Once again the prospect of a movie adaptation compels me to read the book first. I'll just not mention the other compelling reason why I am doing this to myself :)

This continues to be wrought with just as much action, suspense, and confusion - maybe even more so than [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642]. Like that book, not many questions are answered, if any at all. I see what they're doing. I do.

Soooo, I'll continue to be pathological if the 3rd book is made into a movie. Only then will I continue to venture forth into this madness.
( )

Oof, my opinion on this one has really gone down over the last few years. Believe it or not, I used to really like this book. Even more surprisingly, I still like the movie! I rewatched it a few weeks ago, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The book, however, is quite a different thing. People who've read the book and seen its adaptation know how different the two things are. A ton of elements were changed, and I believe they were for the best. I don't like comparing books and movies as they're two different mediums of entertainment, but I must say that I enjoy the movie a lot more than the book when it comes to "The Scorch Trials". The book just isn't good.

Despite that, the first half is actually somewhat decent. I think it's well-paced and well-structured, and the plot is mildly entertaining. It feels very grounded and gritty, even more so than the first book. The situation seems more dire, and the Trials of WICKED feel even more brutal and horrifying. The story is also pretty straightforward. The Gladers wake up in their dormitory, and things start getting extremely weird. Then, Rat Man shows up and tells them that they have to go 100 miles north after entering a Flat Trans and reach a safe haven to get a cure for the Flare. It's a pretty simple premise, and it works well.

However, around the time Thomas and Brenda reach the dance club, things start getting very strange. The story starts to feel pretty disorganized and random, and then things just... happen. The plot doesn't feel like it has much of a rhythm to it. Thomas gets shot and instantly healed, Teresa's massive betrayal happens, it's revealed that her betrayal was all an act to stimulate some killzone patterns, the Gladers arrive at the Safe Haven, a battle with massive robots ensues, Thomas makes it into the Berg and wakes up in a white room, and then the book just sort of... ends. It just doesn't feel like a contained story. It feels like Part 2 of a 3-part story, so it doesn't hold up on its own very well. Also, we still don't know much about WICKED's grand plan by the end. I'm sorry, but we're two-thirds of the way through this damn thing. The main premise shouldn't be revealed in the beginning of the final chapter.

That's pretty much my main problem with this book. It feels messy, not just as its own story, but also as the middle chapter of a trilogy. A lot of my other problems with this book are the same as those I have with the first book. James Dashner is still the author, and he's still not that great. The dialogue isn't much better, the Glade slang is as annoying as ever, and the characters feel just as shallow as they did in the previous story. I don't know, man, but I really don't feel anything towards any of these people. Sure, Minho is really funny, and Newt is a tad-bit interesting, but besides those two, I don't feel anything for anyone else. Thomas just seems like a massive idiot who doesn't have the world's interest at his heart and only cares about himself and his friends. He can't think for more than two seconds about what Teresa's options were when it came to what WICKED had asked of her, resolving instead to be as bratty, whiny, and stubborn as he always is. Dude, Teresa's only options were either to do what WICKED had told her to do or let you die. You ever think of that, or is your skin that important that a couple of bruises are enough to make you lose trust in your best friend forever? Grow up. Percy Jackson and Harry Potter would never.

Anyway, I don't really have much else to say. This book is kinda bad, and I'm dreading re-reading "The Death Cure" because I remember how much I hated it the last time I went through it. ( )

I'm giving this one three stars but that is no fault of the book. I'm just not its intended audience so I think you need to take my rating with a grain of salt.

It had been a few months since I read book one of this series(The Maze Runner) so it took me a few chapters to regain my footing and understand who the people were and what was going on in their universe. Once I did that, I started to enjoy myself.

The whole book feels like a screenplay for a teen action flick. The kids face a bunch of super creepy, violent, and scary obstacles on their way to the "safe haven". Thomas, our lead character, doesn't know who to trust or what to believe and neither do we. By the end of the Scorch Trials we are all just left with more questions.

Bring on Book 3!

Mostly, I enjoy this series, but I really hate the fake language that they occasionally sprinkle into the conversation. Either use real curse words or don't! I'm so bugged by reading about klunks,shanks, or slints. ( )

Excellent book. Was reaching for the next one soon as I finished! ( )

3.5 stars. Not as good as the Maze Runner but ok and I still feel like we haven't learned anything new. It's still confusing. Not sure if I want to continue with the series at this point. ( )