The Death Cure (Maze Runner, #3)

Dec 18, 2011 Morgan Walsh rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. For those who have waited for so very long, my review is finally here. Yaaayyyy.

The Death Cure's end gave us a new hope, didn't it? A hope for survival. It was plainly obvious to me that WICKED was bad, but in the end, they did (or Chancellor Paige did) one thing good--they transported our Gladers, Group B-ers and the rest of the Munies to the last Paradise on Earth, the last place where they could be free and not ruled by an evil corporation claiming to do good.
I couldn't help but to smile when...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Saniya(Will Herondale is mine) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This book was- *wait a moment*

Let me bang my head until the author proves that there is one more book to be published for us readers, or if this book was just a really, really good joke.

Omigosh. Do not tell me that this is the last book of this trilogy. Do not tell me that the author just didn't answer all the questions we were waiting for. And please do not freaking tell me that this is what we readers are getting after being such a fan of both The Maze Runner and Scorch Trials books.

After happ...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Sydney →☺ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: most-obsession-worthy-boys, favorites, good-discussion-books

MINHO IS AWESOME MINHO IS AWESOME MINHO IS AWESOME MINHO IS AWESOME...
...okay I think I made my point. (:

CANNOT WAITTTT why do authors like to torture people! ;___;

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Jan 08, 2012 Annalisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, apocalypse, dystopia, speculative, guy-lit, mystery-thriller

Things Dashner does well:
Storytelling. Making up this world and coming up with all the plot twists are well done; he's a very talented tale spinner. He's great at creating suspense, making the next plot twist come at the right moment, and making you want to go on to the next chapter. A lab-created zombie virus and an overzealous world organization with too much power: fantastic ideas. Some of the plot twists and answers I questioned, but overall it was a fast-paced tale that easily drew me in.

Wh...more Things Dashner does well:
Storytelling. Making up this world and coming up with all the plot twists are well done; he's a very talented tale spinner. He's great at creating suspense, making the next plot twist come at the right moment, and making you want to go on to the next chapter. A lab-created zombie virus and an overzealous world organization with too much power: fantastic ideas. Some of the plot twists and answers I questioned, but overall it was a fast-paced tale that easily drew me in.

What Dashner does not do so well:
Character development. This is the third book in the series and I still have no idea what most of the characters look like or what they are about at their core. They all seem rather the same, especially their short tempers. The book is about plot more than character so for the most part I gone on with the shallow characters, but it would have been nice to get a better feel for who I was caring about while reading about all their close calls with the Cranks.

Description. I got lost a lot in this book. A lot. I know some of that is me forgetting details from previous books, but most of it was my inability to keep up with what Dashner was trying to describe. I was especially lost in the conclusion, partly because things weren't described well, but partly because I didn't feel like I all my questions were answered.

(view spoiler)

ETA: I just found out The Kill Order *spoiler* has nothing to do with Thomas and Teresa. *spoiler* Seriously?! The only reason I was considering reading it was to find out what Dashner should have written here. But instead of milking one more book out of the trilogy, Dashner has milked a prequel to set up the milking of yet another prequel. It irritates me when author's milk a story idea instead of moving on to the next one. That information should have been in this book and I'm not reading a lot of new books for a little bit of information. I will not be reading anything else that has to do with the Maze Runner trilogy.(less)

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Jan 09, 2012 Emily Rose rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I just read the synopsis on B&N's website and it sounds totally EPIC! Cannot wait!

***

5th most popular book this month... Alright Dashner!!!

***
DANG I actually did not fancy this book at all.
(view spoiler)...more GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I just read the synopsis on B&N's website and it sounds totally EPIC! Cannot wait!

***

5th most popular book this month... Alright Dashner!!!

***
DANG I actually did not fancy this book at all.
(view spoiler)[Ugh!!!! I hate to say it but I was extremely dissapointed by the finale of The Maze Runner series, The Death Cure. It was written well like the other books but I have to say that the plot and the end were terrible. I can't even describe how dissapointed I am because I love the first two books and I had faith that James Dashner would be able to make this last one just as awesome or better, like all finales should be. Well, he has failed at doing that, in my opinion.

First of all, I absolutely HATED how Teresa, whom I love so dearly and wanted Thomas to love just the same, was practically NEVER in this book. She was probably only present for a total of like 15 pages scattered throughout the book. She served almost no purpose in the book other than to cause Thomas to feel a little betrayed and to save his life in the end which any of his other friends could have done, so nothing really special on her part. She was a very promising character and she could have brought so much to this book, but it seems like Dashner just decided to throw her out because he couldn't see those possabilities. I mean, come on, you can't just throw a main character out like that! Like they were never important!

This brings me to Teresa's replacement character--Brenda. Oh, dear lord, kill me already, BRENDA. UGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH. She was so annoying to me. She brought hardly anything to the story except a little sexual appeal for Thomas, especially in the book prior to this one. Her and Thomas had absolutely NO SUBSTANCE to their relationship but kissing and hugging and flirtitious comments. There was no passion. But wait--didn't Thomas have a passionate relationship with someone in this series before...? ...Who was it with... OH!--TERESA!!!! But NOOOOOOOOO, she had to be thrown out of the picture for who knows what reason. She and Thomas could have had such a strong, passionate realationship that would grip the reader's hearts just as strongly. Honestly, why in the world would Dashner think that his readers would want Thomas to be in a shallow relationship over a strong, passionate, dramatic one?

