Well, it's been a while since I went into the world of the Maze and Wicked. I read the second book (Scorch Trials) a little over a year ago give or take. I don't fully remember when I did without checking Goodreads and while that tab is currently open I don't want to click on it.
One thing that has always struck me as funny with this trilogy is the fact that 'WICKED' is bad. I am from New England, New Hampshire to be precise, and the word 'wicked' is such a versatile word that I never once felt scared about it. If a group called WICKED suddenly came out I would trust them, and that would be my downfall.
I thought that The Death Cure was a fast-paced story with great emotional conflict as well as physical ones. The baggage of emotions, sorrow, and pain, that Thomas had to carry around the whole time were wonderfully written. A great way to end a trilogy: Happiness resting right next to sorrow.
I gave The Death Cure 4 Stars.
Below will be some of my thoughts on certain aspects, it is as spoiler-free as I could make it but read at your own risk.
I liked that we got to see Brenda again. I missed her from the Scorch. Of course it was weird to see her in WICKED, but granted everything and everyone can be traced back to this group, so I'm not that taken off guard. She showed off her dominance over the world a lot in this book and I was so proud.
I was so sad about Newt. He was such an important character in the first two books and I was heartbroken that he wasn't as big of a physical role in this one, but he was an emotional and mental one on the other Gladers. I couldn't tell if he was going to sacrifice himself, or if he was a Variable and also working for WICKED, because you can't trust anyone in this storyline...like at all. His whole role in this book was to sacrifice himself to save the others instead of dragging behind them and making it worse, you could really tell how much it hurt him to act the way that he was to his friends.
I had always had this hold on Teresa from the first book. I knew she wasn't a tool of WICKED's and she was only doing what she was doing to save humanity. I wasn't as mad at her as Thomas was, and in this book, I think she was given a wonderful redemption arc from her actions (though controlled) in The Scorch Trials. Also the fact that her following the rules and not resisting as hard didn't make her the Final Candidate instead of Thomas was really funny to me??
They brought up Chuck so much in this book, my poor little babe. He was too young to die and I'm so mad that he was just a Variable in the Killzone Mapping. How dare you, James Dashner. You owe me some yogurt and fruit so I can make a smoothie to replenish the tears I cried over dear, young Chuck.
I was also thrown off guard to the mention of Gally in this book. I, having read the first book SO long ago, I forgot a few details. Like how Thomas didn't kill Gally but just beat him until he was permanently scarred. I think it was fun to add him in and have Thomas realize how much WICKED had really made him do and to put aside all that had happened before in order to save humanity from the Flare.
When WICKED was controlling Thomas, using his body and controlling his words, it reminded me of The Host. It was like a more violent version of Wanda and Melanie fighting for control of the body, but it was also interesting to have Thomas not be able to control himself and see it through his eyes. The panic that he always felt no matter what I feel was very well written. He had a lot of glum of feelings, and at some points, I couldn't handle it, but at the same time, I'd probably be the same if not worse if I was in his position.Minho in this book was really the one I felt was the best at taking charge and getting things done in a lot of areas. Thomas sometimes thought too long about when his 'right time' would come and then it would pass him. Minho just jumped into action. Where's my book from his perspective?
The fact that Thomas thought "I'll hide the device in the bathroom and put all the water on to cover the noise" was honestly brilliant. He had his shining moments, usually right before his terror-filled ones. Like when they were putting him under. Having people force me down and poke me with needles is an actual fear of mine since I was younger. I had a nightmare that I was being forced to participate in a medical study and I cried the whole time they did it while people watched from the OR gallery...so I felt some genuine fear at this part of the story.
The symbolism behind having the Immunes locked away in the Maze was staggering. Having Thomas see it after being trapped there, the empty shell of the first Trial. And how he had the thought of 'being a Runner again' was just so much and helped tie the ending to the beginning of the trilogy.
One question that I have that isn't really that important: Who was the 'Thomas' of Group B? We know that Aris was the 'Teresa' of Group B, but who was the 'Thomas'? Was it the Rachel character mentioned in Scorch Trials? I just kinda want to know, let me know what you think of this in the comments.
I feel that I could have done with more knowledge about Teresa at the end. I feel she was ended so abruptly that we didn't get the full closure of her actually being on Thomas's side full-time and I would have loved to see a conversation or just a passage more about that.Like my review? Think I was totally off? Let me know what you think in the comments. Or we can just have a chat about the Maze Runner trilogy. I'm off to watch to find a way to see the movie, we can talk about that too if you want.
À bientôt!
Photo/Gif creds: my (bad) selfie with the book, movie poster, Dylan eye twitch(?), Dylan 'running',
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