Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

"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?"

Title: The Scorch Trials

Author: James Dashner

Release Date: October 12, 2010

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Pages: 360, Hardcover

One word: Insane.

You'd think that since The Scorch Trials is the second book in a trilogy, it'd be the most boring. You've all heard of it; the first book is the attention-getter, book two is the filler, and the final book is the one with all the answers and satisfying ending. Well, The Scorch Trials is one true exception to that statement. In fact, The Scorch Trials was even BETTER than it's predecessor!

James Dashner stays strong with everything that came from book one: amazing plot twists, deathly cliffhanger chapters, and intriguing characters. Think that and times 154702. It's that much better. If you thought The Maze Runner was intense, think again, because book two leaves the reader wanting SO much more than before. More questions, more enemies. It's all in there.

And you know that awesome THRILL you get when you don't know who the good guy is or who the real bad guy is? Well, there is PLENTY of that. It's exhilarating and unbelievable.

However, the setting change was a little weird for me. I was so used to the characters being in the Glade, and the setting change to the Scorch was… different. In my opinion, even the genre changed a little (can you believe it?). The Maze Runner was definitely more dystopian, but The Scorch Trials was dystopian + zombie apocalypse (add in the Cranks, and there ya go!).

All the same, The Scorch Trials did not disappoint, and only leaves the reader wanting more. Much, much more.

Grade: A++

Source: Library