And then Dashner decides to put the cherry on top and KILL POOR TERESA!!! And he only spent half a page on it and then it was over with and Thomas hardly suffered a bit. It was in no way dramatic enough and in no way served Teresa right. I mean, a tragic hero is one thing, but just because you save someone's life doesn't mean you're the most amazing hero in the literary world. It happens all the time. But Dashner didn't make Teresa into the amazing heroine she could have been. He didn't give her a chance.

In addition to the awful ways Dashner used his characters--or lack of usage thereof--I also didn't really care for the events that happened in this book. It seemed like many of them didn't push the story toward the resollution. I can't really explain that, but I just felt bored a lot. The story could have been more character-driven.

The only part I rally liked in this book was Newt and his whole deal and how he ended up getting killed. It was the most emotional part of the book and it was probably the single part I wouldn't have changed.

Other little things I didn't like:
*How Thomas never got his memory back so we could learn exactly what he and Teresa did before the Trials.
*How WICKED was neither a good guy or a bad guy. It was just a nothing that was trying to be a good guy with the best intentions but went about them in the wrong way. That is so cliched.
*How we didn't get to learn more about that Paige Chancellor. I got this giddy hope near the end that she'd turn out to be Thomas's mom or something. I like surprises like that, and this book lacked them big time. While reading this I actually though of so many twists that could have happened and could have been awesome. But no, Dashner had to be un-exciting and predictable.
*It seemed like there were some mini themes in this book that amounted to nothing. Like how it seemed like Thomas never wanted to become a killer, even of Cranks, but he did anyway and nothing was said about that matter after that.
*What was with Newt's note? I mean, why couldn't he have just told Thomas what he wanted so there wouldn't be a problem with him knowing when to read it? I thought the note could have been more life changing and revealing about the plot or something and throughout the whole book I was thinking that woud happen but then I was so dissapointed that it didn't really affect the story at all except for Newt dying. There was pretty much no reason for the note.

All in all, James Dashner not only killed off the great characters, but he killed the plot too. This story could have been amazing but all those open ends and great oportunities to really let this book shine were thrown out, left hanging. It was well written, but it was a terriblee ending to a good story. What a shame. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah so I'm sooooo steaming mad that this book didn't pack the punch that it should have and easily could have had. I feel like the whole Maze Runner story was awesome but could have been told much, much better.
(less)

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Apr 28, 2011 Michelle Lee marked it as to-read

Found this on : http://www.randomhouse.com/book/19668...

Synopsis :

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...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Wendy F rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, dystopian-apocalyptic, young-adult

Well, that was a major disappointment.

Was it just me or did it feel like the author had absolutely no idea where to go with this story? I still feel like 90% of the book was left unexplained. And for me it was completely a cop out (view spoiler). I'm not even going to bother listing all the questions I still have, because they're n...more Well, that was a major disappointment.

Was it just me or did it feel like the author had absolutely no idea where to go with this story? I still feel like 90% of the book was left unexplained. And for me it was completely a cop out (view spoiler). I'm not even going to bother listing all the questions I still have, because they're numerous.

And I still say that there was absolutely no point to Teresa! Perhaps in book two she had more action, but nothing happened that couldn't have happened with another character. This was just one more thing that I thought was just tossed in there. Teresa/Brenda... they were interchangeable. Almost as if Dashner just felt like he needed more bodies in his story. I mean, these characters were SO interchangeable that for a while there (view spoiler)?! Personally, I think that MY idea was better than the one in the book. At least it would have offered some type of explanation. Something for me to bite onto. Another idea I came up with was that (view spoiler). Dream sequences should have a point! BOOKS should have a point!

Um, what did I like about the book....? Minho, he was always a bright spot. Thomas was alright, I guess. Newt... I liked Newt. (view spoiler) I like Jorge... Yeah, that's pretty much it, folks. In fact, for the last 25% all I could do was keep reading because then it would END.

Can you tell I'm upset? Yeah, I really am. Maze Runner was good. But sadly this series got progressively worse... someone, anyone, is anything at all answered in Kill Order? Because if not, there's no way I'll bother reading it.

I apologize, because this was more rant than review. I'll try to make it up to you. I Swear!(less)

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Oct 12, 2011 Zchynard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: good

REVIEW UPDATED! read after the second line break.
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"Teresa. Why did it have to end that way?" -- Thomas, (Chapter 52, The Scorch Trial)
"No. I kind of accepted it, in a way. That saving you was worth losing what we might’ve had." -- Teresa, (chapter 56, The Scorch Trial)

I had a hard time getting into The Maze Runner. Despite the good plot and characters, it wasn't that enticing. I got hooked probably...more REVIEW UPDATED! read after the second line break.
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"Teresa. Why did it have to end that way?" -- Thomas, (Chapter 52, The Scorch Trial)
"No. I kind of accepted it, in a way. That saving you was worth losing what we might’ve had." -- Teresa, (chapter 56, The Scorch Trial)

I had a hard time getting into The Maze Runner. Despite the good plot and characters, it wasn't that enticing. I got hooked probably around the time Teresa woke up and I instantly liked her. Loved her even. I was keeping my faith on her in The Scorch Trial even though I read reviews that said she'll be someone I'll hate. I didn't want to but there were moments that I almost did. I have to see how her character will develop in this book. I'm hoping that she'll be the same smart and strong Teresa that I knew from The Maze Runner.

