The World Ends Times Three!

The end of the world can come in so many ways you will make yourself crazy trying to think about all of them! So when you get three different stories who share nothing in common but the end of the world, it might you into a paranoia tailspin where you end up digging a bunker in your backyard! But with 'Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa, Ann Aguirre, and Karen Duvall, you will welcome the end of the world... in the pages of the book anyway! 

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa
Red Lung has decimated the population. Kylie survived an earlier form of the virus, so she has taken that as a sign she was meant to help people. Even as young as she is, she is one of the last still working in a slipshod clinic trying to make people comfortable in their final days. But when a mysterious stranger arrives with a torn-up friend, she can't figure out what happened to them. Ben Archer won't tell her how his friend got hurt, but she knows there is more to the story than just an animal attack. What she doesn't expect is the new virus that turns humans into animals... or where the virus came from.

Thistle and Thorne by Ann Aguirre
The world is a chemical wasteland, but money still separates the haves and the have nots. Mari is trying to take care of her younger brother and sister, but gang overlords don't make that easy. When she is forced into a job for a gang leader, she quickly realizes the job wasn't as easy as she made it out to be. She almost doesn't make it out of the walled city, created to protect the uber-wealthy from having to deal with the starving peasants outside, but Thorne, a former member of the gang, saves her. When she learns the true nature of her mission, she and Thorne, the most unlikely of duos, combine to fight back.

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall
The sun's instability has created solar flares and sun sparks that can kill a person. The earth is scorched and dry, and water and food are a luxury. But something else has happened. For some people, the sun has changed them, made them into Kinetics. There are many different kinds of Kinetics, but they can all do something supernatural. Sarah has the ability to predict the deadly sun storms, and she takes the responsibility of such a gift very seriously. When she happens upon Ian, a Kinetic who can control the weather, she realizes their combined powers have the ability to amplify. But, as if the world weren't dangerous enough, a crazy former government agent is now rounding up Kinetics like a slave trader, and he is hunting Ian. But together, Sarah and Ian are more powerful than anyone could have predicted... or did they?

This was a fun trio of novellas that I really enjoyed. Kagawa's story is a prequel to The Immortal Rules, which was brilliant, by the way, and this prequel gave so much insight into the fall of humanity before that series started. I also really liked Duvall's novella, and I hope she runs with this and continues the story of the Kinetics. It was so fascinating, and the story can easily continue into a series! The one story that wasn't my favorite was Ann Aguirre's. This was surprising, because I have been following her Enclave series since it was first released. I am not fully sure why this was my least favorite story, but it might have been the characters. Mari and Thorne just didn't seem to have a connection, so it made it hard for me to imagine the huge sacrifices they were making. Still, it wasn't a bad story, just not my favorite out of this trio.

The last two stories are clean and good for a wide range of students, but the Kagawa story has a decently graphic sex scene in it. Honestly, I don't think it was anything too graphic, but some might object to giving it to a student who isn't old enough. Basically, if they have read Immortal Rules they shouldn't have a problem with the short story. Otherwise, this collection is a fun group of novellas that might be good for a kid who has trouble with full-length novels, but would like shorter stories to go with their attention span. I know they were perfect for me during a busy work week! 

A Story of Thimble and Stone

When you read the first book in Ann Aguirre's Enclave series, you were happy to follow the story of Deuce, but you wondered about Stone and Thimble, the friends she left behind as she went Topside. Underground, in a world of darkness and monsters, we finally learned what became of Stone and Thimble as the only world they had ever known crashed down around them.

Stone is just a breeder, but he is a big, strong man. He might not have a specific purpose in the Enclave other than making more brats, but he wants to have a purpose. Thimble narrowly escaped being thrown to the freaks outside the walls to become a Builder, and while most people see her as deformed, Stone has always thought she was perfect. As the Enclave erupts into a civil war with the monsters just waiting for the blood to spill, Stone, Thimble, and Boy 23, Stone's brat, know that if they stay together, they can survive... in one way or another.

