Outpost by Ann Aguirre

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 317pgs

The Story

Deuce’s whole world has changed.

Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn't fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight.

To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols—those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.

The Review

Don't get me wrong here. I really, really loved the first book in the series, but there was just something missing in this sequel. Something strong and something captivating. Or rather, I have no clue what changed in this sequel for me. But it's just unlike the first book that was packed with so much action, adventure, and so much character progression and development, I just felt as if the sequel just lost all of what made the first book, Enclave, so special and unique in its own genre, which is a real shame really because I was starting to really love this series.

OUTPOST was still interesting I suppose and left me with many questions with what is going to happen in the third and final book, but the characters and the storyline itself - at least for me - just fell completely flat. If anything, I probably blame it all on the teenage angst that constantly surrounded the characters which seemed rather unnecessary (especially between Deuce and her moody hunting partner/love interest Fade) and on the suppose 'love triangle' the main character has between two boys, even though it's quite obvious she has feelings more for one particular boy than the other. But yeah, I'm still uncertain to what I feel for this particular book, only that the storyline dragged on too many accounts and the characters in the end just didn't appeal to me this time round.

Overall, while OUTPOST was a major letdown, but I'm still hoping for the best in the third and final book and I'll be crossing my fingers that something changes my mind about this series, especially when I thought the first book had such a promising start.

The Rating

2/5 stars

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 262pgs

The Story

Welcome to the Apocalypse

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 stpo her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning.

Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn't like following orders. At first Deuce thinks he's crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don't always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling her the truth. Her partner confuses her; she's never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using knives with feral grace.

The Review

Many readers I know have been raving non-stop about this book for quite some time now and I never really gave it a second thought until now. Once I started this book, reading chapter upon chapter, I was literally captivated by this storyline and it's no wonder why so many readers had such high praises for this author and her new post-apocalyptic world because it was bloody fantastic!

Deuce is a young huntress in an underground Enclave, where she chooses to live and fight for her freedom in a place where the plague has destroyed most of civilisation and where the world has changed for the . . . worse. Spending her entire life labelled as a 'brat' and not being able to read nor write, she has had no choice but to hunt and protect her people from the beings whom are called 'freaks' - flesh-eating zombie-like monsters - whom exist and prey upon people within the Tunnels. They might be your ordinary zombies but they are far from dumb. They have intelligence on their side and are far more evolved compared to your typical slow-walking zombies, which is why Deuce must hunt them down before they get to her first. But when she is paired up with a handsome young boy named Fade, not only will Deuce be left questioning her job as a huntress but she will also be questioning her entire world and what the future may holds for her alone.

With other readers comparing the main heroine to Katniss from The Hunger Games books, I can easily see the comparsion between the two of them, Deuce and Katniss. Deuce was such a badass young girl and she was exactly what I needed in a dystopian novel like this one. Never once did she falter in her actions nor in her strength, mostly because she's the kind of gal who knew what she wanted and just completely went for it no matter the cost! As a product of her own terrifying society, Deuce may not be the most intelligent character within the book but she merely surives on her gut instinct and survival skills . . . which made me love her even more for her and her authenticity in her character. Then of course, there's Deuce's hunting partner, Fade, whom was equally as brilliant as the main heroine was. Like Deuce, Fade was a boy that was very distant from others in his society but when you finally came around to actually getting to know him, you just couldn't help but love and care for him! While the aspect of romance wasn't heavily focused on and neither did it take over the book, but for Deuce and Fade I'm assuming there might be a romance on the horizon for the two of them, so for the sequel I really, really hope there is some more development with this certain 'romance' because I love these two and how they interact with each other.

Overall, ENCLAVE is one of the best dystopian books out there in young adult fiction at the moment and I highly applaud the author on how beautifully written this book was! Honestly . . . there's so much love for this book folks! With lot's of well-written and fast-paced action sequences, brilliant and vivid world-building, and entertaining and highly intense dialogue being offered up to its readers, you will literally need someone to pry this book out of your hands because you're going to be hooked on ENCLAVE, and be left wanting more and MORE of it!

The Rating

5/5 stars