I would also like to keep an eye on Thomas. He's held onto Teresa as much as I did and I know, deep inside him, he still cares for her. He's been through a lot of things and I like to think that I understand his character. I just hope that he makes it through the end and become the same Thomas in the Maze Runner, just smarter, stronger and ready for anything.

Other characters that I'm looking forward to read again are Minho and... minho. He's a work of art. I guess there are no other characters at all. I don't like Brenda for Thomas and I'm sure that I'd make a new shelf just for this book if they do end up together. The title would probably be, "Never to read again". Please, no. It's Thomas and Teresa.

Senseless, maybe, but I'm more of looking forward to see how the relationships of the characters develop than what would happen with WICKED. Oh, well. ^_^
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After waiting for so long, I've finally got a hold of a copy of this book.

To say the truth, it was rather disappointing. It was action-packed and you will definitely have a hard time putting it down once you started. And it was also fast-paced which suits me well. But I will never get over the fact that it didn't end the way I hoped it to.

Call me selfish, if you like. But if you read it, there were a lot of sacrifices they had to make. And in the end, i couldn't understand why it had to be that way. Brenda remained mysterious, Teresa wasn't there much, a lot of things are still bugging me. A lot of things were missing.

But it was a good book, nevertheless. I enjoyed reading it. I even shed a few tears. (less)

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Nov 24, 2011 benebean rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cleaness-granny-approves, dystopian, heavy, medium, sci-fi-fantasy, ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *sighs* this probably doesn't deserve a rating as low as 2 stars, but since it deserves a rating lower than its two predecessors, it gets 2 stars. This trilogy could have been amazing if its last installment had been amazing giving meaning and imaginative explanations for all that happened in the earlier books. I kept waiting for this huge plot twist about the "real reason" why wicked was doing all these horrible things-- but in the end, the explanation was the easy to guess-- so easy and lame t...more *sighs* this probably doesn't deserve a rating as low as 2 stars, but since it deserves a rating lower than its two predecessors, it gets 2 stars. This trilogy could have been amazing if its last installment had been amazing giving meaning and imaginative explanations for all that happened in the earlier books. I kept waiting for this huge plot twist about the "real reason" why wicked was doing all these horrible things-- but in the end, the explanation was the easy to guess-- so easy and lame that half of the guesses I had come up with were orders of magnitude more exciting and imaginative.

In addition to this serious plot failure, it didn't have a main character that I really liked to help make me like the book despite its issues. I didn't dislike him, just sort of neutral. I liked a number of the minor characters, but most of them died (except Minho and I guess Frypan). Which brings me to my next quibble: Teresa and Brenda. I never liked Brenda and I felt like since the second book the author was trying to force me to accept her as a replacement for Teresa, and then conveniently leaves Teresa out of the picture and eventually kills her off to make room for a character I never cared for. I can't argue that it was unrealistic that Thomas would be distant from Teresa given the events, but I'm just mad at the author for giving her hardly any face time in the second two books, like she never even had a chance to defend herself.

This ties in with my other problem, namely since we hardly get to hear from Teresa AND Thomas never bothers to recover his memories, we never find out what it was in the past that made her and Thomas so sure they were doing the right thing when setting up all these tests, unless you really wanna stick with the same lame explanation that Wicked gave for its actions.

So overall, I feel like this series didn't have a good enough ending/explanation of events to merit reading through all the demoralizing experiences. This said, it was still a well-written series in that the story was compelling and some of the minor characters were depicted well.
(less)

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Apr 04, 2012 Lissa & Alexa The Novel Lasses rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: boys and girls grades 5 and up

Recommended to Lissa & Alexa by: B4R Club

Goodreads Synopsis

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 t...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-to-reread, favorites, good-books, books-read-in-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Containing spoilers for The Death Cure as well as Mockingjay(The Hunger Games series)

After I read the book, I stared at it in shock for 5 minutes trying to understand what I had just read. When Teresa died, I reread it over and over because I couldn't believe she had just died. She was one of those characters that I couldn't decide if I liked or hated. Thomas didn't really seem too upset that he had just watched her be crushed by a slab of the ceiling that would have killed...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Alondra rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.75 - 4 Stars

I really loved this series, and the finale let us know that WICKED is good....right?

I spent the entire book trying to find out who the backstabbers were, and how in the heck these kids were gonna get out of the mess they were in.

I liked that fact that we have answers to questions, but that the answer we are given is not exactly the answer we seek. After many trials, our gladers and their frenemies find common cause and an ultimate goal to chase. Freedom.

Is it over? Can your frien...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Jack Ferreira rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ýep, this series was pretty cool! In my review of The Scorch Trials I had hoped this wouldn't turn out be another "Mockingjay", I was relieved to find it wasn't and it rounded of the series quite nicely.

