, who's looking for the Cure that will save her people than just survival. It's no longer interesting to me to have a character who's fighting to find the "big green place".
And that's just my issue with the story. Let's not get into the RAMPANT rape apologism and sexism. The Author's note mentioned patriarchal societies springing up in the event of an apocalypse, which I think is kind of a lazy excuse to not think that much about what might happen.
Overall, this book ENRAGED me. I won't be going for the second one. I can do without raising my blood pressure.
Maybe it's time for me to admit that survivalist type books -- where the main character's goal is to survive -- don't interest me. I'd rather there be a Kira type character, who's looking for the Cure that will save her people than just survival. It's no longer interesting to me to have a character who's fighting to find the "big green place".
And that's just my issue with the story. Let's not get into the RAMPANT rape apologism and sexism. The Author's note mentioned patriarchal societies springing up in the event of an apocalypse, which I think is kind of a lazy excuse to not think that much about what might happen.
Overall, this book ENRAGED me. I won't be going for the second one. I can do without raising my blood pressure.
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
4.0
Another really good YA read!
Meet Deuce. A fascinating character and a creation of her time. Raised (if you can call it that) underground in what was formerly the miles and miles of subways systems (I think in Post-apoc New York, just don't quote me on that). She belongs to an Enclave and has just turned 16 which means she has transitioned from Brat (child) to adult. The people of the Enclave, even the elders (who are only 25!), don't seem to know a lot about their own circumstances; like where they are, why it's safer to stay underground or what is up Topside, so we are just left to surmise along with them.
From what I've managed to ascertain it has been many years since a plague wiped out most of the population or, worse, turned them into Freaks, and what remained managed to survive by whatever means necessary. There's a lot of misinformation and so much of humanity's history has been lost that they've made up their own rules and created a new way of life that will seem completely foreign to us. Even things that you would have expected to endure; information and traditions that should have passed from generation to generation, haven't. Gone are nuclear families, people are now bred for purpose and set on a path that best fits their abilities—whatever they happen to show an aptitude for—and if you aren't good at anything else (like being a hunter, builder, cook, etc.) then there's always the occupation of Breeder as a fall back option.
Our Deuce is a hunter. Or 'Huntress', as she prefers. I was pleased to see that we joined her story right at the time when her training for that role had just ended. So often that training would have taken up the entire plot of book one in a series (been there, done that), but instead we got to see her already primed and raring to go. She just needed a partner...
That would be Fade. Another interesting a likeable character and the only member of the Enclave not born there. He came in through the tunnels a couple of years ago and no one knows where from or how he survived out there on his own with the Freaks (think snarling, salivating zombie-like creatures). It was great getting to know him and Deuce and seeing their development as well as the vast differences between them.
I'm going to struggle now to talk about much more of the plot because there was a big twist that I don't want to spoil. All I will say is that I really enjoyed this Dystopian YA read; the writing was good, the ideas intriguing and the action intense and exciting. And it even had a dash of romance too!
I moved straight onto the next one as soon as I finished because it felt like it didn't so much wrap up as go "to be continued..." So I did.
Recommended to all Dystopian fans, YA or not so YA.
4 Stars ★★★★
Meet Deuce. A fascinating character and a creation of her time. Raised (if you can call it that) underground in what was formerly the miles and miles of subways systems (I think in Post-apoc New York, just don't quote me on that). She belongs to an Enclave and has just turned 16 which means she has transitioned from Brat (child) to adult. The people of the Enclave, even the elders (who are only 25!), don't seem to know a lot about their own circumstances; like where they are, why it's safer to stay underground or what is up Topside, so we are just left to surmise along with them.
From what I've managed to ascertain it has been many years since a plague wiped out most of the population or, worse, turned them into Freaks, and what remained managed to survive by whatever means necessary. There's a lot of misinformation and so much of humanity's history has been lost that they've made up their own rules and created a new way of life that will seem completely foreign to us. Even things that you would have expected to endure; information and traditions that should have passed from generation to generation, haven't. Gone are nuclear families, people are now bred for purpose and set on a path that best fits their abilities—whatever they happen to show an aptitude for—and if you aren't good at anything else (like being a hunter, builder, cook, etc.) then there's always the occupation of Breeder as a fall back option.
Our Deuce is a hunter. Or 'Huntress', as she prefers. I was pleased to see that we joined her story right at the time when her training for that role had just ended. So often that training would have taken up the entire plot of book one in a series (been there, done that), but instead we got to see her already primed and raring to go. She just needed a partner...
