YA in Review: The Scorch Trials (James Dashner)

This post will essentially be Spoiler Free, however as it is part of a series, some comments may spoil portions of the plot of previous books by default. This book is the second book out of The Maze Runner series. My post about the first book can be seen here.

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What it's about:

After the Gladers escape from the Maze, they find themselves in the company of WICKED scientists. The Gladers learn that they are not only in another phase of an experiment, but that they have caught a horrible disease called The Flare, which causes those infected to lose their minds. Yet, WICKED offers them a cure - they just have to make it through the Scorch - the deadly desert that stretches for miles, by the end of two weeks. Except there's one big catch: the Gladers aren't the only ones vying for the cure.

Why it's worth a read:

• If you loved The Maze Runner and were crazy to know what happens after that cliffhanger ending, then you absolutely need to check this out. It picks up right where the first book finishes, and it's one wild ride from then on.
• If you think you know where this story is going, you are wrong. It constantly feels like there are a million things going on, and it's been developed quite elegantly by Dashner. You constantly feel on your toes and that there is a huge mystery going on, but fortunately what is happening at each moment isn't confusing.
• It's a mix of old and new characters, and an entirely new setting, so it doesn't get stagnant. It contains all of the action and characters that you'll have loved and adds to it.

Where it disappoints:

• In truth, it suffers from the same failings as the previous book. So, if there were things that irritated you when reading The Maze Runner, they will likely be present and annoy you in this next installment.
• The plot as well as the wording often felt repetitive. Oh, now we're running. Let's fight something. Someone got hurt or died. Okay, time to start running again...and repeat. Occasionally there was a mystery thrown in. Dashner often feels like he has a good story, but fails a bit in the execution, and needs a thesaurus to liven it up.
• Gross. How many times can someone throw up in one of these books? I was starting to feel like it should be a drinking game. Although I understand why these elements are included in general, sometimes they either a) went on too long, or b) weren't really necessary when they were included.
• I'm not really sure what the point was of most of the book. Yes, they had to get from Point A to Point B...but really, why? In the first book, at least there seemed to be more motivation and things going on, but this sort of felt like we got no answers, and progression simply for progression's sake.

Final Thoughts:

I feel a bit all over the place reviewing this book. Although I did enjoy it, my mind definitely wandered a lot, and it didn't always keep my interest. There could have been a few less chapters, and I likely would have been a lot more invested because everything would have progressed a lot faster. The passage of time felt wildly unbalanced at points, and I think this took away from the urgency that was supposed to be present. Would I recommend it? Well, if you were a huge fan of the first book, then yes. If you could take it or leave it (how I was), then I would likely give it a pass.