"The Kill Order" by James Dashner

The Kill Order is the prequel  to the amazing The Maze Runner Trilogy. This book shows us what the world was like before Thomas, WICKED, and the Maze were even in existence. We got to experience the world as the sun flares hit and the disease broke out. I loved it just as much as the trilogy. 

Mark was having dreams about the first day the world fell apart. It was just like any normal day, he and his best friend Trina were taking the New York sub way train home. Until the train abruptly stopped, the lights went out and their cell phones weren't working. They tried to remain calm, but the people around began to panic. Once emergency lights triggered people started moving, he and Trina decided to go the opposite way of everyone else. They headed towards the stair way, when they felt it. The extreme heat, and the smell of burning flesh. Then he saw them. The burning, practically melting bodies. They had tried to make it down the stairs. Something bad had definitely happened up above. Mark and Trina turned around walking back a different way. People in panic, fights were already breaking out over food and flashlights people had happened to have.  How long would they need to stay down here? What happened? Marks thoughts went to his family. Where were they when this happened? His little sister. His poor little sister. He hoped she was okay. He used to spend a lot of time in the sub way tunnels, so he kind of knew where they were. Then some one started tailing them. Hiding in the shadows. Who was it? What'd they want? Mark and Trina had to get out, get above ground. Was there some way to get above ground without burning? With this heat the ice caps would be melting, making the water levels rise. These tunnels would be flooded and underwater in a matter of hours. They had to move.

As you read the book you see the intensity in which people will do any ANYTHING to survive. We learn what really caused the Flare, and how the immunes were found. The whole book, from beginning to end was simply thrilling. I am the biggest James Dashner fan now. Or as his fan base calls themselves, I am a Dashnerd. The Maze Runner Trilogy is a must read!     

                                                                                                                                    Rating 5 out of 5! 

"Scorch Trials" by James Dashner

 

Warning: This is the second book in the "Maze Runner" trilogy. If you haven't read the first book, you may not want to read this.

 The Scorch Trials by James Dashner was just as nerve wracking as the first book I loved it just as much. The unbelievable twists. The new characters brought into it. Everything.

Thomas and the other gladers may have escaped the maze, but their new predicament isn't much better. They met some of the people who supervised the maze, only to get rescued shortly after. Except...the rescue was staged. Their rescuers were still part of WICKED. They just wanted to see their reaction through killzone patterns. They were left with instructions. They had all been infected with the Flare. They had two weeks to get to the set location or they would die. They needed the cure. They had no weapons, and little supplies. They had to face the real world now, in of which many cases was much worse then the maze had been. Some of them would do anything to remember the past, but others don't want to remember what they had lost. Will they be able to reach the set location in time? How many troubles would they encounter? Would all of their questions be answered, or would they find out there were still plenty of secrets hidden from them?

This book in my opinion was phenomenal! Dashner really drags you into the gladers world. Just like the first book, if the gladers got scared, I got scared for them too. You definitely have to read it, but don't start it right before bed otherwise you won't be sleeping that night. You'll read it until it's finished. Simply racing through the pages. Then you'll be there sitting trying to recap on all the craziness you just read. Love, love, love this trilgoy!

                                                                                                                                                                Rating 5 out of 5.

"Maze Runner" by James Dashner

The Maze Runner  became not only my favorite book, but my favorite trilogy. It is one of the most well written YA novel. It's filled with suspense from beginning to end. Don't make the mistake of starting it right before bed time. I did, and I didn't sleep til it was over. It's not a first person perspective book like I love, but it didn't matter it was so detailed. I, personally, was afraid for the characters in the book.

 Thomas wakes up in an elevator shaft with no memories besides his first name. He has remembers how to do certain things, but he has know idea who taught him. The elevator stops and the roof of it opens up. There he discovers the gladers. They're all boys ages 13-18. They've been showing up here for the past two years with no exact memories, just like Thomas. It originally started with a group boys waking up here, then once a week supplies got sent up the elevator and once a month a new boy came. Unfortunately, most of the boys from the original group weren't alive anymore. There's a rock wall that goes around the glade, each night the doors shut keeping the gladers safe from the creatures that live in the Maze. Thomas is quickly brought up too speed. The Maze is like a giant puzzle, the walls move each day creating different patterns. If they can figure the Maze out, they think they can escape and get back to wherever they are originally from, however; they have been trying for the past two years with no avail. Only those nominated as runners are allowed to leave the glade and explore the Maze. If they don't make it back before the doors close around the glade, they don't live through the night. A few days after Thomas is there, an alarm sounds. he has no idea what it means til one of the guys explain it to him. The alarm goes off when a new glader is coming up through the elevator. The fact that the alarm is going off now unnerves everyone because it's only gone off once every month since they first got to the Glade. What comes out of the elevator unnerves everyone more. It appears to be a dead girl, with a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand. The rules of the Glade, and the Maze are about to change forever. Will they get out in time?

                
This was honestly one of the most nerve racking books I had ever read. The law of "main characters can't die", doesn't apply in this book or the two books after it. I was constantly like oh no, whats going to happen next. Will this person die or will that one? You can't help but get attached to a lot of the characters. You had Thomas as the main one, but he was always with these other people. They all worked as a team, and the not knowing of if they would live, totally got to me. I thought The Maze Runner Trilogy as a whole was brilliant even if my heart got ripped out at certain parts.


                                                                                                                                                                Rating 5 out of 5.