The Death Cure

The Maze Runner #3

by James Dashner

The Trials are over. WICKED is planning to restore the survivors' memories and complete the final cure for the Flare.

But Thomas has already remembered more than they think. And he knows WICKED can't be trusted...

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine. Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Post Apocalyptic

329 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2011

About the author

James is the author of THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy and THE 13TH REALITY series. He also published a series (beginning with A DOOR IN THE WOODS) with a small publisher several years ago. He lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains.

Reviews

[Saniya · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 happily reading The Scorch Trails and then excitedly waiting for this book for about 6 months, I yet again screamed with happiness (as I also did with another book Bloodlines) when I got to read it.
The story started with a good potential, it was interesting, I was feeling it. I was reading it non-stop and then suddenly in the middle of no where I am like, "WTH is going on?"

FAIL 1: CHARACTERS, CHARACTERS, CHARACTERS!
I do believe Thomas here just had this emotion for everything.
"He was my close friend"
From deaths to betrayals to everything, he just considered every living human being as a friend. Come on! He could act like he loved people or atleast cared about someone just more than friends. And don't even get me started on Teresa. To be totally honest, Teresa is just like a random stranger on the road I see everyday. I am either proud or totally miserable to say that I don't know her at all. She came and she went and I was just like, "Pfft. Whatever."
And then Brenda. Weren't you just a side ass character introduced in the second book? Then honey, why? WHY are you the main heroine here?
The only character I liked?
Minho, Jorge and Newt.
Minho for being the best of the best, Jorge for always being there and Newt for never giving up. The story till Newt was awesome.

FAIL 2: Y U GIVE SO MANY DEATHS?
Now readers who didn't read this book might find this fail spoiler-ish.
First of all. Death of Newt. I think it was the most sensible one. I felt for that guy and I am so happy to say that James Dashner did a really good job in his ending. In simple words, I loved it.
But, then comes Teresa. What.the.hell? She was the main heroine! How in the world can you kill the main heroine and replace her with a side kick? I do NOT approve this.
And then 300 people killed out of 500? Ouch. That was a bit unfair. Atleast the author could have saved 300-50 something people.
I miss Chuck. =[

FAIL 3: WHERE ARE MY FREAKING ANSWERS?
How could this book even end without satisfying the readers?

(1)I wanted Thomas to his memory back so we could learn exactly what he and Teresa did before the Trials and why were they specifically chosen. Hell, I even wanted Minho's and Newt's memories back and Brenda's past.
(2) How in the world did they end up in a green paradise with a hundred or so immunes so they can start over? Umm, hello? What about the rest of the freaking world?
(3) Who is this Paige Chancellor? Why didn't she go to paradise with them?

I love James Dashner's writing, I liked the book, don't get me wrong but I am really amazed at people who gave this book 5/5 stars. I am very sad to say this but yes, overall, this book didn't satisfy me and I am disappointed. Especially after being the last book of such an amazing series. But then, I will still miss the characters and this story will stay with me forever and always. 3/5 stars.

[Gwennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 to have Thomas refuse getting his memories back. If Thomas, our MC, doesn't remember then the author doesn’t have to bother thinking up an explanation. 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 I was convinced that Brenda WAS Teresa and it was all just another elaborate WICKED hoax on Thomas! The Teresa that he thought was Teresa was really a fake, and Brenda was really Teresa inside... Because otherwise why were they so easy to flop back and forth?! 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 Chancellor Paige was really Thomas's mother... because why else were we getting glimpses of him and his mom. To show she loved him? Yeah, well that was already assumed. 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. I thought his death was sad but good. Needed. 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!

[Miranda Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wait are you telling me that the government completely anticipated every last move and this was exactly what was meant to happen?

Again?

Between the all-knowing governments and coincidental memory loss, this book really lost my interest.

Everything is so freaking convenient .

The Maze Runner was intriguing.

The Scorch Trials went a little left-field.

This one is so far out of the ballpark that we are in the next county or possibly country.

The Main Pain : Character Stupidity

Example: Thomas and the rag-tag group fly from one part of the country to another to seek the TRUTH.

The absolute worst part - they park their flying ship right outside of city gates AND use "fake" paperwork (with their real names) to get into the city.

Then, they are completely flabbergasted when they are immediately tracked down by WICKED.

They spend so much time wondering aloud how this could have happened. Could you imagine a more blazing trail?

This behavior is not a one-off. The entire book is centered around acts and decisions like this.

The OTHER Main Pain: "Love Triangle"

Now, if you think the romance with Theresa was shoe-horned in - you are going to absolutely hate the Brenda one.

There's so much competition for Thomas and I have yet to see a competent argument for why either of them of them are interested.

Thomas spends the whole book mooning over one and then the other - it didn't build tension, I just became apathetic.

PICK ONE ALREADY.

The OTHER, OTHER Main Pain: Missing Memory

Eventually, Thomas gets the chance to finally figure everything out. FINALLY - the audience is going to get some answers for such an incredibly convoluted and precariously written novel.

He decided he'd rather not know.

AKA I waded through 3 novels only for the main character to go, "ehhh, I'd rather keep everything shrouded in mystery.

It felt like the author wrote himself into a corner and used Thomas's lame excuse to *not* have to fully answer the many (many) questions that arose throughout the book.

Irrepressible frustration

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[Emily Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.
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.

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.

[Sydney LaForest · Rating 5 out of 5]

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! ;___;

[Natalie Monroe · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

It's a very old axiom, but do you believe the end can justify the means? When there's no choice left?

NO. No, I do not. Especially when the end, which in this case is the supposed resolution of 900+ pages' worth of suspense and mystery, ultimately ends up being bullshit. There is no explanation for anything and what little there is turns out to be the biggest fuckfest I have ever had the misfortune to read.

