Book Review of the Week

"The Death Cure" created my self-proclaimed "book enemy"

Rating: 3.6/5

I was lucky enough to have grown up just under the wire of the early 2010’s dystopian era. While on the young side, I was still able to read, and mostly understand, 2010’s YA dystopian novels that swept the nation, including “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent.” However, one big series seemed to escape my grasp: “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner. 

I read the first in the series, “The Maze Runner,” back in 2023. I enjoyed the book, but I decided to put the series on hold while I finished other books in my to-be-read list. This summer, however, I decided I was going to finish it. The other two books had been waiting patiently for too long. 

I read “The Scorch Trials” and was disappointed to say the least. However, I shrugged and kept chugging, as many second books, in my opinion, seem to fall short of the first.  

“The Death Cure” follows Thomas, who has been through the Maze and the Scorch Trials administered by WICKED, the evil organization that does psychological experiments on teenagers. Now, they are giving Thomas the opportunity to go with them and save the world. Thomas, however, knows something more sinister is happening within WICKED’s walls, and it’s up to him to uncover the truth. 

Be warned, there are spoilers in this review. 

Let’s start with what I liked. The pacing was very nice. I felt like there was never a dull moment, and the times when the characters could breathe were much needed for the reader as well. The pacing also made a lot of sense, especially the parts where they are running through Denver. It felt quest-y, which, I’m a sucker for a questing novel.  

Also, I liked that Thomas, Minho and Newt were back together. I feel like they were always better together than apart, which was, unfortunately, about 95% of the second book. 

Now, for the rest. 

The easiest complaint I have? Newt’s death. He was easily my favorite character. While it isn’t so much a critique, it hurt my heart a LOT. His whole character arc, most of which we didn’t even get to see, was devastating. I went to bed with a stuffy nose that night from crying. 

But let’s get into the more complicated things. The ending of this book left so much to be desired. Thomas’ character development was lackluster. For example, in the beginning of the series, Thomas harps on the fact that he wants his memories back after WICKED implants a chip in his brain that basically gives them power to control him and removes his memories. When WICKED tells him that they’ll remove it, he says no and runs away. I was so confused. 

Thomas is also supposed to be the hero type. In the first book, he has no hesitation in rescuing boys he’s only known for a little bit. However, by the end of this book, he decides that the rest of the world can go up in flames as long as he’s safe. One could argue he went through a change during all the trials, but there was no indication that his mindset changed. He was saving people left and right before that. His character shift fell out of left field to me. 

Finally, Thomas is bland. I know he’s played by the amazing Dylan O’Brien in the movies. However, I’m convinced O’Brien has so much personality that it simply bled into the character. Dashner should thank that man twice over. 

Don’t even get me started on Teresa. Hate all you want, but she deserved a better ending. Killing her was a cop-out. She gets hated on by the characters all throughout the books after quite literally doing nothing. Although Thomas labeled her as a betrayer, she never really did because WICKED threatened his life to her. Everything she did was to save Thomas. However, for the entirety of “The Scorch Trials” and 98% of “The Death Cure,” Thomas hates Teresa, thinking every five minutes, “I can’t trust her. In fact, it’d be better if she were dead.” 

Then, she dies with seven pages left (yes, I counted). And this man has the audacity to think: “She was my best friend.” 

I know book boyfriends are a thing, but can we also start having book enemies? Thomas is mine. 

And finally, there’s the issue of the half-baked love triangle. Of course, Teresa was the original main love interest until Brenda was thrown in during “The Scorch Trials.” Dashner seemed to forget, most of the time, he even started a romance until he randomly remembered and threw it a mention. Most of the romantic scenes went like this: 

“Brenda smiled at Thomas. Thomas felt fuzzy inside. But then he remembered Teresa and felt bad. He hated that because Teresa betrayed him.” 

I kid you not, that is the entire love triangle summed up in four sentences. 

I’m fine with no romance whatsoever, if it doesn’t serve the plot. I’m fine with romance being a subplot, but it must serve the main plot in some way! I don’t think underdeveloped subplots should be written in just for the sake of having them. They should be important to the main plot. This one had potential, but the way it was written fell more than flat. 

I give this 3.6 out of 5 stars simply because I could not give it a lower ranking than “The Scorch Trials” in good conscience. Overall, the plot was fine, the side characters deserved better, and Thomas is my number one book enemy.