I finished The Scorch Trials by James Dashner last week. I must say, this novel was loads better than his first one in the series, The Maze Runner. In the first book, Dashner seemed like a less developed writer. His characters were underdeveloped for the most part, things were left wide open throughout the book, and a lot of the characters inner thoughts were repetitive throughout the entire novel. The plot and the story were very interesting. I liked how he put a different spin on the post-apocalyptic genre. It wasn’t cliché like The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead.
The Scorch Trials, however, was riveting and suspenseful the whole ride. I found it odd though how different books one and two were compared to each other. Dashner seemed to have done a way better job on the second either due to writing development practice or maybe he just liked the story line of the second book better. I know I did!
I really liked how it was a mix of dystopian life with a little bit of Sci-Fi thrown in. My favorite scene was at the very end when they were fighting the light bulb giants during the electrical thunderstorm. The action was vivid and gives the reader such an adrenaline rush. Bravo Dashner!
I do still feel a little confused about the whole Teresa-Thomas-Brenda triangle though. I’m guessing that is what the author intends for the reader at this point though. I just found myself rooting for Teresa most of the time. I like how she seems more of an independent female lead than Brenda. Sure, Brenda can fight and seems like a strategic genius but I feel that she leans too much on Thomas for support. Teresa is more of a go-getter who knows what she wants and has stronger convictions.
Desabelle 