The Death Cure by James Dashner - Restarting March 17th 2017

[Tayla]

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.

join jen and I

[Adrienne]

I'm going to get a copy of this sometime in the next few days, I'd love to join you guys. :)

[Tayla]

Sweet!

[Tayla]

tomorrow?

[Adrienne]

it's already April 22 here in my country lol. i've been reading a few chapters. (view spoiler)[I've just gotten to the part where the virus has spread. (hide spoiler)] ended at chapter 11

[Adrienne]

I'm at 33% in. Hmm. This isn't nearly as exciting as The Maze Runner :(

[jenna]

i'm only up to page 18 and i'm finding it really hard to get through. it just feels weird with the new characters and how we know nothing about them

[Adrienne]

jenna wrote: "i'm only up to page 18 and i'm finding it really hard to get through. it just feels weird with the new characters and how we know nothing about them"

ikr? the MC is nothing like Thomas. and there's no character like Minho which is such a shame :(

[jenna]

It sucks, like I feel as of with tmr we got more properly introduced to the characters but with tko these characters kind of just got thrown at us.

I hope this book improves as I read it and we have more character development.

And yes oh my god I love minho I hope there's someone like him in this book and you're right, mark is nothing compared to thomas.

[Adrienne]

jenna wrote: "It sucks, like I feel as of with tmr we got more properly introduced to the characters but with tko these characters kind of just got thrown at us.

I hope this book improves as I read it and we ha..."

same thoughts! the characters here are so bland... I felt no connection to them. they were just MEH. how far are you in the story?

[jenna]

exactly, and that makes it so hard to connect to the characters and get through the story.

i'm up to chapter 11 what about you?

[Adrienne]

plus there's this romance thing with mark and trina that i didn't like. relationships should be the least of their priorities while living in a destroyed world, right?

i'm already finished with it. i got distracted a lot of times while reading though

[jenna]

oh god no, was it more than like thomas with teresa/brenda or less?

and really? oh wow i'm getting too distracted whilst reading it and im finding it so hard to get through. the books in the trilogy were so easy to get through bc amazing but this, yeah its not living up to what i expected it to be.

[Adrienne]

er, less maybe? mark cares more for trina than than trina cares for mark. both teresa and brenda cared A LOT about thomas.

i got through the book mostly because i just skimmed the pages lol. it really is a disappointment! the trilogy had many great action scenes and this book has them too but not nearly as great. :(

[Tayla]

Starting tonight! Sorry for the delat

[jenna]

37%

it's not very good tbh. i feel as if james just rushed into it. we have no background information of none of the characters and we just automatically go on their journey. also things are happening way too fast for me right now like something will happen and the next minute something else will and its just losing me and making my mind go all over the place.

with the maze runner, james wrote it better bc even tho we knew nothing about the characters, we learnt as thomas learnt and they didn't straight away rush into the dangerous parts as soon as he entered the glade.

[Adrienne]

I think he was just focused on showing just how chaotic the world had become after the solar flares struck.

[jenna]

yeah same, but idk i was expecting the prequel to be about thomas and teresa or how wicked started and about the boys lives aka minho, newt, gally, chuck, etc. and how from young they completed tests and went into the maze and yeah idk i think that would of been more interesting.

[Adrienne]

that would've been AMAZING actually. I've always wondered about thomas's past and what made him and teresa so eager to help WICKED. I was so disappointed when i finished the 3rd book and the author didn't clear up any of the questions I had regarding their lives before the maze

[jenna]

same actually, when i was reading the end of the death cure i'm just like 'is this it? but what about the world? just bc wicked ends the world is still going through this traumatising time. what happens?

[Tayla]

32% the thing that scares me the most is that this could totally happen

[Adrienne]

@Jenna yeah it was, like, in the death cure the author just suddenly came to the end of his imagination. he found a convenient ending for thomas, brenda and the others but we don't know what happens to the rest of the world and if their new home was only temporary. it didn't feel like the finale to the series

@Tayla ikr? it's not just a fictional story, it's a possible future for all of us

[jenna]

@tayla
@adrienne

yeah i agree, like its actually something that could happen to us in the future and thats whats scary that even though it's dystopian, this could actually happen

[jenna]

i'm at 86% (chapter 58)

i didnt like it at first but now i like it. it's not like the trilogy where it kept me up until 3am because i just had to find out what happens but yeah i am liking reading this. i've adjusted to the new characters and it was interesting to see (view spoiler)[ mark and alec looking for trina, lana and deedee (hide spoiler)]. i'm liking it right now and im hoping i can finish it today (i probably will bc theres around 50 pages left)

[Tayla]

After reading what you guys think I find it to be the opposite. I agree that there is no character development yet but with these flashbacks we kind of get them.

Idk I love Alex/Alec? He's my favorite.

I'm at 57% and am about to start again. I am interested in the plot but I am confused why it's part of the maze runner series.

I hope they connect at the end.

[jenna]

I agree, there isn't any character development and i hate it but i guess i've kind of attached to the characters because we've seen what they go through which is like what happened when Thomas woke up in the box.