The Maze Runner trilogy started off with so much potential. Yes, there were parts in The Maze Runner that grated on me like a wayward blender, but I lapped it up and dove into the next installment, eager as a three-month-old puppy. The Scorch Trials disappointed me greatly, still I was like, "It's okay, it's cool! The third and final book will make up for it. Right, guys? Right? RIGHT?"



A little background information before this review spirals out the football field of sanity: Thomas and the others have gotten out of the Scorch and back in Wicked's headquarters. They are then offered a chance to get their memories back in order to fully complete this experiment and extract a cure for the Flare.

Now from what I remember of Thomas from the first book, he was Alice in a dystopian Wonderland. Curious and always asking questions: "Where are we?", "Why are they doing this?", "Just answer my questions, dammit!" Armed with this knowledge, you'd think that Thomas would be real eager to get his real memories back and figure out why his past self justified and conducted these trials in the first place, his relationship with Teresa, and who his mother is.



In what I can only fathom as a bullshit way to drag out intrigue and save time in creating a backstory, the author makes Thomas not want his memories back because Wicked is evil, wah, wah, wah, and we can't trust anything they say! In fact, we'll escape! yeah, that's what we'll do! Never mind that getting back your memories is the sole thing you've been hankering for since you woke up from the Box months ago. Never mind that by doing this, you could potentially help Wicked discover the cure and save millions of lives. Never mind that your friend, Newt, has the Flare and if you could pull your head out of your selfish asshole for one second, you could save him. Oh no, let's go on a road trip to save me and get all that nasty, manipulative Wicked tech out of my brain, which incidentally, has never fully been explained. Let's make it all about me, me, me. Minho? Who the fuck's that?



The ending is the most selfish, stupid decision I have encountered. Allegiant was better than what happened if you can believe it.

He hoped that whatever they were, they'd be isolated and safe while the rest of the world figured out how to deal with the Flare, cure and no cure. He knew the process would be long and hard and ugly, and he was one hundred per cent that he wanted no part of it.

So as long as his Majesty Thomas is alright, the whole world can go fuck itself, am I right?



I wouldn't be so furious with Thomas's decision if it wasn't so at odds with his personality. This is the same guy who risked his life by going out into the Maze at night to save two people he barely knew. Sure, he went through some shit because of Wicked, but this is thousands, millions of innocent lives we're talking about. Harry Potter wouldn't have stood by idly if he knew sacrificing himself would help. Actually, that's exactly what he did in the Deathly Hallows. Percy Jackson wouldn't have allowed this to happen either. He'd grumble and grouse and add a smart-alecky remark, but he'd do something about it. He would waste valuable time reserved for mounting a barricade against gods in order to move unconscious passersby out the street and harm's way. That's what heroes do. And Thomas is most assuredly not one of them. I am ashamed to have compared him to those two in my review of The Maze Runner.

And how the fuck is preserving two hundred Immunes supposed to rebuild humankind? Say that by some miracle no one stumbles across them in this popped-outta-nowhere greenland. But Paige basically set humanity back by hundreds of years. I recently watched a documentary that says thanks to specialization, humans are extremely codependent. It takes a team of at least a hundred people to create a computer mouse. You need someone to pipe the oil up, to turn the oil into workable plastic, to slice it into pieces, to create metal springs or whatever it is that makes the button click... Not one person on earth can make a computer completely from scratch. And as smart as Thomas and the others are, I doubt they know how to make one either. So all that knowledge is essentially lost. Way to think ahead.


And like I said, there is no proper explanation for the stuff that has been plaguing readers since day one. All that build-up with flashbacks of Thomas' mom and tantalizing hints of Thomas and Teresa's relationship and we end up with diddly-squat. Nothing is resolved, not even the love triangle. Teresa's dying is cheap. Thomas doesn't have to decide and stays the aw-shucks good guy.

To this day, I still don't understand know how shoving Variable after Variable before Thomas and Co. is supposed to find the cure. Wicked mentioned it's to study their brain patterns, as per to how they react in different situations. However, as I understand it, immunity is coded in DNA and our genetic makeup. Studying behavioral reactions is in the field of psychology or neuroscience, and has nothing to do with why you have blond hair. Wicked should have been extracting bone marrow or blood instead conducting the Hunger Games 2.0. The way I see it, the author only did the Lord of the Flies thing to generate action and excitement. Entertainment factor over proper research/common sense; not your best decision.



Newt was the only thing tolerable about this book. He had a proper character arc, unlike poor Minho, who was shoved to the side and had nary an important scene. If only he'd had some impact on the ending. It sounds callous, but you took him out of the picture, the plot would still run exactly the same. Why give Thomas' close, personal friend the Flare, if not to make Thomas see what it does to people and he has to help find the cure?He was only there to generate a few tears (none were shed) and make Thomas into the hero again (and not a single fuck was given about our resident special snowflake).




On a slightly irrelevant and happier note, this is the first series in which I have written a review for every single installment.



I haven't felt this proud since I got my first troll. I'm a professional reviewer, Ma!

My review of The Kill Order
My review of The Maze Runner
My review of The Scorch Trials

[Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

”They told us they’d found Immunes, and if we could just figure out why their brains don’t succumb to the virus, why then the whole world would be saved! While in the meantime, cities crumble; education, security, medicine for every other malady known to man, charity, humanitarian aid – the whole world goes to pot so WICKED can do whatever they want to do.”

Thankfully I read this book before COVID-19 took over the world because I think right now I wouldn’t be able to stomach dystopian science fiction books like that. This said, let’s go to nicer things, or well, not necessarily nicer things but rather my not so nice review. ;-)

I’m really trying hard to be friendly here but everything I come up with when I think about “The Death Cure” is “HELL NO!” Which basically explains my feelings about this book in a nutshell. *lol* I gave James Dashner one last chance to turn the tide and as it seems he didn’t take it. >_< I really wish this book would have made more sense than the second one but the bitter truth is, it made even less sense than “The Scorch Trials”. So whilst the movie adaption had a central theme I unfortunately can’t say the same about the books.

