Teen Book Review - The Death Cure

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Let’s get this over with.

James Dashner’s characters said that about 500 times in The Death Cure.

I read the first two books of the series, The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials, very quickly, but The Death Cure took me much longer. I had to stop and think if things were really possible pretty often. It was also sad and emotional, which made made me put the book down.

The Death Cure was good because there was a lot of continuous action, not like some books where there is one action scene every few chapters and the rest is talking. It was disturbing and gory though. Battle scenes didn’t leave very much to imagination because they were described so clearly. The story continuously got worse and left me wondering how things could possibly get worse, and then they got worse, and worse. Creepy cranks (people infected with the flare virus) chase and trap characters to give the reader a clear view of the crank infested world and what is at stake.

The hero has to make very difficult choices about people close to him. The people in WICKED (World In Catastrophe Kill Zone Experiment Department), which was created to cure the flare, acted like they were giving the kids a choice. In reality, they forced characters to do things they didn’t want to do. Finally, on the last page, we learn about the source of the flare and the reason for it, and the reason is shocking.

I was reminded of Lord of the Flies when I read this book because of the isolation from the adults and the sacrifices that were made. Books like this remind people of emotional consequences of war, unlike the virtual battle fields of video games.

Thanks for reading!

This review was written by my son, Adam. He is a freshman in high school.