Book Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

3/5 stars

SPOILER FREE!

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. 

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch. 

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. 

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off. 

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

*****

What I Didn't Like:

I liked The Scorch Trials but the whole time I was feeling like something is missing and I just couldn't enjoy the book as much as I hoped to. I couldn't get into it and be part of the story. Something was keeping me away and later I realised that it was the writing.

I really liked The Maze Runner and I wanted to like this book even more but my expectations were destroyed from the first few pages. I was bored from the beginning and after few chapters I wanted the book to end because I wanted everything to be over.

The pacing was slow for me. Few times I felt like nothing interesting was happening and the only thing that was going on was Thomas passing out and it was so annoying. I wanted to put the book back on the shelf, leave it there and never look at it again.

Thomas was one of the most annoying characters in The Scorch Trials. In The Maze Runner he was really smart and I liked him but now I wanted to scream at him for being so annoying.

I was feeling like there is lack of descriptions. I don't even know or remember how half of the characters look like.

There are some new characters I don't like. I won't tell you the reasons because I'll spoil something and I hate doing that. I just don't like some of them with no particular reason.

Before I started the book, a friend told me that it's one of the best books she has ever read and that really made me to want more from this book and I was trying really hard to like The Scorch Trials and the book started to be interesting to me the last few chapters and I was still bored from time to time. She also told me that she was really shocked from this book but I wasn't. I was kind of confused only one time in the book. Maybe I was too bored to pay attention to the "shocking" thing or I just didn't care. I really don't know. 

I was getting distracted really easy from everything around me. I have the bad habit to listen to rock or metal music while I'm reading. If I don't listen to music, I can't concentrate. I usually don't get distracted by music. It's just there but while I was reading this book I learned the lyrics of a lot of songs. At one moment I'm reading and in the other I'm singing a song I didn't think I know the lyrics to and I don't even know when I've stopped reading. 

What I Liked:

The plot. I really liked the plot. Maybe it was the only thing that I really liked. Most of the characters are great and there are some lines I laugh at. I liked that The Scorch Trials started from the place where The Maze Runner ended. There is no gap between the books. The book started to be interesting after 260 pages (or even more) boredom but that last pages tried really hard to keep me under pressure and they almost succeeded. I was still getting distractet easy but at least I read the end of the book faster. I don't know what else I liked. The nice plot is the only reason I gave this book 3 stars.

Don't get me wrong. I liked the book but it's definitely not from my favourite books. I didn't care much about the main character and there was parts from the book where I wanted him to die already. I don't recommend this book. Maybe if you really, really, really liked The Maze Runner, you'll like this one. I'm going to read The Death Cure later this month, so I can tell that I've read the whole series and I am kind of curious what's going to happen but for now I'm taking a break from James Dashner's novels because I'm not I'll be able to survive the next book so soon. I'm hoping to be better than this one and I don't want to be disappointed again.