Lisa Reviews: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

“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?”

 There was so much hype around this series every time another instalment was released, and it seemed like everyone was talking about them. And no wonder! There was not one slow moment throughout this entire book, and throughout The Maze Runner. If you haven’t started this trilogy, you need to ASAP!

The Scorch Trials begins right where The Maze Runner ends. The Gladers have just escaped the maze, but now are facing their next challenges; the world that’s falling down around them, and the Flare, to name a few.

After their arrival, the Gladers wake up to a (clean) man sitting at a desk behind a clear protective shield. He is here to tell the group about their next test; go 100 miles across the desert within two weeks. To get the Gladers to take this seriously, the man tells them that each and every one of them is infected with the Flare, and if they make the distance they will be granted the cure.

This story was so intense, mysterious and crazy! This group of teenagers has no memory of who they are, or what is going on around them. And the reader only knows what the Gladers know.

Besides every page being filled with action and mystery, there was also a lot of character development. The reader was re-introduced to the characters who survived the maze (I won’t be giving anything away, go read the book!) and to a few new ones. Thomas is still the smart and friendly leader we got to know in the first book, but within the second segment we see him facing some difficult situations. Thomas really pulls himself and the Gladers through a lot of tough times. Teresa seemed to be the girl for Thomas in The Maze Runner, but she does a few things, that completely change and spin the minds of readers. I was unsure whose side she’s on!

The new characters we got to meet were Brenda and Jorge, two people that the Gladers bumped into, and decided to bring along for the Gladers sake, and theirs. The two join the ride, in hopes of getting the cure as well. Brenda has Thomas questioning his love for Teresa as he starts to have feelings for her, so I’m excited to see how that works out and who Thomas picks.

I couldn’t believe how action packed this book was, and how much more I enjoyed the characters, even though I already loved them in The Maze Runner! I can’t wait to start reading the third and finally book! Who knows what James Dashner will have in store for both me and the Gladers.

P.S. Does anyone know if they are making these into movies?