The first book was great and I loved to read “The Maze Runner” but starting with the second book the series lost a lot of its appeal. If you ask me this is mostly due to the lack of plot, the rather unrealistic action scenes and last but not least the very stupid decisions of the MC. I mean, damn how dumb can you be? Why did he even stay in that coffee shop? Curiosity? Really??!!! ARGH! You gotta be kidding me!!! (Which, btw, seems to be my overall mood when it comes to this book ;-P) You’d think a boy like Thomas would know better than that. *shakes head*

Also where was the story line? I was desperately looking for one while I read the book but those characters were more random and indecisive than – than – wow I actually don’t even have a comparison. Okay, they were just random and indecisive, period. *lol* To read this was so chaotic because they decide for one thing and then do something completely different. This was heading nowhere and all I could do was wonder if they’d ever get somewhere in the end.

”Teresa, I’ve never made a secret of it – I don’t like you. But I want to hear what you think anyway.”

To be honest the only thing that helped me to continue “The Death Cure” was the characters. I still love Minho and I’ll always adore Newt! <333 Those two were just great and for their sake I would have wished this book to be better. Great characters will only get you so far though, so sadly not even their amazing triumvirate vibes with Thomas could safe this book for me.

”I’ve heard enough bloody arguments. I’m not getting on one of those beds.”
Minho reached over and squeezed Newt’s shoulder. “Me neither.”
“Same here,” Thomas said.

Funnily enough this last book and the third movie adaption actually had a few contact points in common. XD Regrettably this didn’t safe the book for me either. *lol* Neither did Teresa nor Brenda and Thomas holding hands whenever they could. (Are they in love now or not??!!!) And the ending? Don’t even get me started about that freaking ending! >_<

”I’m sorry, guys. I’m sorry. But I need you to listen to me. I’m getting worse by the hour and I don’t have many sane ones left. Please leave.”

WHY DID JAMES HAVE TO KILL OFF ONE OF THE BEST FREAKIN CHARACTERS OF THIS ENTIRE SERIES!!?? WHY DID NEWT HAVE TO DIE?! And this in such a cruel way as well! I’m not okay with this! And of course the movie and the book are on the same page when it comes to Newt! I mean WTH?! From book two on the books and the movies couldn’t be any more different and yet this is where they find common ground?!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!! AKDFASDFJASKLDFJASDFKLASJDFKL!

Conclusion:

In some ways this book wasn’t what I expected and in others it actually was. I still don’t have any answers and if anything all those question marks I took with me from book two only got even more prominent throughout the course of this final instalment. All told this leaves me with thousands of questions, no answers, illogical and incomprehensible actions of the MCs and a huge pile of frustration. Oh, and of course with my personal reversed motto of this series:
WICKED IS NO GOOD. ;-P (At least not for me...)
______________________________

My library just decided that I’ve to read this and I think I agree. *lol*
I really need to finish this series and it’s about time I read the final book.

I just hope that it won’t be as confusing as “The Scorch Trials” because quite honestly the movie made a whole lot more sense than the book and that says quite something. XD
At least it does coming from me. I’m usually the first one who’ll prefer books over movie adaptions. XD

Anyway! Please be better than book two, okay?
James Dashner, I’m giving you one last chance to turn the tide. ;-P

P.S: If this book ends like the movie I'll be pissed though. *lol*

[Morgan Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A message to everyone reading this review: Hi. It's nice to discuss The Death Cure with all of you. There is a smorgasbord of grammatical mistakes in my review, and as I look back on what I wrote, I find myself disagreeing... with myself. When I have time to re-read the Maze Runner trilogy and its prequel, I will review each book again, and hopefully I will do justice to what is indubitably one of the best cabin slash dystopian novels I've ever read. I'll still leave this review up, and if you'd like to leave a comment, I'd be happy to respond. PS, when I read my review earlier, I realized I sounded... um, let's say slightly immature... and I glossed over the ideas behind the story itself. I was once very attuned to the *characters* in a novel, but now find myself enjoying the beauty in the plot and philosophies of novels. So when I re-review this book, hopefully I'll sound less like a maniacal fangirl. Okay. That's about it for now. Enjoy. Spoilers are ahead.

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 I read the last few pages of The Death Cure, though it admittedly was tainted by a frown. The without-a-doubt epic saga concluded with death, and while expecting it to be this way, I did not want it. I did not want a "happy ending" for this story, because after all that Thomas and his friends had been through, there was no possible way for it to end happily. I just wish that the three main characters who died... didn't have to. Chuck, of course, died during The Maze Runner. He symbolized youth and innocence--2 things that *did* die inside the Gladers by the end of Book One--and it's hard to smile when youth and innocence die.
Newt and Teresa died in The Death Cure. Newt symbolized friendship and loyalty, even when the whole world went insane. His death did not have me producing tears, for it was a mercy, but he should not have had to die. Shame on WICKED, not on Dashner. Newt wouldn't have been so Gone had they not made him that way.
Teresa's death upset me. I couldn't "see" it coming, but I did feel it coming. I hated her as Thomas did when she betrayed him; loathed her as Thomas did when she tried to convince him that WICKED was good, and that she was sorry. But ultimately, as with Thomas, I forgave her... just in time for her to be crushed by the ceiling of Wicked as the Munies were escaping. Really, though, her death did not quite "surprise" me. Thomas gained closure regarding his previous best friend, and closure is only had in death, be it a metaphorical death or not.
I wanted none of them to die; they did. There is nothing more to say on this count.

