Book Nerds Across America: James Dashner

Showing posts with label James Dashner. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Book Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

Jacque's Review:

The Death Cure is the third book in the Maze Runner series. In this installment WICKED continues its research to find a cure for the Flare virus, which is threatening to eliminate the human race. They have been studying the brain patterns of the immune population, but their tactics are becoming more and more desperate. Thomas and his friends escape from WICKED and join the resistance, but they soon discover their end goals aren't in sync. They ultimately decide to work with them because they feel their is safety in numbers with the hopes of converting them to their line of thinking.

Overall, I thought The Maze Runner had a great premise with the "gladers" trying to escape from the maze. It was very original and I enjoyed the characters with their unique language and quirks. I gave the first book 4 stars and jumped right into The Scorch trials. I was a bit disappointed with book two and gave it 3 stars. In keeping with this trend, The Death Cure fell even shorter from the mark and I ultimately decided to give it 2 stars.

It felt like the author was grasping at straws to continue the series and wasn't really sure how he wanted it to conclude. Should everything be doom and gloom to keep with the majority of the series or should there be a happily ever after? I think he tried to give readers a combination of the two, but it came across as awkward. I also didn't feel like there was a lot of new content to keep the story going. We kept rehashing the same things and fighting the same people with very little progression to the story.

I realize my opinion is not part of the majority. This was a very popular series that received a lot of hype in YA circles and was even converted into a movie series. I wouldn't discourage someone from reading it if it is on their TBR list, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to others.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Book Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Jacque's Review:

The Scorch Trials is the second installment in the Maze Runner series. While I really enjoyed the original book, there was something missing this time around. The characters now realize they are part of an experiment, what they need to do to survive, and how long it should take them to complete "The Scorch Trials." The element of surprise was completely eliminated, which removed all of the suspense. Danger still presents itself in various forms, but I felt like the characters were simply going through the motions to reach the "safe haven."

We have the same cast of characters, but trust becomes a major issue for Thomas. WICKED is supposed to be good, but they keep putting them in dangerous situations for no obvious reason. When things don't go as planned WICKED swoops in to help Thomas, but they place him back in the trials without any explanation. In addition, Teresa was supposed to be his best friend. She is taken away and replaced with a boy from "Group B" who can also speak telepathically with him. The Gladers discover there was another group consisting of all girls and one boy that went through an identical maze experiment. They are now competing against the other group in addition to simply trying to survive the trials.

The end of the book did not provide much of a conclusion. The "scorch trials" are complete, but it is clear there is another book in this series. The characters aren't provided any more information than what they started with. They have no idea what WICKED is trying to accomplish or how much longer the trials will continue. Based on past experience, they can only believe the safe haven is a temporary reprieve and there is more to come.

I do not feel like I gained very much from reading this story. We picked up some additional characters along the way, but Thomas and his friends are in basically the same situation they were in at the end of The Maze Runner. I am hopeful The Death Cure, which is the final book in the original trilogy, will provide the EPIC conclusion I am looking for.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Stacking the Shelves: Week of October 18th

I (Flo) decided to jump on the Stacking the Shelves train! As Tynga explains,

"Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!"

Book Nerd Jacque also shares this over at her blog, so be sure to check that out as well! But here's what I got this week:

Won:

James Dashner's Mortality Doctrine series

Library:

So You Want to Be a Jedi by Adam Gidwitz and Beware the Power of the Dark Side by Tom Angleberger

For review:

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Flo's #Lent4BN Challenge: Read a Book That's Been In Your TBR Pile the Longest

Ok, I tried to complete this challenge with The Truth About Forever and failed, so I decided to give it another chance by trying another book that's been in my TBR just as long. This trilogy by James Dashner is a favorite of some of the girls at Down With the Capitol, a Hunger Games fansite I also work on, so I've been meaning try it out for awhile. With everything I had heard about it, I was expecting to love it.

Well...

It was better than the TTAF because I did actually finish it! And I enjoyed it. I wanted to see if the Gladers would figure a way out of the Maze. But here was my main problem: characters. In order for me to really enjoy a book, I have to enjoy the main character(s). Most of the time, this means I have to like them, but I'm pretty sure there are some instances where this means I just absolutely despise them as well and have to keep reading to see what happens to them. (I can't think of anything off the top of my head, though.) But I didn't like Thomas. He frankly annoyed the klunk out of me. I agreed with the Gladers when they got annoyed at him for asking too many questions at inopportune times. I agreed with Alby when he got annoyed at Thomas because Thomas was whining that Alby didn't like him. Alby said something along the lines of: it's not about liking you, but strange things have been going on since you arrived and we're trying to figure them out. Thomas questioned EVERYTHING the Gladers did even though they've been there two years, so they clearly know what's up. And he'd been there, what, a day or two? The Gladers would get insulted with Thomas' questions and I agreed with them! At one point Minho said something along the lines of: that's insulting. Don't you think we've thought of that? and I agreed! Then, after asking a bazillion questions at highly inopportune times, when people asked questions of him, he just wanted them to follow him and blindly trust him, at one point saying, "I'm done with explaining!" So they can stop in the middle of a crisis to answer your annoying questions, but you won't explain anything to them?!?!

I didn't really like Teresa either. She wasn't nice to the Gladers. They were suspicious of her, but she freaking told them she initiated the end! Of course they were! Yet they still took care of her and fed her through her coma phase and then she repays them by being unfriendly to everyone but Thomas and Chuck.

There's another scene that annoyed me, but I don't want to be spoilery.

So, I'm not sure that I'll keep reading the trilogy. I am kind of interested to see how they fare in The Scorch Trials, but can I deal with Thomas as I find out? I'm not sure.

One final note: I heard they are making this into a movie. This will be one gross, gory production!! I can't even begin to imagine how'll they translate a Griever to the big screen.

Click here to read Mary's review of The Maze Runner.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Maze Runner By James Dashner

I came across this novel when some of my Twitter friends were talking about it. Then I looked it up online and read through some of the reviews and thought it sounded interesting. The one thing that I did not realize is that I would be sucked into a world that I never thought would exist. I really cared about these characters.

The book begins with Thomas. He is trapped in a sort-of elevator (or The Box) and he does not know anything but just his name. When The Box reaches the top he is surrounded by a group of young boys and he finds out that he is in The Glade. He is completely unsure of what to do, where he is, or why there are walls that move at night. The one thing he does know is that outside the walls is a maze and when the boys figure out the maze they can go home.

Then a girl shows up the very next day and tell all the boys there will be no more after her. Teresa then falls into a deep coma but can talk to Thomas telepathically. It is at that time that Thomas starts begin a Runner. The Runners run the Maze everyday from the time they wake until the walls close at night to map out the Maze and see if it can be figured out so that they can go home. It is not that simple because there are Grievers in the Maze and if you get "stung" then you go through something called Changing. During this your memories begin to come back. Thomas realizes that he has to get stung so that he can be able to solve the Maze.

When he comes out of the Changing and Teresa out of her coma he is able to convince the others that the Maze needs to be solved and they have to get out of there.

However, I am not going to spoil the surprise of the ending. But I will tell you that Scorch Trials is out and there is third book out soon!

This is a must read!

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