That would be Fade. Another interesting a likeable character and the only member of the Enclave not born there. He came in through the tunnels a couple of years ago and no one knows where from or how he survived out there on his own with the Freaks (think snarling, salivating zombie-like creatures). It was great getting to know him and Deuce and seeing their development as well as the vast differences between them.
I'm going to struggle now to talk about much more of the plot because there was a big twist that I don't want to spoil. All I will say is that I really enjoyed this Dystopian YA read; the writing was good, the ideas intriguing and the action intense and exciting. And it even had a dash of romance too!
I moved straight onto the next one as soon as I finished because it felt like it didn't so much wrap up as go "to be continued..." So I did.
Recommended to all Dystopian fans, YA or not so YA.
4 Stars ★★★★
moirwyn's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2015/10/05/mini-reviews-ya-edition/
My friends have been telling me to read Ann Aguire’s Razorland trilogy for what seems like ages now, and when I was at the beach this summer, I finally got around to digging into it. Enclave, the first book, is set after a calamity similar to a zombie apocalypse. After the catastrophe, small groups of people banded together to survive in an increasingly harsh world, finding ways to fend off the Freaks and to hunt enough food to get by. Deuce is a teenager coming of age in one of the enclaves of survivors who dwell in old subway tunnels. As she takes her place as a Hunter within the enclave, she and a colleague named Fade witness events that lead her to believe that the Freaks are getting smarter and are no longer acting in predictable ways. The enclave’s leaders don’t believe them, and so Deuce and Fade are cast out, where they venture onto the surface, which has plenty of dangers of its own.
Enclave makes for good beach reading. It’s fun and trashy in all the right ways, but is the kind of book you shouldn’t try to think too hard about. If you do, you’ll probably drive yourself crazy thinking of questions such as, “Why are there only three jobs in an Enclave? How do people survive?”
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2015/10/05/mini-reviews-ya-edition/
My friends have been telling me to read Ann Aguire’s Razorland trilogy for what seems like ages now, and when I was at the beach this summer, I finally got around to digging into it. Enclave, the first book, is set after a calamity similar to a zombie apocalypse. After the catastrophe, small groups of people banded together to survive in an increasingly harsh world, finding ways to fend off the Freaks and to hunt enough food to get by. Deuce is a teenager coming of age in one of the enclaves of survivors who dwell in old subway tunnels. As she takes her place as a Hunter within the enclave, she and a colleague named Fade witness events that lead her to believe that the Freaks are getting smarter and are no longer acting in predictable ways. The enclave’s leaders don’t believe them, and so Deuce and Fade are cast out, where they venture onto the surface, which has plenty of dangers of its own.
Enclave makes for good beach reading. It’s fun and trashy in all the right ways, but is the kind of book you shouldn’t try to think too hard about. If you do, you’ll probably drive yourself crazy thinking of questions such as, “Why are there only three jobs in an Enclave? How do people survive?”
michaela95c's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very enjoyable read. An interesting post apocalyptic story that left me wanting more. Can’t wait to start the next book!
hmacdonald's review against another edition
4.0
Generally a bit slow but picked up in the second half.
bigbear73's review against another edition
2.0
I can't put my finger on it, but I never could connect with this one, which surprised me a little. This type of story is usually my 'cup of tea'. I wasn't super fond of the characters, and the world was just a little...boring.
It wasn't DNF bad, but I was more than ready for it to be over with.
It wasn't DNF bad, but I was more than ready for it to be over with.
halcyon_rising's review against another edition
4.0
I wanted to reread these stories to leave reviews behind online, but I've looked ahead some and I'm not happy with the way these books are turning out.
Below ground, women of course function as breeders, but that's not their only task. They can become huntresses and builders, etc. Then when we are above ground, turns out that women are captured to be r*ped, and one of the people that do it is Stalker, who is already clearly turning into the second love interest for the girl that we are following, Deuce. She easily forgives him, because that's they only way they can survive.
I hear that in the next book or so, she's going to give a speech about Stalker that once again dismisses his r*py past. Need I remind this girl that had she not escaped with Teagan, they might have killed love interest #1 for sports, and then #2'd have r*ped her afterward? She was not a breeder and therefore she doesn't seek physical contact with people, but I'm sure that had he at least pinned her down, she'd be talking differently. I mean, she'd better have.
All the author had to do to make this less cringe was have him not be a love interest, but maybe a guy from the settlement they find at the end could have liked her, if a triangle needed to be done at all? And of course in order for a triangle with a past r*pist to happen, the 'decent' love interest needs to get a depression of 'I'm not good enough for her' in order for it to happen. Geesh.
Yeah, so I'm keeping the four stars up as a sign of my less tasteful past, but I'm not sure I'm going to continue to read this series and review it. Bummer.
