Book Review: The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Release date: 12th October 2010

Publisher: Chicken House

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off. 

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

 

The Review

I read book 1 in this series and even though it started off slow I stuck with it and found it was actually an awesome series. So almost 1 year later I decided I needed to read book 2, well I wanted to watch the movie and so decided I better read the book first.

This book was just utterly amazing! Usually in most series the book 2 is a filler and is used to set the scene for the finale. This was soo not the case in this series, the author in my opinion managed to make this one even better than the first book.

So the gladers have escaped the maze and think they are finally safe, little do they know that they are about to complete yet another trial. When Thomas is cut off from communicating with Theresa he knows there is definitely something wrong. The gladers are infected with the flare and are given 2 weeks to cross the scorch after which they will be given the cure. If they do not make it they will die if they are not already killed while travelling across the scorch. This time it is all about survival, Friendships and loyalties will be tested to their breaking points.

What did I think? This book was just soo awesome. To be honest I didn’t like Thomas at first because he just kept second guessing himself. Yea his memory is a bit messed up but come on, if he could,  I think he would have just run away to hide. I liked him much better when he started stepping up and doing what he knew had to be done to ensure their survival. This book introduces some other interesting characters like Jorge and Brenda. We get a bit more of Mihno’s sarcasm here which I really enjoyed. The infected were another interesting concept in the book which made the gladers understand the urgency of finishing the trial in time so they do not end up like them.

There were bits of the book that just dragged on and I wont lie it was annoying but glad I stuck with it as it got soo much better.

The sense of urgency of this particular trial made it a real edge of your seat type of read that doesn’t stop until you get to the end. The monsters they come against towards the end had more of a horror film kind of twist that made me grateful don’t exist in real life. I have to give props to the author for such vivid story telling and of course an awesome book 2. Now on to the next one, “The Death Cure” here we come!!!