BOOK REVIEW: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

This review is on the second book of "The Maze Runner". I have provided no spoilers to the actual plot, but have provided an honest review.

Title: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner, #2)
Author: James Dashner
Publication: August 1st 2011, by Chicken House
Genre: Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Survival
Pages: 359

Goodreads and Amazon

Rating: ★ ★ ★

The Scorch Trials picked up where The Maze Runner left off. The Gladers have escaped the Maze, but now they face an even more treacherous challenge on the open roads of a devastated planet. 

And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. 

Can Thomas survive in such a violent world?

I almost feel bad about rating The Scorch Trials only three stars, but I just cannot force myself to rate it anything higher. I had enjoyed The Maze Runner profusely -- Thomas really became an excellent protagonist, with the secondary characters slowly becoming well-rounded characters themselves. However, whilst The Scorch Trials was still a good book, I personally felt as though it had lost a little of what had made The Maze Runner great.

The Scorch Trials picks up immediately where The Maze Runner ended. This was definitely one of the novel's greatest strengths. Thomas and the group of Gladers, now only a small group, discover that whilst they may have escaped the maze, they have not escaped WICKED's clutches. Instead, they are still part of an elaborate experiment. Thomas and the Gladers are forced to navigate themselves through the Scorch -- a large expanse of sand and heat, occasionally touched by harsh storms. The Scorch is littered with infected humans, two of which become secondary characters. Their task? Fight through the obstacles placed out before them and get to the safe haven in two weeks.

I was very disappointed that there were large portions of this novel that Thomas left the Gladers for long periods of time. This meant that there was very little time to focus on Minho, Newt and Teresa -- three characters that I have grown incredibly fond of. Instead, a lot of this novel focused on Thomas building a new friendship with a new character: Brenda. At times I found her frustrating, almost infuriating, mainly because her personality was constantly changing and was unpredictable. Furthermore, Thomas constantly feels guilty for his growing feelings towards Brenda, and this is repeated continuously throughout the novel. It felt as though what made Thomas a good main character was overlooked because of his focus on her.

Overall, despite these faults, I did enjoy The Scorch Trials. It was a good sequel, flowing well from the previous novel. However, I do think it could have been a lot better if the novel had focused on Thomas and the Gladers, instead of having Thomas running around by himself or with a newly introduced character. There were a number of twists and turns along the way, some of which surprised me, keeping me reading because they were intriguing. But sadly, I still have to give this book three out of five stars.

What are your opinions of The Scorch Trials?

BOOK REVIEW: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)
Author: James Dashner
Publication: Chicken House, August 4th 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Survival
Pages: 371

Goodreads & Amazon

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Everything is going to change. 

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas can remember is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade, an encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible maze. 

Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there, or what's happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything to find out.

Admittedly, I actually picked up James Dashner's The Maze Runner after discovering the wonderful movie adaption a couple of weeks ago. I was honestly expecting to already know the storyline, the plot and the characters, that this book was only necessary to read to ensure I understood everything before continuing on to read the second book: The Scorch Trials. However, I was completely surprised with what I ended up reading: Dashner's The Maze Runner is completely different than the recent movie adaption. I could provide some examples of these differences, but I do not want to give any spoilers away to those who have not read the book.

The overall storyline is practically same as the movie. Thomas wakes up in 'the box' remember nothing but his own name. Whist focusing on Thomas as he attempts to navigate his way through his new life in the Glade, The Maze Runner introduces readers to the Maze: a mysterious and dangerous and terrifying entity that begins to take on a life of its own, becoming a main character of Dashner's book itself. Thomas begins aiding the other Gladers (a group of boys brought together to the Maze over a three year period) in their attempt to escape the clutches of the Maze and discover the secrets it hides.

I have really enjoyed the characters that Dashner has created -- they are vastly different than the movie adaption characters. Whilst Thomas, Minho and Chuck are somewhat similar to their movie adaptions (with some characteristics varying), Newt, Teresa, Gally and Alby are not. Instead, they are much more multifaceted and three-dimensional, with aspects of these characters seemingly forgotten in The Maze Runner movie. For example, Newt's limp is removed from the movie, which disappoints me as I feel as though this was an important element for his character.

The only reason that I did not rate this book five stars was because the beginning of The Maze Runner was a little slow. It took a while before any real action occurred, with the first few chapters dedicated to exposition. I wasn't looking for action from the beginning, but it could have been a little more exciting.

The Maze Runner has quickly become one of my new favourite series. I have not read many books from a male protagonist's perspective -- the only other one would have to be Harry Potter. I love reading about Thomas and his interactions with other Gladers.

Have you read The Maze Runner? What other books with male protagonists have you enjoyed?