Title: Endurance
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Razorland #1.5
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Dystopia, Science fiction, Zombies
Dates read: 27th – 29th May 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: “We didn’t kill them all.”

When rebellion destroys the underground world in which Thimble and Stone have grown up, they take Stone’s son and try to escape the chaos. Along the way, they must evade the Freaks, beings who feed on human flesh. Leaving behind the roles of Builder and Breeder which they were assigned at birth, they wander the underground tunnels, looking for safety yet afraid to go “topside” where legend has it that the light and water will burn their skin from their bones.

Their journey takes them upward to an unimagined world of tinned food, comfortable furniture, and books. Away from their regimented society for the first time, and still facing imminent danger, Thimble and Stone acknowledge the forbidden attraction which both have denied for years.

This is a little bit cute. It’s easy, simple and just the right amount of activity to make you want to sink your teeth into it. I also love that it shows the Thimble and Stone survive. And have some kind of future ahead of them… I REALLY hope that they show up later in the series…

One of the parts of Enclave that I found a little difficult was the fact that Deuce just left the Enclave. She had no way to know what had happened after she disappeared. And, although her fever dream tells her that everyone was dead, it was a little abstract and that much more difficult to really feel like there was closure. I mean it was a great story telling technique, but I hate lose ends. This short story helped to fix up all of those lose ends and tie everything up in a nice, neat little knot.

There is a bit of a romantic entanglement throughout this story. It kind of hit on one thing that I tend to hate in young adult storylines – they’re so young when they fall stupidly, madly in love. After all, a sixteen-year-old finding her one and only is a bit hard to stomach. But, by creating a dystopian society in which the expected lifespan is less than twenty years… it makes this a little more relatable. Actually, it made the entire relationship between Thimble and Stone a very happy family creation tale. And I really, really hope that I get to see them again later on in the series!

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Image source: Goodreads