Book Review: The Scorch Trials

Book: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner book #2) by James Dashner

Cover Art by Philip Straub
Typography by Joel Tippie

Edition: Paperback

Description:

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.

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

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



Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

The Scorch Trials picks up where the first book The Maze Runner ended with Thomas, Minho, Teresa, Newt, Frypan and the other Gladers believing they have been saved from their terrible ordeal in the Maze. But Thomas and his friends would soon realize that WICKED (World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department), the organization that has been testing them for mysterious reasons, wasn't finished with them yet.

The next test had the Gladers being forced to travel through a desolate and dangerous area in order to reach a specific location in a certain amount of time. This truly was a dangerous challenge because not only were they traveling with limited supplies but they were up against an unbearably hot sun, ravaging winds and devastating storms. They also had to deal with whatever traps WICKED may have set up along the way as well as dealing with the unpredictability of some of the people they met. The people who lived in the Scorch are infected with a virus called the Flare that will eventually turn the victims into something crazed and zombie like. To add even more complications to this challenge, the Gladers were told they also had the Flare and the only way they would get the cure is if they completed the task.

Every moment of this challenge was harrowing, WICKED clearly wasn't making this easy for them. The Gladers had two new acquaintances, Brenda and Jorge who were helping them reach their designated location. This is a fast-paced story that takes some dark turns but it will have you rooting for the Gladers to try to survive and make it through to the end. Something that continued from the first book is Thomas was still getting random glimpses of his memories that he was trying his best to piece together. There were certain points in the story where Thomas was starting to question whether he could trust Teresa.

The Scorch Trials is a very intriguing story because you have this organization putting these teens through torturous trials supposedly for a good reason. With a name such as WICKED how could you not expect anything but something ominous from a company that uses such appalling tactics.

Prior to reading this, I had watched the movie first and I always wondered why so many fans didn't like the movie. I know they complained about the movie having a completely different story which after reading the book is found to be true. Although, I enjoyed both versions of the story, there were a lot of changes to the adaptation but it doesn't ruin the feel of the original story. With the way this ended, I really can't wait to read the third book, The Death Cure.