Thoughts on Enclave by Ann Aguirre

Being a writer sucks.

I know this, because I call myself one (who cares if I've never actually completed a full-length novel, right?)

There's the comparing yourself to other writers, tearing yourself down, staring over from scratch, writer's blocks, motivation (or lack of), plot holes, character personality orders, and - of course - no matter how good your story might be, there is always, always going to be a Debbie Downer.

I just happen to be that Debbie Downer for a lot of writers.
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Friend: Have you read the The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott?
Me: Oh my god - totally!
Friend: Really? Don't you just -
Me: Hate it. Yes.
Friend: How about How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff?
Me: What a terrible book. Wrote a five paragraph rant on GoodReads.
Friend: Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver?
Me: Hate.
Friend: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libbra Bray?
Me: Hate.
Friend: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick?
Me: Hate.
Friend: Fallen by Lauren Kate?
Me: Hate.
Friend: Twilight?
Me: Don't be ridiculous, everyone hates Twilight.
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Haters, in my defense, are unavoidable in the writing business. If you can't take the hate, don't write a book. There are invariably going to be flamers on fanficton reviews, ranters at GoodReads, Debbie Downers on Blogspots....

Hatuhs gonna hate.

But what I can't understand is WHY I hate these books. Most of these books have impressive GoodReads ratings and glowing blurbs on the back of books. 4/5 people have added it onto their Favorites list. It must have been a good book for some people.

There are some authors like J.K. Rowling that were put on this Earth to write. And then, there are others.

Like Ann Aguirre.

I hate writing reviews like this. Honestly - being a hater is ALMOST as hard as being a writer, especially when you indeed have a soul.

And thus, let the Debbie Downer shine.

ENCLAVE BY ANN AGUIRRE.

My rating: 2/5

The story beings with Deuce, the Bella Swan of the Zombie Apocolypse. Deuce is a Huntress, with six "totally rad" scars to prove it. There may be other really interesting and important facts, like how the Enclaves got started, what exactly happened to the Earth to force people underground, how the Freaks are created, etc., but the MC is too busy getting it on with an emo Hunter dude to really care. And Hawtt Hunters > Important Information, obviously.

The Hawt-Emo-Hunter is, of course, Fade. Fade is the outsider, the loner, the dark and mysterious boy who has no redeeming qualities except being dark and mysterious.

We are deprived on why Deuce actually falls for this guy. We assume it's because he's permanently angry and depressed, and there is no bigger turn-on than that.

A bunch of bad zombie disembowelment proceeds, and there's probably more to this story somewhere, but all we know is that Fade and Deuce have this "totally ahmazing" connection. And that's the whole story.

No, seriously. Not to mention the writing was atrocious at best.

Sorry, Ann Aguirre. Not a big fan.

/endhater