The Death Cure by James Dashner

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

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.

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