THE SCORCH TRIALS 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 the Scorch-the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has been 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.

Ok...Ok....Ok.......it has taken me FOREVER to read this damn book!! No joke....I bought The Maze Runner waayyy back into 2013, but couldn't really get into it so I pushed it aside till after the movie came out in 2014 (sad I know)....and then only after watching that movie did I read the book....and then it was after the movie came out on DVD and I watched it then did I even get the motivation or the want to read the sequel, The Scorch Trials.

I want to say upfront....that I did not really enjoy this book. It was ok....it was relatively good....but overall....I forced myself to read it and to finish it...knowing that the movie will be coming out later this year.

I think that compared to The Maze Runner, it no way compares to how good that first novel was. Now...with the Maze...everything that happened was a direct cause of Thomas and his actions. So everything that took place you could say was a direct result of Thomas unlocking the Maze and how to get out of it. Although you find out and relatively already know that WICKED planned every possible step that they took before it all happened, you as the reader experience everything with them.

This book....everything that happened....was a direct action of everyone else. Literally Thomas and the Gladers take no action themselves besides walking and getting to and from someplace. The interactions that take place are random, and make no sense (in my opinion) and are no way related to how the group continues through the Scorch. I think overall that's what made me so irked about it all...literally things just happen and Thomas gets pulled every which way but he's not actually doing anything against these forces.

It overall made Thomas wimpy and not that awesome compared to how he was in the first book. He doesn't have a sense of self anymore, those around him are manipulating him in a way that he can't see or understand and he just isn't manning up against the system like he was in the Maze. Lets put it this way...in the Maze he was actively going against WICKED, thinking that he knew how to outplay them. In the Scorch....he isn't actively doing anything, he literally just gets dragged along by everyone else.

Sure you find out more about WICKED, sure you find out a bit more about how the world is and the effects of the disease and just what exactly Thomas and Theresa had to do with the WICKED programming and such....but ultimately I felt like the story didn't progress much.

We were introduced to some new characters...we were introduced to this new aspect of the program and the Trials and what exactly WICKED has planned for them...but I felt like the whole Scorch scenario didn't need to happen. 

Really....I felt like nothing happened in this book. Nothing really progressed, characters didn't grow, interactions were relatively meaningless or pointless to the overall picture and I felt relatively let down.

If I feel like buying the third book, The Death Cure, then maybe it will give me more information and maybe it will justify this second book...but now I am reeaalllyyy not in the mood to continue this series. AND IT MAKES ME SAD.

I LOVE the movie version....the movie version is amazing...and I'm really counting on the second film to continue with the changes they made and to further progress the ideas and the story in a way that seems more (dare I say) intriguing.

I really don't even have any good things to say about it.....so I give it a 2.5/5. It was pretty hard to read, it kind of made me angry, it left me feeling like I got screwed over and I'm not too keen on continuing. So after this book comes out on film...maybe I'll be motivated again to figure out what happens...but for right now...I'm going to continue on with other things.

Meh!!