Enclave

By: Ann Aguirre

Narrated by: Emily Bauer

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Ann Aguirre's thrilling young adult novel Enclave is the story of two young people in an apocalyptic world - facing dangers, and feelings, unlike any they've ever known. New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy.

When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters - or Freaks - who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight - guided by Fade's long-ago memories - in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs.

©2011 Ann Aguirre (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

It was supposed to be good.

I thought it was a really good story. You don't have to be a dystopian or sci-fi fan to love this book. The horrifying future that Ann Aguirre had portrayed was so real and vivid in my mind. I have to say that I don't think the Author's focus was on the romance at all. She simply described how any teenage girl at that stage would feel.....confused and bewildered. However, I strongly recommend you NOT TO BUY THE AUDIOBOOK VERSION! I tried so hard to ignore the narrator's whiny voice but just couldn't. She made the whole thing extremly distracting I almost couldn't made it though the first half. Anyway, go buy the book. It's much worth it.

Mysterious and Suspenseful

I took a chance on the audiobook and I’m not sure this was the best decision. While I liked the story, I didn’t love the audiobook narration. Overall I think the premise is good and the fast paced, action packed story seems to be heading down an interesting path. Enclave paints a bleak world, with evolved “freaks” and hidden dangers lurking around. The protagonist Deuce is a brave huntress trying to find the right path in an uncertain world.

In this post apocalyptic world the remaining survivors are living in underground tunnels. The human life span is now very short, and only if the children (called “Brats”) make it to age fifteen do they even get an official name. Once they are named, they can then choose the title of breeder, builder or hunter. Deuce has just completed the naming ceremony and has chosen the huntress path. She now must hunt for food and fight any flesh eating zombie like “Freaks” that get in her way. Deuce is paired up with Fade, a boy who grew up topside. Once she starts exploring on her hunting missions, Deuce finds that the stories she has been told about life outside the enclave may not be as true as she thought.

The story is mysterious and suspenseful, and since Deuce has been in the dark so is the reader. There is not a lot of information about Deuce’s world and how things got to be so bad. I would expect more of the blanks to be filled in with future installments. Deuce and the others in the enclave have grown up believing they won’t live long, they have to stay underground and away from the dangers above ground. No one seems to question this before Deuce becomes a huntress.

The protagonist Deuce is the character I felt most connected to. She is a brave huntress, curious, and strong. Her life has changed overnight and she is trying to adjust with each new challenge thrown at her. It’s interesting seeing the world outside the underground through her eyes because she is like a fish out of water; everything is new to her. Fade is her friend and potential love interest. He has more knowledge of the topside world since he was born there and can fill in some of the blanks for Deuce. Fade seems to have some competition for Deuce as another suitor is introduced.

Fade and Deuce meet many new characters on their mission, and it’s hard to know who can be trusted. The freaks are another mysterious element in the story. I think they are supposed to be zombies, and some of them are smarter and evolved so they are more difficult to stop.

As I listened to this story and envisioned the Deuce character, I imagined she would sound like a brave huntress, and sound similar to the narrator of Divergent or even the narrator of Delirium. The narrator of Enclave sounds younger and more innocent than I expected for the character. I understand she does need to sound naive due to her age and experience but for me the voice doesn’t match up to how I thought the character would sound.

Overall, the story has potential and should appeal to fans of darker post apocalyptic and action-oriented YA books. It’s not my favorite audiobook, so I recommend reading the book version.

Good dystopian story

The book starts off slow, but gets more interesting as it continues. The voice of the reader is annoying at first but then you realize she is supposed to be a child and it makes sense.

A perfect mash-up of what Dystopian fans love

What if all of your favorite post apocalyptic and dystopian books were able to marry and produce offspring? The outcome of such a phenomenal mash-up would have the potential to be the most uber fabulous, end all of end all stories. It would have action, adventure, struggle, zombies, sickness, corrupt leadership, strong protagonist, and amazing characters. In fact, it would be exactly like ENCLAVE.

This book has it all and then some!