Unlike Mockingjay:
1 - The characters relationships with one another weren't forced at all. I was fine with everybody, and annoyed by no one.
2 - No forced and unnecessary deaths that were obviously only used for shock value in an attempt to make the story more engaging. There were important dea...more Ýep, this series was pretty cool! In my review of The Scorch Trials I had hoped this wouldn't turn out be another "Mockingjay", I was relieved to find it wasn't and it rounded of the series quite nicely.

Unlike Mockingjay:
1 - The characters relationships with one another weren't forced at all. I was fine with everybody, and annoyed by no one.
2 - No forced and unnecessary deaths that were obviously only used for shock value in an attempt to make the story more engaging. There were important deaths but they coincided nicely with the story.
2.1 - That includes no scene where children are graphicaly and violently murdered out of the blue (not that I'm sensitive or anything, but it wouldn't match the tone of the books, in my opinion).
3 - We are thrown into the heart of the action, instead of skulking on the outskirts for whatever boring reason.
4 - Our main character remains likeable.
5 - We have a decent plot.
6 - It doesn't suck.

I normaly don't compare books with what other people are comparing but I hated Mockingjay so much that I don't mind.

Anyway, I liked the characters and plot. However there were a few things that bugged me. And it's entirely possible it's just me.
There is a good bit of "science talk" in this book (as well as the previous one) and certain aspects of it all stand out as not being very correct. I can let it slide on the most part but some procedures weren't very scientific, I mean no competent scientist would actualy conduct an experiment that way. Again, I did try and give it a pass but at times it was a bit too unrealistic for me.
Also, a litte more character development is prefered. I wish I could have felt a bit more for them, it would have certaintly elevated the whole experience some more.
The last thing I'll mention is too much convenience. Sometimes it seems like the author didn't really know how to advance the plot smoothly enough so he created these really convenient characters. We'd learn about them and that would instantly change where everyone was going and doing. Then when we meet them, spend like 5 minutes with them and then we move on and never see or hear from them again. It happened like 2 or 3 times, it just felt too easy.

So whats what I didn't like.
Now, I see people upset that all the questions weren't answered. I personaly didn't mind it and open endings are fine by me if done properly. The direction the story went in didn't really make me all that interested in all this backstory, I'm not sure if that's a bad thing but... it's a thing.

The only thing I genuinely wished for was this book to be at least as smart and mysterious as the first one, it wasn't. It's probably the least clever one out of the three, wich was a BIT disapointing. But in the end it was still action packed and very enjoyable!(less)

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Dec 07, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fantasy

I finished this book a few nights ago. Had I reviewed it then my negativity would have been much more emphatic.

PLEASE NOTICE: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO VOLUMES IN THIS REVIEW. i WILL BE ASSUMING THAT YOU HAVE READ The Maze Runner AND The Scorch Trials. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS BEFORE YOU GO ON.

So why as high as a 2 if I'm very disappointed in the book? It/they does/do tie their plot line up...mostly. There are times in each book (the first two more than the third) where they are in...more I finished this book a few nights ago. Had I reviewed it then my negativity would have been much more emphatic.

PLEASE NOTICE: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO VOLUMES IN THIS REVIEW. i WILL BE ASSUMING THAT YOU HAVE READ The Maze Runner AND The Scorch Trials. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS BEFORE YOU GO ON.

So why as high as a 2 if I'm very disappointed in the book? It/they does/do tie their plot line up...mostly. There are times in each book (the first two more than the third) where they are interesting and draw you in. Sadly on the whole the simple logical inconsistencies and plot holes outweigh anything good...for me. Repeat that's for me. I know some will and do like these more than me. I will relate my thoughts here and leave it to them to do the same in their reviews.

This series in some ways could be said to harken back to Lemony Snicket as the entire trilogy could be called a "series of unfortunate events". It's more accurate however to harken back to Roger Ebert (see Roger Ebert's Glossary of Movie Terms: http://academic.sun.ac.za/forlang/ber...). He came up with the term, "A Dead Teenager Movie". Well these are "Dead Teenager Books". The plots of the first two can pretty much be summed up with, you start with a large number of teenagers and slowly kill them off." Added to this the plot device of dropping obscure pointless clues that eventually lead you to the idea that all this death by slow torturous means is somehow tied in with the world being in "catastrophe" and that what's being done to the teenagers is somehow tied in with finding a cure for a world spanning plague.

By the time you get to the third entry to this mess you're simply hoping that the writer will fill in the blanks and explain how putting two large groups of young people through ~~hell~~ err this idiocy will in some way bring about a cure... well he tries. He gives us the story of the group (WICKED) behind this "genus" plan (that's sarcasm just in case you're not sure), the idea behind it, the purpose... I'll give a little on that in a spoiler below. Bottom line? Well I think you probably already know my take on it from the use of the word "idiocy". My thoughts are...what kind of maniacs came up with this idea???