Happy Reading!
Spoiler
This book itself was still okay. It was done in two parts, with part one being the familiar setting of people living and surviving underground. Part two, however, is above ground and has some questionable information dumped on us that gets dismissed too fast.Below ground, women of course function as breeders, but that's not their only task. They can become huntresses and builders, etc. Then when we are above ground, turns out that women are captured to be r*ped, and one of the people that do it is Stalker, who is already clearly turning into the second love interest for the girl that we are following, Deuce. She easily forgives him, because that's they only way they can survive.
I hear that in the next book or so, she's going to give a speech about Stalker that once again dismisses his r*py past. Need I remind this girl that had she not escaped with Teagan, they might have killed love interest #1 for sports, and then #2'd have r*ped her afterward? She was not a breeder and therefore she doesn't seek physical contact with people, but I'm sure that had he at least pinned her down, she'd be talking differently. I mean, she'd better have.
All the author had to do to make this less cringe was have him not be a love interest, but maybe a guy from the settlement they find at the end could have liked her, if a triangle needed to be done at all? And of course in order for a triangle with a past r*pist to happen, the 'decent' love interest needs to get a depression of 'I'm not good enough for her' in order for it to happen. Geesh.
Yeah, so I'm keeping the four stars up as a sign of my less tasteful past, but I'm not sure I'm going to continue to read this series and review it. Bummer.
Happy Reading!
erinarkin20's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this one. The characters are believable and it is a quick read. 3-3.5 stars.
The book begins with Girl15's naming ceremony where we find out she will be called Deuce and she is assigned the role of Huntress. The Enclave is run by a select few and each member of the enclave falls into the role of hunter, breeder or builder. Deuce has always wanted to be a huntress and finds herself paired with Fade who is viewed by everyone as an outsider because he did not grow up in the enclave.
I loved Deuce - she is tough and yet, at times seemed very young. Her role as huntress is to bring back food but also kill the freaks (I think these are a faster and somewhat more lethal version of a zombie). She completely kicks ass and eventually stands up for more than just herself which is what gets her into trouble.
Fade is an interesting character - he doesn't have a lot of friends below because of his background. Though the book mostly focuses on Deuce and her relationships with those around her, we get a glimpse of Fade's relationship with Banner. He begins to trust Deuce and stands up for her which is the catalyst to him (and Deuce) getting exiled and going Topside.
Seeing the relationship between Fade and Deuce develop was great - they do trust each other and care about each other but I don't think they know to what extent yet...at least not in Deuce's mind. I don't think she has ever really thought about a relationship or being in love as it wasn't ever something she was planning on due to her role in the enclave.
I really liked this story but wish I would have gotten more background around how the world ended up they way it did. There were small mentions about things that happened in the past but I am hoping the next book gives a bit more detail. There is a lot of action which moves the book along quickly. Aguirre does a great job of sharing the experience Deuce has of being in Topside for the first time - from seeing the sunlight to expressing the differences between how she looks compared to others they meet/see.
Looking forward to diving into the second book right away to see what happens at Salvation.
The book begins with Girl15's naming ceremony where we find out she will be called Deuce and she is assigned the role of Huntress. The Enclave is run by a select few and each member of the enclave falls into the role of hunter, breeder or builder. Deuce has always wanted to be a huntress and finds herself paired with Fade who is viewed by everyone as an outsider because he did not grow up in the enclave.
I loved Deuce - she is tough and yet, at times seemed very young. Her role as huntress is to bring back food but also kill the freaks (I think these are a faster and somewhat more lethal version of a zombie). She completely kicks ass and eventually stands up for more than just herself which is what gets her into trouble.
Fade is an interesting character - he doesn't have a lot of friends below because of his background. Though the book mostly focuses on Deuce and her relationships with those around her, we get a glimpse of Fade's relationship with Banner. He begins to trust Deuce and stands up for her which is the catalyst to him (and Deuce) getting exiled and going Topside.
Seeing the relationship between Fade and Deuce develop was great - they do trust each other and care about each other but I don't think they know to what extent yet...at least not in Deuce's mind. I don't think she has ever really thought about a relationship or being in love as it wasn't ever something she was planning on due to her role in the enclave.
I really liked this story but wish I would have gotten more background around how the world ended up they way it did. There were small mentions about things that happened in the past but I am hoping the next book gives a bit more detail. There is a lot of action which moves the book along quickly. Aguirre does a great job of sharing the experience Deuce has of being in Topside for the first time - from seeing the sunlight to expressing the differences between how she looks compared to others they meet/see.
Looking forward to diving into the second book right away to see what happens at Salvation.