Review: The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner 2)

  James Dashner
  The Scorch Trials
  The Maze Runner - Book 2 

Picking up right from where “The Maze Runner” ends, we hit the ground running, literally, as the boys and Teresa are taken to a remote building and left alone. No one knows what is going on.

What else is new?

The next morning, Teresa is now gone. So is her and Thomas’ telepathic link. She is replaced by a boy named Aris. He is from Group B.
And he was also in a Maze.
Except his maze was full of girls, and he was the only boy.

They have now entered “phase two” (whatever that means) and have been instructed by a man who looks like a rat that to be cured of the Flare, which they all incidentally have, they must go out into the world, go 100 miles north within two weeks, and reach the safe haven.  Rat Man doesn’t give them any more information.

Off on a whirlwind adventure, battling Cranks (those who have the Flare and have gone crazy from it), the cruel, unforgiving atmosphere that Earth as we know it has come to be, and just basic survival struggles – food, water – the boys must dig deep within themselves to complete this mission…Or die. Good that.

Not.

Dashner’s world is one of horror of both post-apocalyptic possibilities, and of the human spirit. When push comes to shove, the things humans are able to do to themselves or to each other is ferocious.  However, you cannot help but fall in love with everything that is going on. Yes, your heart goes out to these boys, but the writing is so enthralling that you can feel yourself running alongside of Thomas and the gang. As savage as the world you are reading about is, you cannot help but want more.