The premise of The Death Cure can be defined in three words-- death, rebellion, and insanity. Looking at the Flare-ridden world for the first time, it hit home for both Thomas and myself that a cure was needed desperately, but not by WICKED's means. No "good" company dedicated to the preservation of mankind does everything it had done to the Gladers and Group B.
Besides, I think they were looking for a cure the wrong way (obviously). You can't torture a cure out of immune kids with memory loss--that just doesn't work. Really, the way for a cure to be discovered would be to examine the disease, and find a way for it to stop spreading and wreaking the horrific damage.
But on that note, the damage of the Flare confused me. A man-made disease based on controlling population suddenly turns into a pandemic that makes people become crazy zombies? It seems... unlikely.

And based on that hole in the plot, another one sprung out at me--why, exactly, were we readers told that the sun caused the Flare, and then have the information revealed that it was actually mankind? Was this "WICKED telling the kids and Thomas, which is how we know", or was it just poor writing? I sincerely hope it was the former.

Hey, by-the-by, how exactly did the sun flares fit into all this anyway? Like I just said, everything seemed sun-flare related, and then we were just told that Nope, sorry, we lied. Mankind did it all. Didn't mean to allude ya.

By the end, I felt like there were numerous plot holes and misgivings, and this was one of them.

Aside from the fact that I don't like plot holes, nor do I like characters I like dying, I did not like how it was essentially just Thomas in the third book. Minho (who I absolutely adored), Brenda (who I'm kind of mad at, because the epilogue revealed her to be a kind of traitor) and Jorge were there throughout the book, I guess, but it felt like they were moved to the sidelines a bit, you know?
I did not like the fact that Aris was only mentioned, what, four times total in the 'Cure? I did not like the fact that Group B suddenly vanished from the plot. I did not like Teresa's explanation for why they left the WICKED compound in the beginning sans Newt, Thomas and Minho--it made no sense. Also--uh, if lots of brain activity make the Flare get worse inside the killzone, then why, exactly, did Newt not go crazy in the first two books? The sun couldn't really activate it, since Newt had spent two weeks running a hundred miles in the Scorch to get to the safe-zone, and he didn't go crazy then. So how exactly *DID HE GO CRAZY?!* It was like "Hey, guess what, Newt, you've got the Flare", and only after this announcement, for no real reason, did Newt go crazy. What do you think--Plot hole? Or the doing of WICKED?

But I did like the book as a whole. James Dashner did a fantastically fantastic job of writing. He made me feel every single experience along with the characters, so that I hurt when they hurt, survived when they survived; I literally felt *everything* they felt, throughout all of the series, which made it so fantastic.

Because of the fact that I did not re-read the first two books before reading this one, I cannot say that I would feel towards The Death Cure what a person who did read all three in a row would feel. This was an excellent ending to the series, I think (again, I wanted happy endings for all, but hey, that just wasn't feasible), but this view could almost certainly be different for that person. I hope that those of you who read the three books in a row will appreciate them the way I do, but I can only hope for this.

Finally, I mention the irony of the title with the ending of the book. The note Chancellor Paige left to the members of WICKED finalizes the fact that yep, the world's going to hell, and there was no cure, so only the Munies can survive. (Though I am curious--there is bound to be hundreds more Munies left outside the hidden paradise Thomas and crew inhabit at the end of the Death Cure, so what happens to them? Could there possibly be a spin-off series relating somewhat to this, or to the eventual reunion between the Paradise Munies and the Wasteland Munies [because yeah, undoubtedly there'd be a reunion]?) Thus, the only cure for the Flare is death. Ha ha ha. Ah, irony, how we so love you.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmm.. where to begin...

First, the title: The Death Cure. A little misleading perhaps? I THINK SO!! There's NO cure. There's not even hope for a cure! Let's just all give up on our ridiculous plan to save the world that ended up having NO medical support at all! La de dah de dah!! The death cure my foot.

Second, this book really got me thinking.... why the heck is Thomas the almighty one? I don't know how old he is, but I'm just going to go out on a limb and guess 16ish... Okay, so stick with me on this one. Thomas is a young teenager who is immune to the flair. He works at WICKED because let's be honest, what major scientific/medical research facility doesn't hire young boys?? The Creators die somehow and for who knows what reason, Thomas and his equally young friend Teresa get to be in charge??? And are just the smartest leaders WICKED could have? What the? HE"S NOT THAT SMART!

Third, RIP Newt. But don't worry, Thomas will remember you every paragraph or so and his chest will ache or clench or whatever the heck it keeps doing.

Fourth, no one knows who Chancellor Paige is. Convenient of her to show up though.

Fifth, (are you getting tired of my counting?), I'm so glad we got to listen to Thomas complain about having no memories for the first two books and then when he finally gets the chance to get them back, he super wusses out and says no. LOVED that part. Totally ensured I'd get to read more of the stupid vague sentences that have no reward at all like "it reminded Thomas of a memory that he couldn't quite grasp," or "it frustrated him that he couldn't remember why this detail stuck out to him." Totally hooked me in with those show stoppers. (insert eye roll)

Sixth, lots and lots of death. The end has a fleeing scene similar to the first one and it's hard for me to imagine it being realistic. Over 500 people tried to escape and only 200 made it?? Come on, 300 people died? In a chapter where they're escaping nothing more than a crumbling building? Those are some very poor statistics.

Seventh, Peace out Teresa! You were replaced by Brenda....in the second book. You really had no other option but to be killed. No hard feelings.

The end.

[Zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

This shit HURT ME. I'm such an emotional mess right now ugh.



But all in all, I'd say I liked the movie version better. The movie was a lot more gripping.

[Charlotte May · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I don’t think there is a right or wrong any more...only horrible and not quite so horrible.”