Then of course there's a main character Thomas (we were lead to believe early on that we might have 2 main characters)... The decisions Thomas makes in this book are flatly incomprehensible. He also develops the disease that I've seen so often in YA books. He becomes dense as a locust fence post, as thick as frozen pea soup. In short he suddenly (in spite of being supposedly on of the smartest in the land) can't see what the reader will have spotted two chapters ago.

In short (if it's not too late to say "in short") while the writer ties the story up and gives an acceptable ending...sort of, this is a disappointing ending to a series I held out/struggled through to see where it was going. A strained and questionable 2 stars.

(view spoiler)(less)

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Oct 20, 2011 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm so excited that this book has finally released after waiting all that time for it and the wait was most definitely worth it. This book contained action from beginning to end; there was honestly no pause longer than a page or two from the action. I read this in two days and it took all of my will power to put it down throughout this time because there was just never a good place to stop. My favorite character died (won't tell you who) and it provoked some teary eyes, I must say. Two pretty si...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Shelby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Literally so excited for book to come out!

I instantly liked Teresa from the moment she woke up. And i'm sort of in love with Minho (: haha, i just love his personality. And Newt too. As for Thomas, i think he is a great character as well.
I love that Thomas and Teresa have an amazing friendship, on top of having something more for each other. But even I was hurt after what Teresa did to Thomas. But honestly, she was right. Betraying him was better than loosing him when it came down to it. I thi...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Stephanie (The Night Bookmobile) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, reviewed

Just as fun as the first two but not as clever as I would have liked. I wanted more surprises and also more insight into Thomas and Theresa's pasts. I also thought a certain character didn't get the ending they deserved. Their death seemed convenient to the plot and they didn't get treated very well in the book before that point either. We never learned much more about their side of things. Plus things with WICKED were wrapped up too neatly and without many answers. I still really enjoyed this b...more

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Nov 16, 2011 Tiffany Neal rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, young-adult-science-fiction

Can I get an ARC? Please?

**Impatiently waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail!! WHERE IS IT?!?**

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2012 Fiona rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rated: 1 to 1.5 stars

Ever since I picked up the first book in this series, I've thought to myself: This book is only good if the ending is good. Turns out it was... nothing surprising and lacks substance.

Major complaints:
-The author did not explain WHY they need to put all these subjects through all these Variables. Only a very loose and generic rationale was provided. It just seems like a very poor excuse on the author's part to throw in some action and bloodbath into the series. There is absol...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-104-book-challenge, authors-who-don-t-suck

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 17, 2011 Monica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: disappointing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ok, first off I'm going to say that I loved Maze Runner and Scorch Trials. I've been waiting for this final book for a long time. The author does a great job with fast-paced writing and action-packed scenes. The mysteries and puzzles were what intrigued me about this trilogy in the first place. Right as you're trying to get one thing straight in your head, another crazy mind trick gets thrown at you, making you shake your head and ask a bunch of questions again. So I was so excited to finally re...more Ok, first off I'm going to say that I loved Maze Runner and Scorch Trials. I've been waiting for this final book for a long time. The author does a great job with fast-paced writing and action-packed scenes. The mysteries and puzzles were what intrigued me about this trilogy in the first place. Right as you're trying to get one thing straight in your head, another crazy mind trick gets thrown at you, making you shake your head and ask a bunch of questions again. So I was so excited to finally read death cure and get those answers.

Okay....now, the way this book failed for me was twofold. First, the characters. I loved Thomas. I loved that he was smart and selfless and loyal and compassionate. But he lost all of those qualities to me in Death Cure. He didn't trust Wicked. Ok, I get that--but to not want to get his memories back? Come on. He just chose ignorance over knowledge and I don't think that was true to his character. Then he rejected Teresa the whole time which I felt was unwarranted since after scorch. I think the author did their relationship a complete disservice. I'm still mad about it. I never liked Brenda and I'm disappointed that Thomas ended up with her. I mean, come on, she obviously had a double agenda the whole time, and yet he trusted her and not Teresa. Blech. Okay, and then there was Minho. He used to be funny, despite the circumstances. Nope, no more. And then there's poor Newt. His storyline was good, but the final scene between he and Thomas was just as quick as the rest of the book, and it was a shame. Fast is good, but not when the scene is as meaningful as that one. Oh and his note? I thought it was a cop-out. And I'm supposed to believe that Wicked would just let Thomas wander around Denver and not come get him because the virus was too rampant? They supposedly have unlimited money and resources, and we're led to believe they watch his every move, yet when he returns to Wicked at the end, he just goes to the bathroom and plants the disabling device? No one notices? And then when he's getting the immunes out of the maze, why didn't the other Gladers try to leave before? If everything was disabled, why wouldn't Gally and frypan and the B girls try to escape? I could go on and on.

