Mundie Moms

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Book Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Released on: October 12th, 2010
Source: Bought
4 stars: I Enjoyed It!

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? - quoted from Goodreads

Talk about a sequel that picks up right where the first book in the series leaves off. I went from finishing The Maze Runner right into The Scorch Trials, and boy was I naive in thinking James would give me a moment to catch by breath and let my heart rate slow down a bit. James Dashner doesn't shy away from throwing readers right back into this series' dangerous, thrilling, intense world. Instead of maze this time, it's a scorched world and wow do the twists in this series keep on coming.

Unlike The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials is set in a land that's barren, dry, and really could be defined as hell. This land is void of anything beautiful and good. Living in this land are savage people who have been infected with a disease called the Flare. Here's the thing that James Dashner does with this series, he introduces you to people who you'd normal despise, but in a twisted way he makes you fell sympathy for them, when normally that would be the last thing you'd want to do. Case in point, The Cranks. The innocent people who've been infected and basically banished to live in this horrid condition. That's the thing that got to me, the fact that they were forced to become something they're not, and in turn it made them go wild and crazy. I really felt bad for them.

Someone I didn't feel bad for, WICKED aka "the Creators". These people make me so mad. I get that the feel their actions are just in trying to save their world, but holy crap, I can't excuse the stuff they do. If I thought stuff that happened in the maze was cruel, the things the WICKED do are far worse. I'll just leave it at that. I'm sure I could go on and on about all they do, but then I'd give things away and I don't want to spoil this for anyone. It's seriously shocking what they do, but surprisingly through all this Thomas grows into the leader I thought he'd become in The Maze Runner.

Thomas for me is the character that's grown by far the most. He's really stepped up and taken control the of the situations that the Gladers are constantly put in. Just when I think that things can't get worse for them, they do. It's the knowing that some thing has to give for them that keeps me reading this, well and that and the fact that I'm completely hooked on finding out who's behind on all this and what's going to happen next.

Let me just say, James Dashner knows how to write action, butt kicking scenes, mystery, and killer cliff hangers! He reveals just enough for me to understand as much as Thomas does about this world, which intrigues me more than it irritates me. Normally I'd want to know what's going to happen next, but before I can start listing all my questions something else comes up and the story's action filled plot leaves me clinging to the edge of my seat. This is one series I think even the most reluctant reader will enjoy. Since we get a lot of questions about what books we'd recommend for guys, I'd definitely recommend picking this series up!

In My Mailbox #99- The Paranormal Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren were bloggers posts about the goodies they've received the previous week to review, what they borrowed, purchased, were gifted etc. I swear Christmas came early this week. I'm so excited about this week's books!!


For Review: (all links go to the book's Goodread's page)

* BLOODROSE by Andrea Cremer, published by Penguin Teen, to be released on , this is the 3rd & final installment in the Nightshade series (sniff, sniff) this is one of my all time favorite series!

* Dead to You by Lisa McMann, published by Simon Pulse, to be released on February 7th, 2012

* Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout, published by Entangled Publishing, to be released on December 6th, 2011

* Surrender by Lee Nichols, published by Bloomsbury, to be released on December 6th, 2011

* Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally, published by Source Books, to be released on December 1st, 2011

* Little Women & Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, published by Bloomsbury, released on November 8th, 2011

* Belle's Song by K.M. Grant, published by Bloomsbury/Quercus Publishing (UK), released in the US on November 22nd, 2011

* Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts, published by Simon & Schuster, released on November 1st, 2011

* Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield, published by WestSide Books, to be released on December 2nd, 2011


Bought:

I splurged a bit more on books for my kids (not pictured) and I pre-order (another) copy of Clockwork Prince. This pre-order was from Books of Wonder. You can pre-order your copy from them here.

Gifted:

I received an awesome Christmas present in the mail from Sophie, which is pictured above. I finally have a Mundie Moms shirt and this one is full of bling. I can't wait to wear it!! Thank you Sophie!!!!

Thank you to Penguin Teen, Bloomsbury, Simon & Schuster, Source Books, Sophie, Entangled Publishing, and Cheryl Rainfield for this week's awesome reads! What goodies did you receive?

Infernal Devices Clockwork Prince 31 Day Celebration: Day 21, One Line Teaser


Happy Saturday! We hope you guys have a had a wonderful Thanksgiving week so far. Today is day 21 of our 31 Days of Clockwork Prince Celebration. Enjoy!

"I don't know how I could sleep at night, not knowing I was surrounded by a thousand other sleeping, dreaming souls."

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