Book Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (Maze Runner #2)

Well I just finished the third book and am totally devastated so I'm going back to review the second book. Also, I'm trying to be less spoilery in my reviews. I have this problem with that. Working on it.

Title: The Scorch Trials
Author: James Dashner

Synopsis:

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?

Review:

So I did say I'm trying to be less spoilery? Yeah. 

So this book felt more of a combination of fillers. The writing style was pretty much the same as the last book, pretty bland and telling, but straight to the point. I don't know if I liked it or not. The action was pretty hardcore, though the writing did take some of the life out of it.

Again, I must emphasize on how much I adore James Dashner for writing such an intricate mystery. Every time you think something's up, you end up doubting yourself. But that seems to have disappeared a bit in this book. Thomas was incredibly thick for a large part of this book, brilliant action scenes and plots aside. His relationship with Teresa was incredibly, um, fucked up, or lack of better words. I don't even know how to describe it anymore. 

This book introduced a ton of new characters, which I don't know if it's a good thing because I'm starting to feel as if the supporting characters are being neglected. Talking about them, Newt and Minho just happen to be the best, most developed characters. The support Thomas throughout the story and when they're not there I just want to bitchslap Thomas sometimes. The two of them in particular drive the plot a lot. 

Now, this may be spoilery. 

There's another goddamn love interest named Brenda, who basically throws herself at Thomas the minute she meets him. *bashes head* God why must there always be a love triangle? Why can't it just be like Chaos Walking where there is a guy interested in her, because that's normal, but she (or he in this case) just doesn't care? 

So in my attempt to be unspoilery, I've shortened this review a lot. But can I just mention that Thomas spent half this book passed out or sleeping? And not much of WICKED's plot has been revealed, which is confusing. 

Grade: C+ Sort of alright, but way worse than the first book. Mostly a filler.