I have loved rereading this series!
We rejoin Thomas and the gang after the horrors of the Scorch. WICKED say the trials are almost over - but how can they believe anything they say?
Thomas, Brenda and Jorge become separated from the rest of the group as they break out from WICKED. They make their way to Denver, a city managing to function as normally as possible, while scanning all new occupants for the flare in order to keep it out.
All the while WICKED are hunting them - they need Thomas, claim he is their ‘final candidate’. But what do they want him for?
This series is fantastic, as it really makes you question the term ‘the end justifies the means’. Does it actually? When so many are killed for this so called ‘end’. Very powerful stuff.
Battling cranks, meeting old characters, and so many more secrets and shocks - this was a great final instalment.
My only gripe would be I completely forgot they killed off Teresa right before they all escape to the safe land - that was a bit convenient, as it leaves Thomas and Brenda to pursue their relationship and therefore - no more love triangle.

“He almost wanted to laugh at the irony. They made him into a killer...to save people?”

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. . . I don't know what happened but I loved the first book. Liked the second well enough and then I don't know. I'm glad some of my friends loved it though =)

[~Tina~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speechless!

The Maze Runner was the first survival-dystopian book I've ever read and I can't express the pulse-pounding rush I get from this series and what brought other book of this genre come to life in my world.
The Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend...it all started with James Dashner and I'll forever be grateful for his ingenious story telling that is 100% pure adrenaline. It ignited a passion in me that will forever be craved.

The Death Cure is the finally conclusion to this heart-stopping world and I'm here to tell you that it's been one helluva ride!!

Now...I'm sure that with the ending we got that many people will feel either content with it or they may feel robbed.
Me? I guess I feel a little of both, but I think that's how we're meant to feel, cause that's how these characters feel. See, these books are designed to keep the reader in constant wonderment. We don't know who to trust (with a few exceptions) we don't know what's real and we don't know which way the story will turn no matter how much we think we've figured it out. The methods WICKED used were horrendous and when push comes to shove, meaningless. After all that tragic, all that pain and all that torture (for characters and readers alike) the final answer was indeed right before our eyes...and yet, I've never once, during this entire series thought about it. I was to focused on what was going on and to panicked with want for my favorite characters to survive that I never looked at the could-be-solution.
I was just waiting for the shucking cure!

With that said, I'm happy with the way this ended. In fact, I think it's the perfect ending. It's filled with action and answers. It leaves the characters and the readers exhausted and exhilarated, but most of all despite the lost and despair it leaves us with hope, and that my friend is always a note I like my reads to end with.

I've said this in my last two reviews so I might as well say it one last time. James Dashner is my hero! These books have been one of the most craziest, twisted and absolutely addicting books I've ever read and I can say this with a heavy heart... it will be tremendously missed.

Congrats to James Dashner on such an epic series. You put your readers and your characters through absolute hell mister! But I've never had such a blast reading a series from beginning to end.

Pure awesomesauce!

[Annalisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

How exactly did the wall convert into an entrance to the Flat Trans? I get that it was some form of liquid solid, but the fact that it opened up into a new place sounded more like magic than advanced science. How could this paradise be disconnected from the rest of the world? Couldn't they keep walking and end up in someplace overrun by Cranks? Couldn't the Cranks roaming around the earth eventually wander into them?

Also, what ever happened to the people in Maze B? Did they just head to the Maze A and save those people while forgetting all the people in the other maze? Why didn't they split up? Why didn't someone lament about the other maze and the hundreds of immunes dying there? It was dropped from the story. And it wasn't the only loose end I still had questions about. I liked that the conclusion to the trilogy wasn't a happily ever after. There wasn't an eleventh hour cure that was going to fix everything when the world was way past Gone, but I did feel like it happened too quickly without addressing all the loose ends.

And one last complaint that we discussed at my writing group. How come Thomas never got his memory back? We've been wondering what's in there since the beginning of Maze Runner. We've waited all this time to learn Thomas' involvement in Wicked and especially at the beginning of this book where he fought so hard against getting his memory back and Wicked fought so hard to give it to him. We were teased (from the very first book) with secrets and information to prove Wicked was good and find out who Thomas had been and how he's changed, but Dashner never came through.

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.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★☆ 2.5 stars.

Not bad but I expected sooo much more of the 'grand finale'...

[Lazaros · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly expected much more than this. It was utterly mediocre from the beginning to the unsatisfying ending. This series started off so good with the first book being amazing, but then the books kept deteriorating.

Loving certain characters and then having them getting on your nerves is more annoying than I had ever imagined. Most characters of this book, even those I liked in the first and second one, now I just found plain annoying. Well, for starters, I find it annoying that they didn't even want to help out in saving the human race, I hope they're satisfied with where they ended up being.

This book, felt like stalling. Honestly, minus some action scenes and the main storyline parts which where poor to the point of nonexistent, there wasn't anything of much importance. This book could have honestly been 50 pages long it wouldn't have made a difference.

Having characters running around with a no-brainer explanation and making them pigheaded, it was just frustrating. Thomas, Minho, Newt, they were all fools although I felt bad for one of them in the end but it wouldn't have made a difference.

The ending inspired a sense of doom, and it's one that is unpredictable, you can imagine a hundred different ways they could end up. Yes, oh yes, I came up with some nice ideas about hyenas creeping up on them, or dying by venomous spiders. Is my imagination running wild?

The only reason I gave this 2 stars is because I enjoy immensely the way Dashner writes, with his quirky dialogues, snarky comments and all. I just wish this author would come up with more rich and original storylines, because he really could be great.

Do I recommend this series? Well, the first one HELL YES, the second one HMM YES and the third one UGH NO. That about sums it up.

For some dystopia fans this could work, it didn't for me much as I wanted to.