Okay, now the second reason the book failed to me. The questions. Really? No more answers? No explaining why Thomas was chosen or how he trained the Creators. Nothing about he and Teresa or their parents or chuck or how the rest of the world is. I mean, the virus makes people zombies and a Candidate's brain was supposed to cure that? Okay... And then they just end up in a green paradise with a hundred or so immunes so they can start over? And the chancellor just happened to save him right before his brain removal and leave him a map but doesn't go to the paradise herself? Seriously.... There were so many things that didn't add up. So many questions that were answered haphazardly or not at all. Oh and I could have done without Thomas and Brenda staring off into the sunset at the end. I so don't like her. Now they're in another Glade all over again. At least before, I actually liked Thomas. I'm so disappointed because I wanted so badly to like this...I'm totally bummed :((less)

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Jan 23, 2012 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, teen

Unfortunately, I didn't think this was a very strong conclusion to what overall is a really good trilogy. Lots of action and the pace moved really quickly, but the conclusion was pretty unsatisfying. So much of the trilogy is centered on trust and mistrust; Can Thomas trust his experiences and limited memories? Can he trust his friends? Can he trust the bits and pieces of information he's being fed by those in control? The story was all action followed what felt like a very abrupt conclusion and...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Brooke rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book. It was well worth waiting for a year for it to come out. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. A lot of the time the last book of a series will be weak and disappointing *cough*cough*Mocking Jay*; however, this book didn't disappoint. The series finished strongly and I loved every page of it. Overall: a perfect ending to an amazing series.

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Mar 23, 2012 Sita rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Teens

This trilogy ended horribly. It was like the author just found anything he could to wrap up each storyline. The whole trilogy wasn't great to begin with, but I trudged on. Book one got decent about halfway through, book two was alright, but book three was terrible.

Honestly, I hope that someone gives the author some serious lessons in writing female characters and making male and female associations believable as throughout one of the biggest problems was his main characters relationships with hi...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Sam Griffin rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is going to be an amazing book the first two were so good!!! But I don't want to wait!! I'm going to have a temper tantrum!!! I NEED IT NOW!!! Oops I didn't mean to rate it lol

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May 18, 2012 Erin rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: middle school kids

Shelves: action-packed, dark, disappointing, disturbing-moments, dystopia, one-lone-tear

1.5 stars

First, to clarify. This isn't an angry one star. I just have lost most of my patience when it comes to all of this series's flaws.

As many people have noted, the Maze Runner trilogy is a bit... mysterious. Throughout the first two books, a lot of stuff happens with little to no explanation. I knew going into The Death Cure that the only way I would like this book was if it finally gave me the answers I was looking for.

Well, as you can see from my rating, it didn't.

(view spoiler)...more

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May 01, 2013 Ellie (a.k.a. QE3) rated it 5 of 5 stars

5.00 for great ending, WHILE READING IT (in retrospect it was kind of sloppy)
4.50 for the rest of the book

WELL.

After a sort of lukewarm trilogy beginning, and a stone-cold second installment, I was a little reluctant to start this, but after hearing so many people raving about it, I requested it from the library. And when it arrived, I started reading....and was hooked!

The book starts out with Thomas sitting in his little cell where WICKED has kept him for a while, at the beginning. At first it...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Lucy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-releases, 2012-reads

The Death Cure is an action-packed resolutionary ending to one of the most powerful, well-written dystopian novels I've read since The Hunger Games (and that's saying something, considering the swarm of dystopian novels released over the last five years). However, although I still adore the overall concept of the Maze Runner series, I found myself slightly disappointed that I didn't love the final book as much as the first two.

My main disappointment with The Death Cure was Thomas. Despite how mu...more The Death Cure is an action-packed resolutionary ending to one of the most powerful, well-written dystopian novels I've read since The Hunger Games (and that's saying something, considering the swarm of dystopian novels released over the last five years). However, although I still adore the overall concept of the Maze Runner series, I found myself slightly disappointed that I didn't love the final book as much as the first two.

My main disappointment with The Death Cure was Thomas. Despite how much I liked him in The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials, his treatment of Teresa in this book made it hard for me to like him at all. (view spoiler) Thomas' blind hatred towards Teresa would have been fine with me if it had been properly explained - I'm a believer that books with unlikable or even immoral protagonists can still be great - but Dashner himself doesn't seem to realise that Thomas' behaviour towards the two girls is contradictory. As a result, Thomas came across in a bad light and Dashner's only two well-rounded female characters from the first two books felt less tangible and more like two girl-shaped plot devices.

That said, the rest of the book was absolutely brilliant. Newt, Minho and Thomas' determination to never regain their memories was admirable and the friendship between the three boys was what made this series really worth reading. It was great to finally see a glimpse of how the rest of human civilisation is faring, and Dashner's vision of a terror-stricken apocolyptic future world was beautifully grim. The story was also paced just as perfectly as the first two novels - it was impossible to put down because every chapter lead straight on to the next. Dashner is a master at writing fast-paced action and I hope to see more action-based stories from him in the future.

