I’m keeping track of every book I read this year, month by month.
Just in case anyone does fancy reading something I’ve mentioned, I’m giving details of the books (no more of a spoiler than you’d read on the blurb) and a rating. My rating system is 1 – 5:
- 1 Awful, the writer should be banished to a far away land
- 2 Poor, I didn’t die of boredom but it was a struggle to reach the end
- 3 Average, fine but I’ll have forgotten about it in a year
- 4 Good, I enjoyed this
- 5 Excellent, hot damn this is a great book and the writer should be knighted
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June’s Books
Warning: If you haven’t read these books then don’t look past this first review – I can’t talk about the others without giving stuff away about the first!
Title(s): The Maze Runner – by James Dashner [This is book 1 of The Maze Runner set]
Category: Fiction: Dystopian, Teen/Young Adult
About: Thomas has no memory other than his first name, when he wakes up in a lift. The lift opens into ‘the Glade’ where a bunch of boys have been living in a maze that holds some terrible creatures.
My Rating: 3.5 Average, but the better side of average.
I’d wanted to read these books for a while, so when they were on offer for £10 for the set, I snapped them up. I’ll stick to specifically this one, as I’ve yet to review the others.
So the premise was a good one, I thought: bunch of kids trapped in a scary maze, don’t know why and need to escape. However, parts of the plot were sloppy and I found the writing a bit immature.
Still, it kept me interested enough to stick with it I suppose. However, the end (which felt rushed after the build up) disappointed me.
Read this if you like: The Hunger Games (series), Divergent (series)
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Title(s): The Scorch Trials by James Dashner [Book 2 of The Maze Runner set]
Category: Fiction: Dystopian, Teen/Young Adult
About: As loath as I am to post spoilers, if we’re on book 2 then I think we all agree that they got out of the maze in book 1, yes? Plus, it also says that on the back of the book… plusplus I did give ample warning.
So, Thomas thinks that escaping from the maze means it’s all over… well, not really. Now the guys have to navigate their way across a wasteland known as ‘The Scorch’ before time runs out and they succumb to a disease called ‘The Flare’ which basically rots your brain and sends you mad.
My Rating: 3, Average
Eh… where do I start with this. I get that they had to move the story along but essentially this is just the previous book in a different setting. I didn’t care too much about the characters if I’m honest and the new ones introduced held little interest for me too. As for the relationship between Thomas and Teresa… was I the only one who willed them to stay enemies?!
Read this if you like: See above.
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Title(s): The Scorch Trials by James Dashner [Book 2 of The Maze Runner set]
Category: Fiction: Dystopian, Teen/Young Adult
About: As loath as I am to post spoilers, if we’re on book 2 then I think we all agree that they got out of the maze in book 1, yes? Plus, it also says that on the back of the book… plusplus I did give ample warning.
So, Thomas thinks that escaping from the maze means it’s all over… well, not really. Now the guys have to navigate their way across a wasteland known as ‘The Scorch’ before time runs out and they succumb to a disease called ‘The Flare’ which basically rots your brain and sends you mad.
My Rating: 3, Average
Eh… where do I start with this. I get that they had to move the story along but essentially this is just the previous book in a different setting. I didn’t care too much about the characters if I’m honest and the new ones introduced held little interest for me too. As for the relationship between Thomas and Teresa… was I the only one who willed them to stay enemies?!
Read this if you like: See above.
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Title(s): The Death Cure by James Dashner [Book 3 of The Maze Runner set]
Category: Fiction: Dystopian, Teen/Young Adult
About: No more Trials, hurrah! Thomas remembers that WICKED can’t be trusted… oh dear. This book revolves around the remaining Gladers desperately trying to discover the cure for The Flare, stop the world from succumbing to the disease and find out what WICKED are really all about.
My Rating: 2.5, Poor, but I finished it.
A horribly anti-climactic end after a two book build up. I won’t spoil the end for you but I thought there’d be some kind of big reveal about Thomas, Teresa and WICKED and, well there’s just not, really. The whole premise now seems convoluted and a explanations are just brushed under the carpet.
As for the Thomas and Teresa ‘will they, won’t they’ thing… WHO CARES?! I found the pair of them annoying and self-righteous.
Read this if you like: See above.
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Until next time. See you in August for July’s reads.
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