The Scorch Trials

Publication Date: september 18, 2010

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 361

SUMMARY

The Scorch Trials is the second novel in the Maze Runner series. Picking up right where we left off, our main character Thomas and his friends believe that all their troubles are over now that they are out of the maze. But they are soon proved wrong when they are thrown into the Scorch, the second phase of the trials the team is under. If Thomas and his crew can make it out of the Scorch alive in a matter of weeks, they are guaranteed their freedom and a ticket out of this experiment. But if they fail, it could mean certain death.

REVIEW

I am giving this book three and a half stars out of five. Like its preceder, this book was full of non-stop action and on the edge of your seat moments. But I did have a few issues with this book that prevented it from reaching five star status.

Lets start off with the pros. A lot of the issues I had in the maze Runner where improved on in this novel. There was definitely character development for all of these characters. Thomas really improved on his role as a main character and delivered this story on a good term. On that note, we really get to see development for all of the characters, and more of the side characters, such as Newt, Minho, ect.

As for the plot, I thought, for the most part, it was an interesting story line with lots of twists and turns. But I do have a few complaints. Seeing how this is the second book in a series, I would have liked to get some answers about this series. To be more precise, I wanted to know more about W.I.C.K.E.D and what they want with these teenagers. Also, i wanted to know more about the characters past. We do get to see a bit of Thomas's past, but it didn't reveal an awful lot. And we saw no background info on the other characters. This is probably the main reason why this rating isn't higher.

This book was well-written. I have a bit of a neutral response to dashner's writing style. I don't love it, but I don't dislike it either. I would have liked to see it stick out a bit more. I feel it sort of runs in with the other many dystopian novels in the YA universe today.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the Scorch Trials wan't the best sequel I've ever read, but it wasn't the worst either. I am excited to see where this story goes in the conclusion The Death Cure. I would recommend this series to you if you are a fan of dystopias, and also if you are a fan of the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Thanks for reading!