Despite my one gripe about Dashner's protagonist, The Death Cure provided the closure and answers that all fans of The Maze Runner have needed since they read the very first page. The sacrifices and shocking twists that Dashner delivers will undoubtably anger some readers, but Dashner executes them perfectly and ensures that his series will be one to remember.(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Sydney rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm so sick of really great series being ruined by the last book! This one definitely wasn't as bad as the Hunger Games, but still...
The whole story felt really detached and lacked emotion. Newt and Teresa die in this book and they barely get a paragraph for each of their deaths, and they were hardly mentioned after their deaths. Ridiculous.
I had high expectations for this series and this last book held the key to maintaining my faith but it completely fell short. I'm really just upset about t...more I'm so sick of really great series being ruined by the last book! This one definitely wasn't as bad as the Hunger Games, but still...
The whole story felt really detached and lacked emotion. Newt and Teresa die in this book and they barely get a paragraph for each of their deaths, and they were hardly mentioned after their deaths. Ridiculous.
I had high expectations for this series and this last book held the key to maintaining my faith but it completely fell short. I'm really just upset about this right now...ugh!
The parts I liked about this book that gave it three stars instead of two (though it's right on the border) were bringing Gally back, and Newt being revealed as having the Flare. But Newt deserved more credit for his death and there really needed to be more emotion in the situation and I was really hoping for an emotional showdown between Thomas and Minho when Thomas would have to tell Minho that he killed Newt. Of course, that didn't happen. Teresa's death was SO DUMB! Pushing Thomas out of the way of a collapsing wall?! Can you say cliche?! Ugh! I just can't get over this!
Also, the questions I've had throughout the series that were left untouched. What about their families? I just wanted SOMETHING! I don't need their entire life story, but seriously, the issue wasn't even touched.
The ending was SUPER lame and extremely abrupt, not to mention I hate Brenda. A lot. I can't believe Thomas would trust Brenda--who obviously was a double agent, even if she had a "change of heart"--over Teresa, even after she proved herself multiple times. I really think their relationship deserves more credit than that and I never thought of Thomas as a person to hold a grudge in the first two books; I just figured he would have time to make up with Teresa in the third book, but she was hardly in the story. I was upset with the direction the whole story took: Teresa, the Gladers, and Group B were hardly in the book, the whole Right Arm thing, the fact that WICKED's top Candidate was allowed to roam a Crank infested city when WICKED has unlimited money to just pick him up and rip his brain out; the stupid society of Immunes living in a paradise where they can reproduce...grr.
Wow. First two books get five stars, third book barely gets three... (less)

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Oct 19, 2011 Lettersalad rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: in-english, apocalypse, death

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ich glaube, ich habe mich noch nie auf ein Buch so sehr gefreut, wie auf The Death Cure. Die ersten beiden Teile dieser Trilogie waren einfach herausragend und kreisten immer in meinem Hinterkopf herum, bis nun endlich der dritte und gleichzeitig letzte Teil veröffentlicht wurde. Dann bekommst du das Buch, beginnst sofort zu lesen und schon etwa nach der Hälfte des Buches hast du das Gefühl, dass das Ganze auf gar keinen Fall in die Richtung geht, wie du es erwartet hast.
Na gut, der Autor hat mi...more Ich glaube, ich habe mich noch nie auf ein Buch so sehr gefreut, wie auf The Death Cure. Die ersten beiden Teile dieser Trilogie waren einfach herausragend und kreisten immer in meinem Hinterkopf herum, bis nun endlich der dritte und gleichzeitig letzte Teil veröffentlicht wurde. Dann bekommst du das Buch, beginnst sofort zu lesen und schon etwa nach der Hälfte des Buches hast du das Gefühl, dass das Ganze auf gar keinen Fall in die Richtung geht, wie du es erwartet hast.
Na gut, der Autor hat mich in den beiden Vorgängern ja auch oftmals kalt erwischt und völlig überrascht. Im weiteren Verlauf des Buches wird dir dann jedoch auch noch der Protagonist kontinuierlich unsympathischer und während einer ganz bestimmten Szene, nach etwa zwei Dritteln des Buches beginnst ihn förmlich zu hassen. Okey, Thomas gehörte für mich schon immer zu den Randfiguren, obwohl alle drei Teile der Geschichte aus seiner Sicht erzählt werden. Zu sehr verliebt war ich da in die eigentlichen Nebencharaktere: Minho, Newt, Bratpfanne und Teresa.

Das im Laufe einer Story, gerade wenn diese in einem apokalyptischen Umfeld spielt, eben auch einmal Charaktere auf der Strecke bleiben müssen, bleibt nicht aus und ist nur authentisch. Auch im richtigen Leben sterben schließlich Menschen, die man sehr mag. Wenn ein Autor aber über zwei Vorgänger sehr liebgewonnene Figuren nur wegen der Starrköpfigkeit bzw. Feigheit des Protagonisten sterben lässt, dann kann er in meinen Augen seine Leser so sehr damit verletzten, das die gesamte Story zur Nebensache wird.
Während dieser oben erwähnten Szene fühlte ich mich dermaßen vor den Kopf gestoßen, dass ich mich gar nicht mehr richtig auf die Story einlassen konnte. Man denkt während der gesamten weiteren Geschichte nur noch: Das ist doch nicht wahr, oder? Am Ende kommt doch bestimmt alles ganz anders. Dass muss doch ein Scherz sein. Immer wieder hofft man, dass der Protagonist endlich zur Vernunft kommt und vor allem endlich aufhört nur an sich selber zu denken. Sicherlich hat Thomas in den beiden Vorgängern sehr viel erlebt und sehr viel ertragen müssen. Doch er steigert sich in The Death Cure so sehr in seine Wut und seinen Hass auf Wicked hinein, dass er die wirklich zahlreich vorhandenen Anzeichen einfach ignoriert, die ihm eine Sache ganz klar signalisieren würden.