I think it's Alec bc thats how James spelt it in the book and yeah he's my favourite too.

I don't know why, but i can imagine Trina as like a spitting image of Teresa and i can imagine Alec as Minho but not as much as Trina and Teresa.

I also think it's part of the maze runner series to show us what life was like when the flares started, it is part of the series bc it's a prequel but yeah. I really hope something about Thomas or the group aka Minho, Newt and Teresa or even Wicked gets mentioned in the actual book, not just the prologue or epilogue.

[jenna]

okay i just finished and here are my thoughts

(view spoiler)[ what the fuck was that? it just ended like that. what happens to Trina and Deedee? Did Mark make it back to the berg? What happened to Alec?

And the epilogue pissed me off. i'm so confused right now. Is the mother of Thomas Trina or something or is it a person that hasn't been named. i'm so confused wow. This book just opened up a whole lot of new questions and i just, ugh. (hide spoiler)]

[Adrienne]

jenna wrote: "okay i just finished and here are my thoughts

what the fuck was that? it just ended like that. what happens to Trina and Deedee? Did Mark make it back to the berg? What happened to Alec?

And the..."

lol been there. (view spoiler)[the ending didn't really clear anything up, which is why I only rated it 2 stars. plus I have this bad feeling that alec went cuckoo, trina and mark died or something, and only deedee was guaranteed shelter and safety. very forlorn. (hide spoiler)]

[jenna]

i was looking online to try and find out things about this book and this is what i found out

(view spoiler)[ Apparently in a chapter of the barnes and noble version they say that Deedee is really Teresa. I have no idea why it's not in all copies of TKO because that is actually an important feature. In this chapter they also say how Thomas and Teresa met, and how Teresa was talking about how shes known Wicked since she was a child and that her old name was Deedee. Im annoyed that that chapter wasn't in my book bc it actually has vital information. (hide spoiler)]

[Adrienne]

(view spoiler)[what? how could they have left that part out? that's crucial! and it explains this book's connection to the series... (hide spoiler)]

[jenna]

(view spoiler)[ i don't even know, i found it so stupid how it's only in the barnes and noble edition especially how, as you said, it's a crucial point that ties the prequel to the series (hide spoiler)]

[Adrienne]

(view spoiler)[it's also unfair for people who like to buy on amazon or other bookstores that that crucial info is only in the barnes and noble edition. it's a cruel sort of marketing scheme. I'm glad you did more research on the ending :) (hide spoiler)]

[jenna]

(view spoiler)[ exactly it's not fair on people that have editions without this chapter. And yeah hahaha there were so many unanswered questions and i knew this story had to be linked to the series somehow so i just researched it hahaha :) (hide spoiler)]

[Tayla]

Okay just finished! I'm in bed and on my phone but I'll check the spoils in the morning

[Noella]

===== Restarting 24th March 2015 =====

[Marla]

I like listening to this book.

But I don't really know what is going on...

It seems like a lot of the book thus far is moving and fighting against crazies and fighting and repeat.

[Marla]

Finished. No one came to buddy read with me :(

I really liked Alec, but I wasn't really attached or even very fond of anyone else.

(view spoiler)[ I think DeeDee was Teresa. But it still didn't explain why Teresa and Thomas could communicate telepathically. And what purpose did the Maze serve anyway? (hide spoiler)]

[Abi]

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Reading on the 17th of May 2015.

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[Victoria]

Everyone ready to start this? :)

[Noella]

Yes I'll start in a few hours!

[Noella]

Chapter 6
(view spoiler)[oh no, what are they infecting the people with? I like how this book feels different from maze runner since there are adult figures (Alex and Lana). I'm not sure what Alex and Mark will do on the berg as a two man army (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

Chapter 16
(view spoiler)[The way Toad acted was so freaky! (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

Chapter 27
(view spoiler)[Don't tell me Alex and Mark have separated from Trina and the others! This is not looking good (hide spoiler)]

[Victoria]

Hopefully I can start this this weekend. My dad was in hospital, so I've had hardly any time to read. He's okay, don't worry! But just a bit stressful :)

[Noella]

Aw, Hope he has a speedy recovery :)

[Marla]

Can I discuss with you? No one buddy read with me last month.

[Noella]

Marla wrote: "Can I discuss with you? No one buddy read with me last month."

Of course Marla sorry I abandoned it last month!

[Noella]

Marla wrote: "I like listening to this book.

But I don't really know what is going on...

It seems like a lot of the book thus far is moving and fighting against crazies and fighting and repeat."

yes it does seem like that is what's happening.

[Noella]

Chapter 43
(view spoiler)[ Mark's got the flare... It's making him act strange. (hide spoiler)]

[Noella]

Chapter 58
(view spoiler)[it's bloody creepy how the people are talking to DeeDee like she's a piece of meat. This is starting to feel like a zombie apocalypse. Why did the crazies listen to Trina in the first place?! (hide spoiler)]