Even though I just finished The Death Cure yesterday, it's hard for me to remember the sequence of events. These books are action packed, but also kind of repetitive.
Thomas and his friends are at the WICKED headquarters, and now WICKED (and the evil Rat Man) want to restore all their memories. They have used these kids to collect data to find a cure for the Flare, and now they are finished and want the kids to help with the final design of the cure.
Thomas and some others (Minho and Newt) don't trust WICKED (should they ever?) and decide to escape. So they get away, and they find some more stuff out about WICKED and the Flare and they end up going back, and then they escape, and then they go back, and then they escape....Oh, sorry, I got carried away there.
You see, The Death Cure felt like "more of the same." I've lost my appreciation for the originality of these stories. I wanted to find out what happened, but while the details might not have been predicted, it still felt predicable. I think I'm just tired of this struggle and wanted it to be over.
One big thing that bothered me was that there was such a dilemma about whether to get you memories back or not. Thomas, Minho and Newt chose not to. The others had this procedure. But when they meet up later, this is barely mentioned, and the fact that these kids have their old memories back doesn't seem to matter. It isn't an issue, and it's almost never mentioned again.
We do find out what happened to some old characters. I like the fact that even at the end of The Death Cure, we still don't know the motives of some of the characters. How much were they involved with WICKED?
The writing in The Death Cure is easily accessible, and the action never stops. I would still recommend this series to my teens. The first book (The Maze Runner) is by far the best, but you can't not read the other two once you are invested. (The second book is The Scorch Trials.) And they are quick and exciting reads that both boys and girls will enjoy.
Published by Delacorte BFYR, 2011
Copy obtained from the library
336 pages
Rating: 3/5
I have to agree, some of the action in this book (and in the series for that matter) can be a bit repetitive. So can the back and forth trust and mistrust between characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think The Maze Runner is the strongest book, with the sequels being less impressive narratively, though still fun. I will always have a soft spot for this series, even if it's not perfect. I've seen this book become a gateway for reluctant readers (guys and girls) to more sophisticated sci-fi/dystopians, so it's always a surefire recommendation from me. Amazing review! :-)
I didn't really like any of the three of these books...I'm not sure why I even got this far in the series. The first one was by far the strongest, but I was hoping for some plot development in the second - and that simply didn't happen. The books are entirely action action action and it gets boring and repetitive, as you said.
ReplyDeleteNice blog. As a librarian you might be interested in the word play involved in cryptic crosswords. I am doing a series of posts on solving cryptic clues. This was the first one I did.
ReplyDeleteMarlene Detierro (Seward Alaska Fishing)