This was a fantastic short story attached to this series. It isn't necessary to carry on with the story, but it is really interesting and a fabulous companion to the story currently going on in the first two books. I suggest anyone who liked Enclave to read this companion for more insight into the world of the underground Enclaves. It will leave you wanting more from Aguirre!

Thrilling Sequel Takes a Bite Out of My Summer!

When Enclave by Ann Aguirre ended, we found Deuce and Fade Topside- aboveground after living underground in the Enclave all their lives. It was a change that sent the series into a completely different direction, and it injected more surprises and excitement into Outpost than you can imagine!

Deuce, Fade, Tegan, and Stalker were taken in by the people of Sanctuary, but they certainly weren't accepted by everyone immediately. Given to different foster parents, they found themselves suddenly immersed in a society that had survived within tall walls and relatively removed from the Freaks who roamed the countryside. They almost never came face to face with the Freaks, animal-like humanoids with terrifying teeth and claws, and they certainly couldn't defend themselves against them. Deuce and the others were well-trained in Freak combat, but Sanctuary saw them as children, not the lethal hunters they actually were. Forced to go to school and act like proper boys and girls, Deuce and the others struggle to fit into Sanctuary. 

When the crops are destroyed by the Freaks, it becomes clear they are no longer mindless roaming monsters with no intellect. After a couple of calculated attacks, Sanctuary is forced to acknowledge that the Freaks are getting smarter and Sanctuary is in danger. When Deuce, Fade, and Stalker offer to set up an outpost to protect the crops, the rest of the town is shamed into sending adults with them. Leaving the walls is terrifying for the people of Sanctuary, but so is starving through the winter with no crops to eat. Once they establish the outpost, however, it becomes clear the situation with the Freaks has escalated to a point that leaves Sanctuary vulnerable. But if the only people willing to do anything about it are the outsiders, how will Sanctuary survive this new threat?

I know it is difficult, sometimes, when a series takes a whole new spin, like Enclave did by throwing the kids Topside, but when done well, it can transform a series and make the sequel just as exciting as the original novel. That was certainly the case with Outpost, which extended the first story, but gave this book a whole new purpose all its own. I thought it was brilliant on Aguirre's part to do so, and it made me just as thrilled for the third book to come. We also get to see a whole new side of the characters we loved from the first book. Most transformative for me was the path Deuce traveled. Having never had a family in the Enclave, she couldn't get used to Momma Oaks, her foster mother. But when it became clear Momma Oaks really loved her, allowing herself to be the child of caring parents was an experience that made Deuce want to save Sanctuary. There were also times when you saw the ugly side of Sanctuary, which was very realistic for any community living so close together, and it made me like and believe the story even more. 

I really liked this sequel, and I think Aguirre did a great job of keeping a story going without just repeating what worked in the first book (a common mistake). The journey these characters traveled not only changed them, it changes you as a reader. You see them differently and cannot help but transform with them. The story was exciting and terrifying at times, but it keeps you wondering what is going to happen next. You will want to protect these kids, but you will also be proud of their bravery, even when the adults from Sanctuary are unwilling to take the same risks to save their own home. This was a fantastic follow-up, and I am dying to get ahold of the next book!

Safety vs. Freedom: Which Would You Choose?

A dystopia leaves us faced with some big choices, but a fairly common decision is that of safety vs. freedom. Would you be willing to be subservient and blindly follow orders if it meant your community was safe? Even if it meant you had to deal with murder, sacrifice, and other impossible choices? Or would you rather take your chances in the ugly world if it meant your decisions were your own? Even if it meant survival was less than likely and surely not to last terribly long? These are the questions you will find yourself asking while reading the first book in the Razorland series, Enclave by Ann Aguirre.

All Deuce ever wanted was to make it to age 15 where she got her name and her new job: Huntress. Living in the subway tunnels underneath the city, the College Enclave has a very strict way of doing things, and this is what has kept them alive. Children die so often they remain unnamed until they are 15. Then they are named and given their job, Hunter, Breeder, or Builder. The Hunters are responsible for going out into the tunnels to gather food for the Enclave, as well as keeping the Freaks at bay.

The Freaks are weird monsters that are human/zombie type creatures. They are constantly looking for meat (fresh or rotten) to eat, have sharp teeth and hideous claws. They will even resort to eating each other, but they aren't particularly bright and don't work together, or so the Enclave thought. When Deuce and her new partner, Fade (not born in the Enclave) come across a blind boy from another Enclave, they are sent to on a suicide mission to see if the boy's Enclave really did fall to the Freaks. When they surprisingly make it back to their own Enclave with scary news of Freaks working together, the Elders refuse to believe it. Instead, they seem to be determined to live in ignorance of the inevitable threat that will destroy the Enclave and every person in it. They even go so far as to plant banned artifacts in people's rooms and sacrifice them as examples. When Deuce's best friend is accused of hoarding artifacts, Fade and Deuce take the blame and are exiled from the Enclave.

Deuce assumes going Topside (above ground) is a death sentence, but Fade tells her he used to live there and he thinks they can make it. He warns her about gangers- gangs of men who only use women as breeders and hunt other men for sport if they won't join their gang. Unfortunately, the warning isn't enough, and they are captured by a gang called the Wolves. Stalker, head Wolf, claims Deuce for his own. He has plans for her once he finishes hunting Fade (think "The Most Dangerous Game") and he sends her with another young woman name Tegan to get cleaned up. What he doesn't expect is that Deuce isn't about to go down without a fight, and she is taking Tegan with her. Together, they free Fade and manage to dismantle the Wolves' hunting party one by one.

Once they are free of the Wolves, they continue on their journey north, where Fade's father always told him life would be safer. Along the way, however, it becomes clear the Freaks aren't just in the tunnels anymore. They are Topside and they are hungry. When the Wolves find Fade, Deuce, and Tegan, the Freaks attack, leaving Stalker as the lone Wolf surviving. He decides to stick with them and head north, seeing the futility of returning to the city if these creatures are coming up to the surface. Can they find the land to the north where life continues as it did before the world came crashing down? Will Deuce lose Fade to more tragedy and loss than he can handle? Can Tegan, the weakest of the group, survive the journey, especially alongside her former captor who she wants to see dead and bloody?

Now, clearly you know by now I have a dystopic/post-apocalyptic "soft-side". I love 'em! Call me dark, weird, creepy, whatever, but I can't help it... I love reading about The End of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). Some are good, some are bad, but occasionally you find the ones that are phenomenal. Welcome to Enclave. Simply addictive. My only complaint about this book? The next book is over a YEAR away! The world Aguirre weaves is so intricate and believable. The creepy Freaks gave me nightmares last night and were way too zombie-like not to make me barricade the door (but they aren't quite zombies). The characters are interesting and have layers you end up peeling back layer by layer. Finally, the journey is one you would be terrified to take, but can't resist tagging along on. This was an amazing story of epic proportions that will keep you angry at Aguirre for not pumping out the next book faster!

The language is very tame, and the content is typical for this genre, but not overly gory or bloody. There are life and death scenes of course, but they aren't terribly graphic. In light of the recent Wall Street Journal article knocking the current climate of YA lit (real, gritty, graphic, and true), I can't help but chuckle that this is the book I happened to be reading as this article dropped. This is the exact kind of book that is charged with "darkening" our the lives of our children. And you know what I have to say to that? Wall Street Journal, if you think YA lit, which delivers strong morals and survivor stories, are hurting our children, you clearly haven't been to high school lately. Sadly, our kids HAVE to be survivors to make it today, and I am not afraid to let them read books about other survivors. In those books, kids survive the apocalypse, oppressive governments, rape, torture, bullying, gay bashing, abuse, eating disorders, and so much more. Until you can keep our children from having to be survivors, you need to dismount from your ignorant moral high horse and accept the fact that survivor stories, of all kinds, are reality. You don't scare me, Wall Street Journal, but now we know we scare you!