The Scorch Trials (James Dashner)

The Scorch Trials is the sequel to the popular book The Maze Runner by author James Dashner. The story begins where the first novel left off, not losing pace at all. The suspense you felt at the end of the first novel is definitely carried over into this second book of the trilogy. However, unlike the first novel, this plot is a little closer to the horror side than just thriller due to some of the more “graphic” descriptions (when you read the novel, you'll understand what I mean - all I'm going to say is "cranks").

The Book Cover

The plot is very intriguing in this book because your level of knowledge is essentially the same as the characters; as I said in my first review, it’s like you are experiencing the story as the characters. With every new chapter came another development in the plot, and often those developments were plot twists. As the plot unfolds, you learn more about the reasoning and purpose behind the maze in which these teenagers were placed, and you begin to see the affects of what happens without that said reasoning. I know that sentence is quite cryptic and may not fully make sense, however, I don't want to give too much away.

Through reading, I continued to feel drawn in by the characters and was engrossed in the way they grow and react in the world around them and the knowledge behind why they are there. Some of the character developments had me itching for more and more; I found it difficult to pace myself whilst reading this. I think with school, I finished reading this book in about a week or two.

The Scorch Trials has also been rumored to have been "greenlighted" by Fox for a movie! This will follow after the September 2014 release of The Maze Runner to theaters. Here's a supposed movie poster of this release!

Unofficial Movie Poster

I would rate The Scorch Trials 4.3/5, which is 0.3 higher than the first, because I felt as though this plot was a little more developed than the first. Also, the plot did possess more horror suspense which I really do love in a book, even though I can't sit through horror movies... :)

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworm :)