Review: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner

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.


My immediate thought as I picked up and read through the book was "I can't believe I convinced myself this series wasn't that good." I hadn't read The Maze Runner in years and I had legitimately forgot so much about it that not only did I have to go online to read spoilers to refresh myself but I also had started to think it couldn't have been that good.

But this book proved me so wrong! It was so easy to get into. I'm not sure if it was because of the flowing writing style or how action packed it was - it never got boring. The description was really good. It was just enough for the reader to be able to imagine what was happening but not enough for it to be too much and boring. I also felt like the dialogue added a lot to the book, it was funny and interesting to follow.

The dialogue was one of the ways the reader got to see the many different personalities within the book. I think they were distinct, strong and clear. Also, I like how each character had their own role. It made it easier to remember each character and it was great to see that their personalities and actions were often consistent with their roles. It's hard to explain exactly but I like the way you could see how other characters saw Thomas and not just how Thomas saw himself. Looking through a particular character's eyes it's easy for the character to be seen by the reader and others just like the author wants them to be seen. But I think it's really refreshing to see how the other Gladers see Thomas very differently from how he seems himself and they bring to light how he acts outside of his awareness. It makes the character more realistic and three dimensional.

I wish there was more talk of world building for this new world they were thrown into like what happened, why it happened, what was the result. I loved the world so much more than I remember. There really were no answers except little hints and clues spread out throughout the book. I didn't mind too much that there were little to no answers because I know it isn't the last book. In fact, I kind of loved the hints and clues. It brought a mystery aspect that I really enjoyed. I liked trying to put the pieces together myself.

It was hard to know who the antagonist was which just kind of added to the mystery that I really enjoyed. That and how the book was actually going to end, what more Thomas and the rest of the characters, had to go through, was so unpredictable and I loved not being able to see the next obstacles coming.

This book brought out a lot of strong emotions from me. Hate, surprise, frustration. I found myself yelling at the characters when they did something dumb. In my opinion, this connection just proves what great the book was for me to get that into it.

I do think the romance aspect of it was such a let down. It took a lot away from the story, made characters less like-able and overdramatic. I just don't think it should have been there, or if anything, it should have had an even smaller part in the book. Thomas annoyed me a lot because of this. He made stupid decisions because of romantic feelings and I think his focus was on it too much. I've heard a lot of people call Thomas a Gary Stu and point out the same thing I am and I can't help but feel disappointed that I agree with them.

Thomas was not the only character I disliked. I hated Teresa's characterization. I don't think I liked her much in the first book either. Nothing changed about how I felt about her throughout the book, she annoyed me from beginning to end. She annoyed me even in scenes she wasn't in because of how much Thomas focused on her.

I did, however, love the other characters and even the new characters presented. I thought they were so strong, focused and I loved reading about their pasts and personalities.

Some parts of the story were more gripping than others. When I say this, I mean there was a huge gap between the parts that were interesting and the ones that were not. There were some that minimally held my attention while others felt almost painful to put the book down. But I feel like this is common with all books.

Overall, I don't remember liking The Maze Runner as much as I liked this book...and I gave The Maze Runner 5 stars! Therefore, I struggled a lot with the rating I was going to give this book. Normally, I don't talk about why I chose a particular rating but I felt like I had to with this book. While I definitely do think this book was good, better than the first perhaps, I don't think I can give it 5 stars like I did with the first. I don't know if my rating has just gotten stricter, if I chose to ignore a lot that I didn't like in the first book or if I simply LOVED the first book and just don't remember. Either way, there's just something missing and I was annoyed by Thomas too many times. But I think it deserves more than a 4 star rating so that is why I chose: 4.5