Book Review: The Scorch Trials & The Death Cure

 
From Goodreads:The Scorch Trials
 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.
The Death Cure
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.

Thoughts: So here's the problem - I read both of these while on a camping holiday and, unlike The Maze Runner, I  didn't sit down and immediately write a review for me to type up when I got home. Both these books made such a small impact on me I'm struggling to remember anything to write. It's not that they were particularly bad - if they had been I wouldn't have finished them - but I do know I got frustrated with both books. Thomas started to annoy me - his tendency to pass out unbelievable. (In fact a reviewer on Goodreads counted the number of times Thomas passed out or fell asleep at the end of a paragraph or chapter and came up with 29!) The frequency with how often he explains away his decisions as just "knowing" or "feeling" it's right or wrong left me feeling the character had no depth. Another common complaint I've read about the books is Dashner's tendency to tell the reader everything rather than use the characters actions or surroundings to let them work it out themselves. On the whole the series held a lot more promise than it delivered.
I'll be interested to see how the movie versions develop. I can only hope that like The Maze Runner, the movie is better than the books!

Book Review: The Maze Runner

From Goodreads: "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.

Thoughts: I bought this and the next two in the series straight after I saw the movie, reasoning they would be perfect fodder for our 10 day camping trip - and it was. It is however, one of those rare moments where I prefer the movie to the book. While the movie included all the plot development the book did, how they got there was very different and much of what happened in the movie seemed way more plausible. The characters in the movie were also better developed and easier to empathise with. Truth be told, I don't think I would enjoy the book as much is I hadn't seen the movie.