[Neil Franz · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5

“As we tried to instill in each of our subjects over and over, WICKED is good.”

Yeah, WICKED is good. But this book is BAD. Actually, WORST!

Ridiculous plot. Bad ending/closure. Stupid main character. Unnecessary deaths. Emotionless. Ladies and gentlemen, The Death Cure.

Let's be honest here. I am so curious about this trilogy because well, I find it interesting in the first place, but I end up being disappointed and frustrated. After The Maze Runner, the sequels went down drastically. I found the plot appalling and ridiculous. I'm not buying it. And I really didn't get what I want regarding the plot. Or most probably, I have the Flare and it's eating my brain that I can't comprehend this book. Lol. Seriously, it wasn't fascinating. Duh.

Thomas is stupid. I hope he was the one who died and not *toot* and *toot* because he is stupid. Fuck you, Thomas!

If you thought The Scorch Trials is so random, think again. The Death Cure is the random-est of all. There are lots of deus ex fucking machina. There are lots of scene that I didn't find fitting or didn't connect with what is happening. They are really more like random throws to make the story line relevant and fascinating.

Don't get me started with character development because there is none. Oh! There's one, I found out that Newt is not immune to the Flare virus. What a surprise? Please. It's really trying hard.

And the worst is, I don't feel anything about this book. With those deaths and near-deaths, I am just there reading it like I'm reading an instruction manual with fistfight and running.

I appreciate the pacing since I didn't get bored. But, it is kinda manipulative. And it's not enough to redeem the whole mess.

*throw shades*

[benebean · Rating 2 out of 5]

*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.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

But man. That stupid part where Newt died. I knew it was coming but it still made my eyes tear up. Newt, I love you. And maybe I was being emotionally manipulated, but your death killed me. Why did you have to tell Tommy you hate him? What a terrible last memory. If Newt told me he hated me, I'd probably shoot myself, not him. That is how much I treasure his affection.

And could Brenda still working for WICKED be any more obvious? It got to the point where Thomas was actively ignoring the signs that she was playing them all. Apparently, all it takes is a few cheek-kisses for Thomas to be fooled. (So. Many. Cheek-kisses.)

And it doesn't help that Thomas is the least compelling protagonist to ever draw breath. To me, he just seems a little... slimy. I don't like him.

One last complaint. Dashner was really unsuccessful, at least for this reader, in describing action scenes. This was especially apparent toward the end, when there were some fights/brawls. Trying to picture what Character A was doing to Character B was so confusing. How can you simultaneously wrap your legs around someone's torso and pin their arms down with your knees? Sigh.

.........

Okay, I lied. I have more complaints.

The characters are so... juvenile. Their jokes aren't funny and Dashner never developed them into real live people; they only exist to react to plot events. And since the plot stopped making sense quite some time ago, maybe that's not the best strategy.

And I think there was a theme running through the book of gray morality, there are no "right" choices, etc. But I didn't feel that the author respected his audience (or his writing skills) enough to let that theme seep in through character choices and the problems they faced. Instead, there were multiple instances where a character would think or say, literally, "Things aren't black and white anymore!" Yeah, okay, we get it.


One good thing: ambiguous ending. Not going to expand on that for obvious reasons, but I would have been disappointed if everything was wrapped up with a cute little bow.

Thinking back, that was Dashner's (and the trilogy's) greatest strength. He wasn't afraid to hurt, emotionally traumatize, or even kill some of his best characters. So, for some younger readers, these books could be a revelation.

Final Verdict: I think this series would be (and obviously is, based on how many requests it has at my library) very enjoyable and exciting for kids, maybe ages 11-14. But it didn't work for me. The writing and world-building were too weak for me to like the Maze Runner series. But I think I would recommend it for its target age group.


PS. I put this on my "disturbing moments" shelf because, at one point, a chunk of rock falls on some people and crushes them and their blood trickles out from beneath the rock. That's linked to some traumatic childhood moments for me, most notably watching a Halloween episode of The Simpsons that I was really not prepared for. Bluhd!

[exploraDora · Rating 2 out of 5]

***3 stars***

Sadly, this book did little for me. It didn't answer any of my questions, left a lot unexplained, and was also not eventful enough!? I'm disappointed, to say the least.

[Kayla Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

MAN BIN ICH FROH, DASS ICH DAS HINTER MIR HABE ~

Weiß gar nicht wirklich, was ich dazu sagen soll.

Wieso gab es Brenda als Charakter? Wozu hat sie gedient, außer ein super überflüssiges dummes Liebesdreieck in die Story einzubauen? Sie war nicht mal ein toller Charaktere.
Und es macht auch einfach keinen Sinn, dass er am Ende mit ihr zusammen ist. Deshalb musste Teresa auch umgebracht werden, um sowas dämliches irgendwie zu rechtfertigen.

Und es ist einfach nichts neues ans Licht gekommen!! Alles was man jetzt weiß, hat man schon
im Laufe des ersten Bandes gecheckt. Aber man wurde in der Hoffnung gelassen, dass hinter dem allem noch irgendein riesiger Plottwist steckt. Der Masterplan. Dabei war alles nur ein Haufen Müll.

Zudem, aus der Sicht der Teenager ist es irgendwo nachvollziehbar, dass sie sauer auf Angst sind. Aber mal ehrlich, wie egoistisch ist es, sich nicht selbst, für die Menschheit opfern zu wollen? Nur damit der liebe kleine Thomas nicht sterben muss, sind ein paar andere Leute draufgegangen. Kein Problem.
Thomas war einfach immer unausstehlich. Macht auf Held, aber rettet eigentlich immer nur seinen eigenen Arsch. Und wieso zur Hölle, wollte Thomas sein Gedächtnis nicht zurück?? Das war einfach so super dämlich und unrealistisch 🤦🏻‍♀️

Newt war der einzige den ich leiden konnte, aber der musste dann natürlich sterben, damit das Buch dramatischer wird.

