Outpost
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Razorland #2
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance, Fantasy, Horror
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
My Rating:
Summary:
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 pursues and a chance summer patrols — those responsible for making sure the growers and planters can work the fields without danger of Freak attack. 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.
First Sentence: I woke to the cold kiss of steel on my throat.
My Review:
After I finished reading Enclave, I was a mess. How could Deuce be so stupid and not realize Fade’s hidden meaning behind his words? Will Salvation let them stay? What did the Freaks want? What ultimately happens now? All these questions were mixed up in my head – and when I finally got my hands on Outpost, I was afraid to read it because I was scared of what would happen next. I couldn’t stand it if Deuce and Fade never solve their misunderstand and spent the whole book in angst. This week, I finally overcame my fear and read Outpost, and to my disappointment, Outpost isn’t as good as Enclave was.
The beginning of Outpost just dragged on. I get it if Outpost spent three chapters talking about Deuce’s new role and challenges in Salvation, but to spend more than five chapters talking about it just tires me.
There was also considerably a lot less action in Outpost than Enclave. In Enclave, every page was full of dread, worry, and horror mixed in together as the group tried to survive. In Outpost, it’s just full of tons of drama, some fighting, then drama again.
Fade was also a lot less braver in Outpost. In fact, he’s gotten so soft and moody that I barely recognize him. He withdraws from Deuce over the smallest things when he could have just asked her about the truth and told her what happened. What happened to that unbreakable Fade from Enclave?
I’ve also noticed that in Outpost, there were tons of times Deuce described why Stalker acted the way he did in the past when he was the leader of his gang. That leads me to think that Ann Aguirre read the angry reviews on Enclave on how Stalker could become one of Deuce’s love interests when he was a rapist, so she wrote some passages to explain why Stalker did what he had done. Me, I had no problem of Stalker being a love interest for Deuce because I understand the world of Enclave and the circumstances people faced.
Overall, Outpost seems like a totally different book than Enclave. Despite the fact that I didn’t really enjoy reading Outpost, I’ll read Horde to see how the series end. What do the Freaks want? Will Salvation manage to survive? (I couldn’t count how many times I thought if only they had bombs in Outpost.)
i love this series…i hope fade and deuce will have a happy ending…
I hope they both have a happy ending too!
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This sound really good! I have this series on my TBR and I really want to give it a try. Sorry you didn’t enjoy the sequel as much, but hopefully the next book is better for you. I really want to meet Fade and Deuce! Great review! :D
~ Maida
Literary Love Affair
Maida @ Literary Love Affair recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday (35)
The first book was AMAZING Maida. I’ll recommend you to start with that one first. ;D
Thanks! (:
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: The Distance Between Us – Kasie West
Isn’t it awful when the second book in a series is so disappointing after a great book one? I think lots of series suffer from this, but they usually get better for the last book!
Hopefully this one would be one of the many ones that will improve at the third book Susan! I really loved the first book and don’t want the series to disappoint me. ):
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I love, love, love this series…cant wait for Horde!!!
My boyfriend was telling me a lot of the things you mentioned here. I was confused at first because I liked Outpost. So I was like, uh what? What do you mean it’s boring?
But then I read this and now I remember – definitely a lot more talk and not as much action. The action that is there is few and far between. So you guys have a point.
Regardless, I can’t wait to read Horde. It’s sitting on my shelf, mocking me :/
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