The Kill Order | James Dashner

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. Before I went into it, one of my friends had warned me of this book, telling me to prepare myself for a huge disappointment, and it was honestly pretty good. I honestly liked it better than The Death Cure. I thought it was really interesting how they finally went back and gave a specific run down on what exactly happened before the Maze. At one point we get to see bits and pieces of different documents from the government and I think we should have had more of that. Those two pages revealed more than a lot of the other book. 

I also wish there was more of a connection between the rest of the series and this book. For a while I actually thought the epilogue had Trina and Mark in it. I thought they were Thomas's parents, which would have been really cool. 

I realized that while reading this series, I wasn't as into it as I have been into other books. It was a good read, I don't doubt that, but I never really grew emotionally close to any of the characters. I felt no remorse when any of them died, nor did I particularly care about their personal and emotional lives. This could have been for a number of reasons. The first being that I'm so busy with school and work and all of my real world responsibilities that I'm neglecting my book characters, which is a prospect that really frightens me. The second reason could also have been that the book was written in a way to focus more on the plot than the characters, and there's nothing wrong with that. In some cases a fantastic plot is enough to sacrifice the emotions of a few characters. I just think if I had gotten more attached to the characters, this would have been a better read for me. 

Let me know what you guys thought in the comments below! Am I the only one disappointed with this series as a whole?

The Death Cure | James Dashner

It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all. 

The time for lies is over.

I can't express how disappointed I am with this series. While the first and second books set pretty high standards, the third and final book completely fell under what I expected. Although for the other books I did a mostly non-spoiler review, for the concluding book I'm going to go into an in-depth spoiler filled review. If you haven't read the series, I really recommend the first book, but after that, for me at least, the series just went downhill. 

The Scorch Trials | 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 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 will admit I didn't like this book as much as the first. I feel like we barely learnt about WICKED and what they're trying to do. There was a constant back and forth between what was real and what was fabricated or acted and at one point I just got confused. 

Like before, the plot was really awesome and intense, however I felt it was just a repeat of the Maze Runner. That's not a bad thing but as the second book in a series, I feel that more of the overall plot should have been built up, not so much the second trial. 

Did anyone else hate Teresa? I'm honestly so done with her. I'm going to be honest and admit that I never really liked her, but in this book she went completely insane. Her actions are contradictory and confusing and while I hope we get a bigger backstory on her, I just want her to go away. 

Even though this story wasn't as great as the last one, there were several things I liked. We're starting to be a sense of the real world outside of these trials, the barren world filled with crazy, disease-ridden people. 

I also loved Thomas in this book. His acts to maneuver out of holding hands and touching people are hilarious. And I admired the fact that he wasn't a love-sick teenage boy (for most of the time) and could think on his feet without being completely forgiving. 

I'm also a huge fan of the epilogues. I love that the end of each book has a small letter from within the WICKED organization. I'm hoping for more of them throughout the book. I think one between each chapter would be really interesting, so we can see WICKED develop with the characters and plot of the story. 

From where this book ends, I feel like The Death Cure is going to be The Maze Runner/ The Scorch Trials all over again, but as the last book in the series, I'm really hoping that we are able to conclude this series well and we learn more about the world and why WICKED is doing all of this. 

If you've read this book, let me know what you think in the comments below! Do you like it better than Maze Runner? 

The Maze Runner | James Dashner

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.

I know I'm a bit late to the Maze Runner party, however I will admit I was a bit nervous to read this book. When popular hype starts surrounding a book (movies being made, merchandise being sold, etc.), the book sometimes disappoints (Ex. Twilight, Mockingjay, etc.). But the driving factor for me reading this book was that I really really wanted to watch Dylan O'Brien in the movie and I can't watch movies without reading the book. 

And so it began, I picked it up, started reading. It was a bit hard to get into since I was suffering from post-percabeth depression after the Blood of Olympus, but once I finally did, it was honestly amazing. 

The best part of this book was without a doubt the plot. The entire plot was completely action-packed, filled with mysteries and plot-twists the entire way through. The world that James Dashner has built is just so interesting. At first it began to seem like a hunger games situation, but as we learn more and more about the plot and the purpose, the story seems to take a different route altogether. 

I wasn't a huge fan of the characters, mainly Teresa. While the boys would troop together and work together to solve every obstacle that comes their way, Teresa honestly didn't really serve a purpose. I'm sure she must have a bigger part in the other books but in this one she was just sitting in a cell the whole time or sorta flirting with Thomas. Of course she was the "most beautiful girl he's ever seen" and "he couldn't take his mind off of her". Her whole presence just seemed too cliche and I wasn't a huge fan. 

As book one in the series, I think this book did an overall great job of setting up the world but also introducing a bigger plot towards the end of the book. Something bigger than them and the Glade. Not at all a slow read, I would recommend this to dystopian lovers, anyone who liked the Hunger Games or Divergent should definitely read this book!