Author: Ann Aguirre
Release Date: September 4th, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)
Pages: 336
Cover Judge: It's really badass, I like it.
Quote Choice: An example of the exploration of emotions Deuce has to go through, love it.
Source: For Review
Source: For Review
Goodreads: Link
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.
Sadly, I didn't like Outpost as much as I loved Enclave! I think this might be because in Enclave, all of the things happen. You're taken from below to above, going from places to places, meeting new people, discovering new things. But in Outpost, you're in the SAME place the whole time. I mean there's some revelations but nothing that really made me gasp and no action that had me flipping pages faster and faster.
However, one thing that is always consistent? How much I enjoy Deuce. While I said before that I didn't like Outpost as much as Enclave, I tore through Outpost. I read it in one sitting and even though I would think to myself "nothing's even happened", I couldn't stop. Aguirre has that sort of writing style and she really hit the mark with Deuce. This is a girl who is smart and capable and trained to be a huntress going through the internal struggle of having to figure out...well, who she is. The "girl" part of Deuce, as she likes to call it. Now that she's not constantly struggling for her life and living with a set of foster parents that offer her comfort and warmth, she doesn't know what to do with herself. I loved reading about her exploration of feelings and being able to be around people again, especially when it came to her foster mother. I thought that relationship was the strongest out of everyone's and it was something that nearly brought me to tears at one point.
The Freaks were terrifying, as per usual. But it's not the fact that it was slightly gorey and freaky like in the first book. No instead, it was horrifying because of the moral questions that start to come into place half-way through the book. The idea that maybe these Freaks are people too and the only reason they're attacking is because they see humans as a threat. I was definitely impressed with this area of the novel.
Finally, we have Fade. Ah Fade, I really liked you in Enclave. You were strong and silent, brave and understanding while still managing to be broken and flawed. But in Outpost? I just...didn't like you. Especially in the beginning! He was horribly jealous all the time, pretty emo, and super possessive. I understood where he was coming from but dude needed to calm down. His temper exploded throughout the whole book and it didn't remind me of the Fade I remembered in the first book. Stalker of course is the other romantic option but I'm sorry, I can't love A RAPIST. Like, this is something that is forgiven and forgotten from the first book? Seriously? Deuce is like: Oh man why does Tegan not like Stalker? Well, because he was one of the gang leaders of the gang who TOOK HER. Just...no. Tegan herself was awesome, as per usual.
Overall, it's a good book and a really good series that can be addicting regardless of its other problems!
-Happy Reading!
