Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 360 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (October 12th 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385738757
ISBN-13: 9780385738750
Source: Purchased from Fully BookedFirst Sentence: "She spoke to him before the world fell apart."
Favorite Line from the Book: "No. I kind of accepted it, in a way. That saving you was worth losing what we might’ve had."
Book Summary: Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.
In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.
Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.
The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?
I have been looking for this sequel to The Maze Runner for a while now as it is always sold out in our local bookstores. Good thing I was able to spot the single copy last week and finally got to read it. I haven't been mistaken. It is simply awesome!
The book started just where The Maze Runner ended. We can still see the usual gang - Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, and Frypan. Another character was also introduced - Aris. He is the equivalent of Teresa in Group B. Yes, there is another group and another maze which Wicked developed and ran simultaneously with Thomas' group - Group A. I am going to stop here now as I might not be able to stop and continue retelling the story which I know will just piss you off. This book is THAT amazing! I can go on and on about it and might not stop. Okay, stop now! ^_^
Anyway, the story is still told in Thomas' point of view. The book was even more descriptive than the first. Its readers will get to understand what happened in their futuristic world and actually feel that intense heat, The Flare, by just reading through the book. This second book was told in such a way that its readers will actually think about what would happen next. It is gripping and it made me feel that I was on the edge a lot of times, trying to guess what their next move would be.
The climax and the ending of this novel is not what I expected it to be. Well, neither did The Maze Runner... Which is just so awesome! It is so unpredictable that I actually re-read the last two chapters just to check if I missed anything that led to the ending. If The Maze Runner is a cliffhanger, I don't know what to call this second book. It has so many twists and turns that you can never guess what comes next. It is so intense that its readers will not and cannot take their eyes off the book until the very end. I just couldn't wait for the third book, The Death Cure, to be released and finally get the answers to my questions and get my mind at ease.
I have to commend James Dashner for being able to write such a climactic, intense novel which can make your head spin. I'm so looking forward to the conclusion of this series.
Here's the book trailer:
