The Maze Runner Trilogy

The Maze Runner ***1/2
by James Dashner
Book Type: Dystopia, YA, Sci-Fi
Summary: When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.
Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.
Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.
Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.
summary found on goodreads
My Review: I thought that the concept behind this book was great. The book starts with a young kid with no memories of his life. He is a blank slate. He finds himself surrounded by a bunch of other boys who also have no memories of their past. They are trapped in a maze with no direction and no past. Why are they there? How did they get there? What now? This book reminded me of Lord of the Flies when it first opened. A bunch of boys all living together with no adult supervision... Thankfully the story turned out to be nothing like Lord of the Flies. It is more like Incarceron in the end. A young boy with no memory of his past learns he is a key character in the world outside of the maze they're trapped in. They have to work with those around them to solve the problems that surround them. This book takes place in a horrifically deteriorating dystopic world, it is fun to follow along and try to figure out what's currently going on and what will happen next.

The Scorch Trials ****
by James Dashner
Book Type: Dystopia, YA, Sci-Fi
Summary: 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?
summary found on goodreads  
My Review: This was my favorite book in the series. This book begins to give you some background information while still developing the plot from the previous book. You learn a little bit more about what is going on. Who the boys are, where they come from, why they were trapped in a maze.... You meet new characters. You learn more about the characters that were in the previous novel. And you start to discover the truth behind the dystopic society that surrounds these boys. The people who are affected by the scorch are honestly creepy. They slowly degenerate physically and mentally until they are little more than zombies. This book is very interesting and well developed.

The Death Cure ***
by James Dashner
Book Type: Dystopia, YA, Sci-Fi
Summary: Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.
What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.
The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.
Will anyone survive the Death Cure?
summary found on goodreads
My Review: Final book in the series. Wraps up the whole story and pulls everything together. You never find out everything, things are still left open ended. But the important details that have been kept away from you are finally revealed. Characters that are important in the first two novels are killed off and several minor characters get promoted to the front line of the story. I was disappointed with the end of this story. I have conflicted feelings about Theresa the entire story and I didn't feel satisfied by her role in the story at the end. As the story ended I felt a bit disappointed but I thought that overall the series was very fun.