it was okay
Book 2 of 5 in the Maze Runner series. I’m struggling to get through it, but I’m determined to finish the series.
Read: Aug 26 – Sep 4, 2024
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia
Audience: Young Adult
Book contains: isolation, social experiment, illness, madness, disease, violence, monsters, death
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After escaping the maze and losing Chuck, Thomas and the boys are thrown into yet another test by WICKED. They must cross the Scorch to the Safe Haven if they’re ever going to get a cure to the disease that’s been ravaging the world.
Since the first book wasn’t really my thing, I had lower expectations going into the second book. This made it easier to read, but there were still a bunch of things about the storyline that didn’t make sense to me. Perhaps they’ll make sense in the long run as I continue the series.
Once again, the book is told in third person omniscient perspective from Thomas’s point of view. It follows him and the boys as they cross a dry desert in blazing heat, which means there’s a lot of introspection and not much dialogue between the characters. The main purpose of this book (aside from the ongoing plot) is worldbuilding.
I read along to this book while listening to Jessica Sawczuk on YouTube. She was quite a good reader.
Thomas continues to be a decent main character, even if I don’t relate to hm much. We don’t get much action from the other characters like Teresa, Minho, or Newt, but they’re there and they’re playing their roles as well. We meet a few new characters, but not many, which makes it easier to differentiate them.
Despite the lower volume of dialogue and interactions between the characters, we get a lot of what Thomas thinks about everyone and how he relates to them. He misses Chuck, of course, but he doesn’t ever have a good time to just stop and mourn—they all have to keep moving or they’ll die. His relationship with Teresa, though, takes a wild turn in this book; I’m still not sure how I feel about it as I prepare to go into book 3.
The writing style and structure is perfectly suited to its audience. There were even a few words that may be unfamiliar to readers, so as to expand their vocabulary (through context clues).
The pace was much better in this book than the first one, and I was surprised by the ending—totally not expecting it! I’m pleased with how things are unfolding.
If you loved the first book (or even if you didn’t), give this book a shot—it might just change your mind. I know I’m definitely continuing on to The Death Cure to see if they finally learn the truth about WICKED!
The Maze Runner Book 1: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Maze Runner Book 2: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
The Maze Runner Book 3: The Death Cure by James Dashner
The Maze Runner Prequel 1: The Kill Order by James Dashner
The Maze Runner Prequel 2: The Fever Code by James Dashner
The Hunger Games Book 1: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Divergent Book 1: Divergent by Veronica Roth
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