At first I feared that there was too much going on in the book and fought the urge to compare it to other popular books in this genre. But, sooner rather than later, I forgot why I was so skeptical and surrendered all to the plot. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!

The story is really made of three different parts. The first (and longest storyline) focusing on the people who have been surviving the apocalypse underground for centuries–never setting their eyes on the sun and everything “top side”. Underground they have developed a type of government and assign people jobs (this was very reminiscent of City of Ember). Some people are born to be breeders, some builders, and others hunters. The Hunters are the group of people that go through the tunnels and collect food and try to remove “The Freaks” which are zombie like creatures that live underground and one of the threats to the settlement. However, there is another threat to the long term survival of the enclave and that is their life spans. For an unknown reason, most likely from nutrition or lack of sunlight, the people born and living in the underground enclave’s do not live long, in fact their Elder is 25 years old.

This first part of the book not only introduces us to the characters and their way of life underground, but also to the relationships that become very important through out the rest of the story. In particular that of Deuce, the huntress, and Fade the orphan boy who joined the enclave only years earlier. It is the bond between them that leads us to the second part of the storyline. Together they are exiled from the enclave and forced to try to make it “top side” where gangs of boys are the main threat (this part reminded me of The Hunger Games where Peeta and Katniss are in the arena).

The third part focuses on Deuce, Fade and a couple of new friends and their journey to find a safer place to take shelter. As they travel North we see how the stress and uncertainty of the journey effects their bonds and how they strive to persevere in a hostile world.

Though there are lots of things that on their own would and have already made interesting stories, joined together they made something really awesome. I was very sad when it ended because I wasn’t ready to close the book. I was pleased to discover that there is another book in this series coming out in 2012…it just can’t get here soon enough!

This story just keeps getting better

What did you love best about Enclave?

The development of friendships and the way the characters learn to problem solve

Who was your favorite character and why?

Teagan. She never gave up

What about Emily Bauer’s performance did you like?

She imparts emotions and her voice gives life to each one of the characters

pretty dang good

a friend recommended this to me. glad she did I like it. can't wait to listen to the next one.

As good as I remember!

I read this as a teen and as an adult I still find this genre and style my preference. I thought the overall story was great and the love story even better! I COULDN’T STOP LISTENING!

Interesting and full of adventure.

I would sum this story up as an I Am Legend meets Hunger Games (though there are no "games").

The main character, Deuce, is admirable, brave, and pretty bad a** for her age. At the same time, she's naive, but not because she lacks intellegence; she's grown up in sheltered circumstances and she's barely past childhood.

I am excited for book 2 (The Outpost - which apparently is set for publication September 2012) so I can follow Deuce as she matures and grows into the relationships she's established.

There is a triangle established in this first book, though due to Deuce's naivety and age, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "love triangle" yet. But this is one of the things that makes Deuce's story interesting. It's not the typical YA novel of, OMG I've immediately fallen in love with two different boys and don't know what to do; it's not mushy at all. There's a lot more of an organic nature to the growth of the relationships in this story, and it's one of the reasons I look forward to book 2.

The story is also action packed and moves along at a good pace; you don't get bored.

The narrator took some getting used to. She sounds awfully young and, at first, I found her high pitched voice annoying. But I got over it pretty fast and her voice actually matches Deuces character pretty well. I just wish she did more convincing male voices. Other than the tone of her voice, I think Emily Bauer did a good job expressing intensity in those moments of the story that really called for it.

Overall, despite my criticisms, I really liked Enclave and would recommend others read it. I've read(or really listened to) a lot, A LOT, of other YA novels lately that I didn't really find all that impressive and worth reading, but I really enjoyed Enclave and thought it worth a review.

Best Dystopian Novel in a Long Time

Have to say I loved this book start to finish. There is never a dull moment and I thought the author did a great job of creating unique characters. I disagree with criticisms of the narrator. I liked her and the way she performed this book and the sequel, Outpost.

Average

Any additional comments?

No particular likes or dislikes. It was perfectly serviceable. I like the strong heroine, which is why I chose it in the first place. But certainly not a stand out in the genre. The naivety of the heroine is a bit irritating.