After the slightly disappointing squeal, I had high hopes for The Death Cure. Probably due to the fact that The Scorch Trials continued to build up this story to it's climax. The first half of the book blew my mind. I was amazed at where this novel was going and excited. But somewhere along the way, everything seemed to become chaotic. I felt frustrated towards James Dashner - who although creates intriguing plot lines - focuses way too much on shock value. That is why I believe this novel and The Scorch Trials fall short of what they should be. Though entertaining and thrilling, I knew right of the bat that this concept - an awesome premise - was not properly executed. None-the-less, so worth the read.
Note: Spoilers ahead. Avoid if you intend on reading The Death Cure. You've been warned.
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HighlightsThe Maze Runner series is best at keeping you on your toes, at making you want to uncover the mystery so bad. It's purely the reason why I literally consumed this novel within days, after clinging onto every single word. Finding out the flare was a man-made disease was the highlight of this series for me! I have never read any other dystopian novel that's looked into that, and the scary thing is I could imagine this happening in reality. Can you imagine the government attempting to create a biological weapon to unleash on armies? God, it's terrifying. I'm so glad someone has finally explored this idea in fiction. I really wished we learnt more about the development of the flare. Maybe if we'd gotten a glimpse into Thomas memories we'd know more. (For the record, I felt utterly and completely cheated as an audience member when that didn't happen! Bahhh, moving on ...)
The fact that Newt was not immune to the flare - a character I can come to really care for - was so heart-wrenching. Gosh I broke down so hard. But Dashner conquered it. He made me care for a character so much, made me believe that there was such hope for him. And then he completely destroyed Newt in the brink of war. James Dashner showed what it's like to truly lose people you come to love or at some point have cared about - which leds us to Teresa.
I may be one of the only people who felt this way, but I liked the fact that Teresa and Thomas had this barrier between them. That they didn't truly reconcile until the very end. Sometimes things like that happen in war. People pass away in the mist of things. Things are sometimes left kind of unresolved, so it was pretty realistic. Plus, I love the fact that Teresa's role went against the fiction cliche - the first female character you see will end up with the male protagonist. Afterall, not every relationship you have in life works out, does it?
Shortcomings
The Death Cure felt so disconnected and disjointed. I wondered in The Scorch Trials if that was the point. If we were suppose to feel like Thomas, and that's why the story was dragged out. But The Death Cure made me realise that wasn't exactly intentional. James Dashner's writing style and sense of direction was this story seemed to be everywhere. In this final book, James Dashner needed to add more detail into his story, and begin to draw conclusions to his plot lines. I'm still left with a few unresolved issues - more than I should be by this stage. Who created the flare? How long had the flare been around?
And although Gally's mysterious return back from the dead was shockingly awesome, I found his character to be not of much importance. Seriously what else did he do - apart from unite Thomas with the Right Arm? Could that have happened any other way ... probably. (Though I'm glad it didn't. Seeing Gally forgive Thomas, and his character development was truly another highlight of the book.)
I hate to say it, I really do, but James Dashner didn't give this story justice. It was robbed of it's moment of glory. I think he knew exactly what he wanted from The Maze Runner - plot wise. I wish that had been the same with The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. The amount of depth and potential this story had was just indescribably amazing. I can only hope it's on-screen counterpart will make up for its loses.
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The Death Cure - like most of the series was a enjoyable thriller - with mysterious unfolding after each page. The premise of this series will always be The Maze Runner series best feature. It's just unfortunate that it was not excuted properly.
So, what are your thoughts on The Death Cure? And The Maze Runner series?
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