Book Review:The Scorch Trials

Title: The Scorch Trials.
Author: James Dashner.
Series: Yes, #2.
Pages: 360.
Source: Purchased.
Publisher: Delacorte Press.
Published Date: 10/12/10.
Links:
Goodreads.
Barnes and Noble.

Summary:

"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?"

Cover:

I don't have the book with the cover shown above, I actually purchased the UK box set of this trilogy in my local used bookstore..who doesn't love a good deal?

Either way I really like both this cover and the cover I have! They both represent the story well and either set would look amazing on a clean and neat bookshelf.

My Thoughts:

Before starting The Scorch Trials, I was completely infatuated with The Maze Runner and I couldn't wait to get reading with the second book and nothing was going to stand in my way. But we all know how life works and that other things need to come first sometimes. So now that all that extra work is done, I've read The Scorch Trials and I'm writing these review to tell you guys just how AWESOME this book was!

The Scorch Trials starts exactly where The Maze Runner ends, isn't that amazing? Only one paragraph into the story and I'm already in love. Thomas and the Gladers have cracked the Maze and escaped. So far the group has learned that they are actually test subjects for a company called WICKED (World in Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department), but when they finally made it out of the Maze they can't believe what's going on.

The world is scorched, dry, without any water, and a disease called the Flare is spreading; the Flare turns people into crazy flesh eating monsters. WICKED has high hopes that the Gladers and the tests they run on them will save the world and bring a better future.

After waking up, the Gladers find Teresa gone and replaced by a boy named Aris. Besides that they also wake up to a pile of food and a clean man sitting behind a desk (none of these were here before...). The man is sitting behind a invisible protective shield, so the Gladers patiently wait until he finally says something.

He informs them that the Maze was only the first test and that the second one starts as soon as he finishes talking. Rat Man (as Thomas called him) started to explain that they needed to travel 100 miles through the scorching hot and dry desert, in two weeks to reach the Safe Haven. To give them some motivation (yeah, right) the man behind the desk informs the boys that each one of them is infected by the Flare, but if they complete the test, they will be given the cure.

While Thomas is surrounded by people, he is still feeling alone and missing one person; Teresa. He worries for her throughout his whole journey hoping she is okay, and hoping she'll communicate with him somehow. The Scorch Trials follows the group throughout their journey to the Safe Haven and all the bumps in the road (sand?) that comes with it.

There is no slow moment throughout reading The Scorch Trials, just like The Maze Runner each page was filled with mystery,  action and even a little bit of romance! James Dashner had me on the edge of my seat, and biting my nails!

Besides the non-stop action, I loved the character development that is shown in The Scorch Trails. This group of kids has no idea who they are, or what is truly going on in the world they live in.

Thomas is still the smart and friendly leader he was in the first installment. Teresa seemed to be Thomas's close friend, and almost even a little bit of a crush in The Maze Runner, but in the second book the reader is completely thrown off by her actions and is left questioning which side she is truly on. Also the reader is introduced to a few new characters including Brenda and Jorge (people they meet in a town) and a few people who work for WICKED.

I absolutely loved The Scorch Trials, even more than The Maze Runner (I know, I can't believe it either) and I'm excited to see what the third and finally book has in store for me and the Gladers.

P.S. If you've been following Turning Pages for a while, then you know how much I fear "second book syndrome". But The Scorch Trials is so good, that it gives me hope for second installments all around the world!!