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The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More dark and gruesome than Maze Runner, I almost put down Scorch Trials several times. The book starts off faster but then the pacing slows down and the middle of this books feels unnecessarily long. Luckily, Dashner tells a gripping story, I speed read, and I really wanted to find out the secrets. Why would Tom and Theresa subject themselves and other children to these horrible trials? How much of what we are learning is real vs lies vs fabricated memories? Is WICKED really good? What is really happening in the outside world? Unfortunately for me, this book provided very few answers

Like Maze Runner, Scorch Trials is plot-driven at the expense of character development. While we learn more of Tom and Theresa’s backstory, Tom still hasn’t changed or grown much and neither have the rest of the crew. It is hard to to connect to the characters and, therefor, root for them. When minor characters died, I didn’t feel sad, only horrified by their grizzly deaths. And the book still has a lot of telling, more showing would help the reader connect emotionally to Tom.

In writing this review, I realized that the difference (for me) between a 4 and 5 star book is whether I will reread it. I’m glad I read this book but I don’t think it is a book I will reread.

If you loved the first book, you will probably love this book. I though it wasn’t as strong as the first book, but I will read book three because there are still so many questions I want answered. (Please don’t let me down, Mr. Dashner)



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