Book Review: The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials
By James Dashner

Synopsis: (From Goodreads)

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.
In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.
Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.
The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

Why I Picked this Book:  If you have been following me, you know that I loved The Maze Runner.  So, of course, I just had to snag book two as soon as I could and devour it as well!

My Thoughts:
* NOTE: May have spoilers for those of you who haven't read The Maze Runner yet *

The Scorch Trials is a great continuation to The Maze Runner.  From the get-go, you as the reader know that things are about to get funky all over again for the Glader boys.

Here they are, thinking they are finally safe and free... They have escaped the Maze.  Rescued by some mysterious renegade group.  Given pizza and a place to sleep.

When WHAM, zombie-like people who call themselves Cranks are pounding on the windows, the people who saved them are dead, and Theresa is missing.  She has been replaced by a boy named Aris, and the group is told they must reach the safe haven before the disease they have been infected with takes them over.

Welcome to The Scorch Trials.

I feel Dashner did a great job on extending Thomas and the Glader's story.  New characters are thrown in, new plots developed.  New crazy, horrorific actions take place.  (Metal goo that covers your head then chops it off into a nice solid metal ball?  I still can't get the image out of my mind!)  Not to mention Group B, a group of all girl Gladers, who has to get to the safe haven before the boy Gladers.  Race to the finish.  Oh yes.

Oh, did I mention the zombies?  Ok, they are called Cranks in this book.  But they are zombies non-the-less.  People infected with the Flare, who have gone mad.  Really mad.  Eating noses and rotting limbs mad.  No wonder the boys are all so desperate to get the cure before the Flare takes them over.

Theresa goes through quite a change as well.  I am not fully sure how I feel about her.  She has been labeled as the Betrayer, and man, she seems to live up to that.  Even by the end, I didn't have a feel on her anymore, and didn't fully trust her.  Hey Dashner, I guess you got me to feel betrayed as well.  Kudos.

Though some parts did drag a bit more than I would have liked (wandering through the scorching hot desert... what do you expect?) and I was still left in the dark about reasons and plots... (I guess this is all a ploy of WICKED's to find a cure for the Flare.)  Things have been hinted at, a few things explained.  Still in the dark on many...

Oh, and the ending.  Let's just say it's one of those endings that leaves you dangling off of a cliff edge, wondering "what the heck just happened?"  while trying to hang on even though there is a man above you with a chainsaw who is creeping it towards your fingers... Really.  That's how I felt.  Then it just ends.  Still...

I honestly could not stop reading.  I loved it.  I wanted more.  I hated when I got to the last page and had to shut the book.  Dashner has pulled me into this world of his, and I am just as committed to the Trials as the Gladers and WICKED are.  I want more.

And lucky me... book three, The Death Cure, comes out in October.

Overall, The Scorch Trials was amazing.  I cannot wait to see where Dashner takes us next.  I am dying to see how this story all ties together, and plan on getting book three as soon as I can get my hands on it.  Simply: I am a fan.

Do I think you should read this?  Uh, yeah.  Though I still prefer The Maze Runner more, I feel this was a perfect continuation to an already amazing story.  Not as strong of a 5 star, but a 5 star all the same.

My Rating

(5 out of 5 stars)