Ich bin einfach wütend, im ersten Band hat so viel Potential gesteckt und in den andern beiden ist einfach nichts mehr passiert.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another series finished for this year, #winning

The Death Cure

Ummm, where to begin?
This series was such a fast paced, roller coaster filled with amazing twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat, and short of breath most of the time! haha

I loved that the chapters were short and generally left on cliff-hangers!

I think the first book is still my favourite, but the action in all 3 books never lacked, amazing series, and I highly recommend it! Even if you're kind of resistant like I was! :)

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Sigh*

This was such a disappointment. It pains me to say that. It really, really does, because I loved the first two books, and thought that this series had huge potential. I was so excited to read this book, to find out what was going on... And then this? This is just... it?

So. Frustrating.

I just don't even know where to start. I thought that the concept of this series was fascinating. The mysteriousness, the everyone starts at One and figures it out as we go thing was great - I loved it, although I am sure many others didn't. The action, the confusion, the mistrust... all of that was great in the first two books, which had me chomping at the bit for the conclusion.

Well let me not keep you in suspense. It fell hard, like Wile E. Coyote right after he realizes he's been duped off a cliff... again. The resulting splat was flatter than a pancake.



The ONLY reason I'm giving this two stars and not an abysmal one star, is that it WAS still exciting to read, mostly, and I kept hoping against hope, as the remaining page count grew smaller and smaller, that there would be some redemption to this book, that the revelation at the end would knock me on my ass and leave me stunned and wondering just how I could not have seen it coming.

Alas, there was not and it did not.

This was just... fluff. Nothing but 325 pages of filler and then a fucking cop-out ending. This series should have been a slightly expanded duology. About 50 pages of this book should have been tacked onto The Scorch Trials along with a decent ending, and I'd have been thrilled. But this. Ugh. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't buy them.

The characters showed zero growth. Zero. And not only zero, but... negative. NEGATIVE GROWTH. OK, so... I'm going to assume that if you're reading this review, you've read at least through The Scorch Trials. So you know that Thomas, the main character, and his best friend Teresa, have 1) secrets about their past that tie into WICKED, meaning that they worked for WICKED and helped design the program and experiments, etc and 2) have had all of their memories of those secrets, their roles as mentioned above, and the rest of their pasts, wiped. They know their names, but other than that, they're basically operating on instinct and feelings. They've determined that WICKED has been experimenting on all of the Gladers in order to find a cure for a disease that is running rampant on Earth, turning people into raging, cannibalistic psychopaths.

So... No-Memory Thomas doesn't trust WICKED, and wants to get away from them and stop them from experimenting on people... 'Cause it's all mean and they lied and stuff. (Seriously, that's pretty much his reasoning.) Given the chance to get his memories back, to remember exactly what WICKED is, and what its goal is, HOW HE CAN STOP IT USING INSIDER INFORMATION THAT HE WOULD HAVE BECAUSE HE EFFING DESIGNED THE SHIT, he decides he doesn't want them back. "Nope. No thanks, I'm good," says he.

But OK. I can get the logic of not wanting people he mistrusted to muck around in his head anymore. OK. I can go with that. So... when a person he is willing to trust is given the OK to muck around in his head, he STILL DOESN'T WANT THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS MEMORIES.

Are you fucking KIDDING ME? >_<



I do not get the logic... and this is where this book started to abide by the laws of gravity, being no longer held up by the suspension of my disbelief. Oh, I disbelieved a LOT. Better believe it. If your whole goal is to figure out what's going on and stop it from happening to other people, and you're given a huge huge huge asset like the kind I just mentioned, you don't say, "Nah, I'm good. I'll just go it alone, in the dark, with a trail of breadcrumbs and a feeling." You take the fucking advantage and USE IT.

But then, my next question is, WHY is he so absolutely positive that WICKED isn't doing exactly what they say that they are doing? We do animal and human testing ALL THE TIME. If, theoretically, there was a virus or disease or whatever that affected peoples' minds, escalated in times of stress, I would WANT someone to try to find a way to stop it. Experimentation might be cruel, inhumane even, but if it helps in a big picture sense, is it not worth it? WICKED wasn't even able to complete a full round of experiments to see if they could do it.

Fucking illogical. Call me cold-blooded, but this shit is just a cop-out. It was like Dashner ran out of people he was willing to kill off, so just pulled the plug.

Ugh. UGH. I'm getting more and more pissed off the longer I type, so I'll make the rest of this short and sweet.

This book was a disappointment, a massive logic fail, and had a weak, unsatisfying cop-out ending. One hopes that with a handful of monkeys, writing for about a week, the resulting manuscript would contain a better resolution.

Yeah. Screw it. I'm giving it one star. I'm just mad. Wanna fight about it?

[Tucker Almengor · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars
Do you want answers? Finally? Have you pressed through so many words to find some sense of meaning? Too bad.

I originally almost dnfed the first book because I wasn't getting answers. I know, I know. That's the point sometimes, your not supposed to know stuff. Knowing this, I pressed onward. I expected answers in this book.

But No!! We get no answers!! None! Come on, Dashner! You're driving me crazy!!!!!

I'm not sure if I'll read the prequel or not.

Bottom Line:
2.5 Stars: Just as confusing as the first two.. No answers at all
Age Recommendation: 13+ (Violence, Brief Kissing)

P.S. The ending sentence... They say that WICKED is good... But is it? No!

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[Sita · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 his female characters. It was all fluff and cardboard. Teresa particularly was a cardboard cut out of a pretty young girl. That's it. She never developed into a real character.