Nämlich dass Wicked ihm zwar viel Schlimmes angetan hat, dies aber auch nicht grundlos passiert ist und was noch viel wichtiger ist: Dass er alleine es womöglich in der Hand hat, sein eigenes Leben, dass seiner Freunde und das aller anderen Menschen auf der Welt zu retten. Stattdessen verbeißt sich Thomas in seinen blinden Rachegelüsten; geht über Leichen, opfert mehr, als man ertragen kann, handelt überstürzt, zeigt kaum Emotionen und wird dann trotzdem immer wieder auch noch als der große Held gefeiert. Arrogant, feige und herzlos steht er schlussendlich da und hat nicht einmal den Mumm, für sein Handeln die Verantwortung zu übernehmen.

Gemeint ist die Szene, in der Thomas Newt (zugegeben mein Lieblingscharakter in der Reihe) tötet. Das Newt ihn darum bittet, spielte für mich keine Rolle. Wäre Thomas zuvor auch nur ein wenig auf Wicked eingegangen, hätte es vielleicht sogar ein Heilmittel geben können. Denn das Wicked zumindest versucht hat, ein Heilmittel zu finden, steht für mich außer Frage. So hat Thomas Newt in dieser Hinsicht sogar doppelt auf dem Gewissen. Und am Ende hat er dann nicht mal Eier, um Minho zu gestehen, dass er es war, der den gemeinsamen Freund umgebracht hat. Gleiches gilt für Teresa.
Sicherlich hat sie Thomas in The Scorch Trials hintergangen, doch wie er sich ihr gegenüber nun verhält, sogar nachdem sie ihm offenbart, dass sie ihn nur beschützen wollte, hat mich Thomas richtig hassen gelernt. Teresa ist für mich die wahre Heldin, denn sie hat das vollbracht oder zumindest versucht, bei dem Thomas so grandios versagt hat: Sich selber notfalls zu opfern um die, die man liebt zu retten, auch wenn es schmerzhaft ist und einen selber dabei zu Grunde gehen lässt.

Hinzu kommt dann, dass die komplette Story total zerfahren wurde und schlussendlich in einer Sackgasse angelangt. Kaum etwas aus The Maze Runner und The Scorch Trials wurde aufgedeckt. Was hat Wicked sich mit den gesammelten Informationen bzw. dem Blueprint erhofft? Durch Thomas‘ Ignoranz hat Wicked nämlich gar keine Chance bekommen, sich zu rechtfertigen oder ihr Handeln zu erklären und der Leser wird so nie erfahren, wie die tatsächlichen Pläne für das Heilmittel ausgesehen haben. Auch Thomas‘ Träume und seine Flashbacks sind am Ende völlig wertlos, da er seine Erinnerung ohnehin niemals zurückerlangt. Seinem kleinen Freund Chuck hat Thomas in The Maze Runner ein Versprechen gegebenen, welches er in diesem dritten Teil mit keinem Wort erwähnt und noch viel weniger einhält.
Warum die Jungs im Labyrinth eigene Wörter wie „Shuck“ oder „Klonk“ erfunden haben, wird genauso wenig erklärt wie die Tatsache, warum die Jungs wie berühmte Wissenschaftler heißen oder warum Teresa im Labyrinth zu den Jungen sowie Aris zu den Mädchen geschickt wurde. In der Form könnte ich nun ewig weiter schreiben und unzählige Punkte aufführen. Selbst das Cover ist mir schlussendlich ein Rätsel: An keiner Stelle des Buches spielt eine Eiszeit oder ein Schneesturm eine Rolle.

Das Ende hätte nicht einfallsloser sein können. Man hatte den Eindruck, auf den letzten zwanzig Seiten wurde das komplette Konzept der Reihe über den Haufen geworfen und die bequemste Lösung gewählt, um es möglichst schnell zu Ende zu bringen. Der Verbleib vieler bekannter Figuren wird gar nicht erwähnt und man kann sich nur selber ausdenken, was mit ihnen passiert ist. Zusammenfassend kann ich daher gar nicht beschreiben, wie sehr ich von diesem Buch enttäuscht bin. Der Knackpunkt war für mich das Verhalten von Thomas, der mit seiner Art und seinen Vorgehensweisen einen geschickteren, logischeren oder vielleicht auch nur erträglicheren Ausgang der Geschichte verhindert. So bleibt nur der fahle Nachgeschmack von „Hätte ich das Buch doch nur nie gelesen“ zurück.(less)

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Brenda or Teresa	9	16	May 22, 2013 02:45pm
how old is thomas?	14	59	May 21, 2013 04:15pm
Brenda, Theresa and the end...	77	262	May 18, 2013 08:05am
Who Is The Most HATED Character?	11	37	May 16, 2013 04:03pm
The Page Turners: * The Death Cure	2	15	May 09, 2013 11:55am
Who Actually Liked Teressa: SPOILERS!!!!	54	124	May 06, 2013 04:08pm
The Ending (SPOILERS!!!)	178	912	Apr 29, 2013 09:24am

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The Death Cure (Maze Runner #3)

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