Title: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2)

Author: James Dashner

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 361

Rating: 3/5 stars  Movie: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NPR YA, 100 YA); Book to Movie

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 through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made 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.

I didn't have super high expectations for this sequel, but I was still disappointed. There's too much misdirection and confusion. I didn't feel that the characters grew at all. We just get nonstop action for 361 pages. Overall, I just wasn't interested in the book...

Title: The Scorch Trials: The Graphic Novel Prelude

Author: James Dashner

Publisher: kaBoom 2015

Genre: YA Fantasy, Comic

Pages: 96

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel

Randomly saw this on the shelf and grabbed it. The volume contains a few different short comics about people and events before The Scorch Trials. I loved the story centering on the creation of WICKED and the big players. Plus we get some interesting insight into Brenda and Jorge. I actually liked this volume more than The Scorch Trials.

Movie:

J and I finally watched the movie last night and basically picked it apart the entire time. I'm so not impressed with the movie. They changed a ton of major events and added some characters. I was so confused the entire time. And the victims of the Flare? Atrocious! The filmmakers went all Resident Evil with them when I saw them more like Reavers from Firefly... As J said, "by tomorrow, I will have forgotten the entire movie." Yep, my thoughts exactly...

The Maze Runner

• #0.5 The Kill Order
• #0.6 The Fever Code
• #1 The Maze Runner
• #2 The Scorch Trials
• #2.5 Thomas’s First Memory of the Flare
• #3 The Death Cure
• #3.5 The Maze Runner Files