The other large problem was that his protagonist Tom is a weeny. Throughout the book he is erratic in his ability to take the lead which he often does not do despite the hints that he IS suppose to be the leader. And at the end AFTER he himself says he failed his friend Newt, even upon being given a second chance, poor Newt has to SCREAM at him, begging for him to take care of the problem before he does it. Is this boy ever gonna MAN UP? Seriously. I guess we won't know because it ended with him being ushered to the next place by a girl with a secret, a secret he was too dumb to ever guess or figure out because he just wanted to be a wimp with his head in the freaking sand.

I really wanted to like the series because I loved the concept, I suppose this was why I trudged on. But honestly, it was, meh. Mostly a disappointment.

[Kath · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Bradley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This review has spoilers so heads up.

The series was a fun read (until the end when you realize you've been had). Obviously it is non-stop action from start to finish and James Dashner does a great job of that. I also really liked that the author doesn't shy away from violence which can sometimes take away from a teen book.

HOWEVER, all of the above is pointless if the author doesn't EXPLAIN ANYTHING! Did you hope to find out what Thomas' memories were? Too bad. Did you want to know why Thomas, Theresa, and Aris were the only ones with telephathy? Nope, not gonna happen in this book! Did you want to know anything else? Maybe what happens to certain characters? TOO BAD.

The idea that this HUGE, elaborate, deadly maze where kids lived for years was required to find a cure for a virus is just too far-fetched. That the kids were sent out into a zombie ridden, desert wasteland where there were an infinite number of uncontrolled variables and they all could have died at any moment - unbelievable. That ALL of this was to create a 'blueprint' for making a cure for the virus? No no no. Sure each individual idea is fun and exciting and imaginative....but I think it was all a bit over the top...

In the end it turns out that 200 people who weren't even part of the Trials just waltz through a magic screen to paradise. Nope, these weren't even the strongest individuals who had survived the Trials, they were people captured by the Right Hand, thrown into a room, then thrown into a maze, and then led by Thomas into a magical paradise where they can all reproduce...


Trilogy fail.

P.S. I loved Newt and his story. It's things like that which are redeeming. There are certainly great moments within each book, but taken as a whole it just didn't work. I devoured each book in a matter of hours so if you're just looking for a fun read then have at it. Just don't expect it to make sense.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever experienced something spectacular, only to look back on it and think "wait a second... why did I like that so much?" That roller coaster or spicy Thai food you loved but then caused you to suffer serious stomach aches? That's how I feel about The Death Cure and the Maze Runner series.

Just like the first two books in the series The Death Cure delivers a fast-paced story filled with adrenaline-inducing action sequences and thrilling twists. While Dashner's writing isn't beautiful, it possesses an exciting energy that sucks the reader in and doesn't let them go. The sheer suspense of the series kept me content despite other issues that arose. Until this book.

For those who have read The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials, you probably know that there were a lot of questions that needed to be addressed in this novel. The first two books in the series acted as an action-packed snowball that gathered unaddressed plot issues as it rolled down the hill of total exhilaration. To me, this third book was supposed to be when the snowball finally hit a huge brick wall, sending all of its fluff flying and revealing its true core. But it didn't exactly live up to that expectation - everything felt too nice and neat, sort of like if the snowball simply melted instead of erupting like a volcano.

I also would've preferred if Thomas reflected on what had happened to him instead of just accepting it and moving on. A little more introspection would've been nice - what has he learned from being tortured and manipulated by this evil group of people? How will it influence his actions in the future? I wanted Thomas to grow tremendously throughout this series, but especially in this book because he finally learns the truth about his life. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, at least not to the level that would've earned this book five stars.

However, you can tell by my solid rating that I liked the book overall. Maybe I'm biased because of the main character's name or because this series as a whole impressed me, but, I gave The Death Cure a much higher rating than I'm sure many other people would. I could just be a nice guy.

I recommend the Maze Runner series if you're searching for exciting and somewhat mindless entertainment. It didn't change me or make me think extraordinarily hard, but it provided me with a gripping plot that had me eagerly awaiting each and every book.

*cross-posted from my blog, the quiet voice.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a stand alone book it may have been 3 stars.

But this is the final book of a series so it should bring things to a close with a bang. This did not.

It was just a confused jumble of scenes with no continuity and no real closure. You figure that all the mysteries of the first couple of books will be solved or explained. They were not.

Every element of this series is the Polar Bear from the TV series Lost - weird and suddenly there, but never explained.

As a whole, a mediocre series with a pretty decent middle, but a flat and disjointed resolution.

[Tony Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿El fin justifica los medios?

¿CRUEL es bueno?

El tan esperado final de la aclamada saga de EL Corredor del Laberinto me ha dejado con más preguntas que respuestas, debo decir que fue un libro emocionante, lleno de suspenso y acción, durante gran parte del libro me preguntaba si todo era otra maquinación más de CRUEL, una prueba más, me quedo la incógnita de cuanto estuvo bajo su control, hay momentos muy tristes y otros que me parecieron algo de relleno, el final no me agrado mucho, pero la saga en general me gusto, como Thomas va madurando con cada libro, como Minho siempre se las ingenia y me hace reír, y especialmente el personaje de Newt y su forma de ser.

A pesar de ser una saga juvenil tiene cierta profundidad, para mí todo se trata de si efectivamente ¿El fin justifica los medios? ¿CRUEL es bueno? Acá se puede debatir bastante, por un lado tenemos este mundo caótico donde La llamarada está acabando con casi toda la humanidad, y tenemos también esta organización CRUEL dispuesta a hacer cualquier cosa para hallar una cura.

Personalmente no creo que CRUEL sea bueno o malo, CRUEL es cruel, de eso no hay duda, pero también CRUEL tiene buenas intenciones… entonces… terminare citando el viejo adagio Las buenas intenciones son el camino al infierno.