Monthly Archives: October 2015

Thirteen years before Thomas entered the Maze, small settlements of survivors of the sun flares were attacked with darts shot from bergs. Those darts contained a virus that was supposed kill half the population quickly. Instead, it mutated into the terrible disease that became known as the Flare. Mark, Trina, Lana, and Alec come across a little girl named Deedee who was hit by a dart, but did not get sick (Teresa, presumably, though that fact is not revealed in the book). It’s a race against time, the Flare, and Cranks to get her to safe people she can help.

Of the four books in the Maze Runner series, The Kill Order was my least favorite. It was by far the most violent. Chapters would go by where nothing happened but gory descriptions of the behavior and fights of the Cranks. It was not fun to read. I did enjoy the story of what happened starting with the Sun Flares told through Mark’s dreams. The violence could have been toned down dramatically, however.

3 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2015: 91
Pages Read in 2015: 26,654
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)

In the final book of the Maze Runner trilogy, Thomas, Newt, Minho, Brenda, and Jorge escape from WICKED and head to Denver only to find that the Flare has spread even into the “safe” cities and Immunes are being gathered up and sold to WICKED. After being caught by Right Arm, Thomas willingly heads back to WICKED headquarters to try to help take down WICKED for good.

The Death Cure is the best of the three main Maze Runner books. In some places the writing is not very good, but the twists, turns, and surprises totally make up for it. I was left wanting to know more, but the ending was still satisfactory. This book really made reading the whole trilogy worth it.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2015: 89
Pages Read in 2015: 25,980
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)

Teresa is missing, replaced with Aris, and Thomas and the other Gladers are told by WICKED that they have been infected with the Flare and need to make it across 100 miles of the Scorch to the Safe Haven in order to get the Cure. Meanwhile, Group B, the girls, are tasked with the assignment of killing Thomas. Along the way the boys pick up Jorge and Brenda, two Civilians also infected with the Flare.

The Scorch Trials, the second installment of the Maze Runner trilogy, is a pretty typical middle-of-a-trilogy filler book. It’s almost 400 pages of movement, but no real explanations even though it promises several times to explain. The writing and word choices, like in the first book, seem simple even for a young adult novel. It’s required reading, of course, to get the whole Maze Runner story, but it’s not an incredibly exciting or interesting book.

3 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2015: 87
Pages Read in 2015: 25,114
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Applied to Category for Special Reading Challenge: A book with a love triangle (Brenda – Thomas – Teresa)

Thomas wakes up to find himself in the Glade surrounded by strange boys, confused with only shadows of memories. The next day Teresa shows up unconscious and when she wakes up she writes “WICKED is good” on her arm but doesn’t know why she did it. Making things even stranger, Thomas and Teresa can somehow speak to each other in their minds. Thomas learns about the maze that Runners run through every day trying to find a way out and note all the changes since the walls move every night. Thomas feels like he absolutely must become a Runner, but he doesn’t know why he has that strong feeling. He also learns about Grievers, terrible slug-like monsters that are sent out at night by the Creators and can sting you causing the Changing (where you get some memories back). When Teresa wakes up everything changes completely and getting out of the Glade becomes a necessity if any of them want to survive.

The Maze Runner is a good book. It’s an easy read, easy even for a young adult book. The chapters are the type that end making you want to keep on reading (I have a love/hate relationship with those). I found the use of fake curse words annoying and distracting, however. Some rhymed with the actual words and one was explicitly defined. The book in general, and the end specifically, made me want to continue reading the series. I recommend reading it.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2015: 84
Pages Read in 2015: 24,000
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)