The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials Review

by Nick G and Carson R

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner was  a very engrossing dystopian that most people would enjoy. It was an action-packed book that keeps you flipping the pages. A group of teenagers, known as the Gladers, are put to the test by a group of people in the program WICKED in the ultimate test for survival. The scorch trials opens with the teenagers being in their dormitorium back on earth, where they see people who caught a virus, known as the flare, outside screaming at them. These people are known as cranks and the world around them has turned into a complete desert. The teenagers all have been given the flare Virus and they have to make it through the city of cranks and across the desert alive in two weeks in order to get a cure for the virus or they will all die.

The main character, Thomas, is an ambitious worker who is the leader of the Gladers    with the help of Newt. Thomas has a special power where he can telepathically talk to a girl named Teresa in the other group of Gladers. On their trip they meet up with two cranks named Jorge and Brenda who help them navigate throughout the city to ensure their safety in exchange for the cure to the virus. My favorite character was Minho though because I liked how he was tough minded but could be funny, and how he would never persevere. My least favorite character was A.D Janson, also known as rat man because the Gladers thought his face looked like a rat. He was the person who told them the information about the cure but not enough information that they knew exactly what they had to get done. Throughout the book, he was perceived as a bad person due to the Gladers opinion of him, influencing my own opinion.

The Scorch Trials had many strengths, including the fact that it was full of action without many dull spots. The book was very detailed, allowing me to picture what was happening in the book. What makes The Scorch Trials stand out from other books is that it is not confusing and is easy to follow. Unfortunately, this book had weaknesses as well, many characters were not explained thoroughly, leaving the reader confused at the end. When the action parts occurred, it was repetitive especially early on. I would recommend adding more information about the girls Glader tribe and their jobs. Due to the fact that tribe at the end had more people still alive, I think the book could improve if they would focus on the girls trip for a while to better understand their perspective. I would recommend The Scorch Trials to someone who enjoys action and dystopian books and loves to read for a long period of time because this book will be hard to put down.