Novel of the Week - The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Since I loved the novel (and the movie as well), I continued the Maze Runner saga, so here's to you my review of The Scorch Trials by James Dashner!

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Thomas, Teresa and all the survived Gladers thought their adventure (better saying, nightmare!) had come to an end the moment they've been saved from the Maze. They've been taken to a safe place, they were given food and real beds...unfortunately, WICKED has other planes for them.

Thomas is awakened telepathically by Teresa and immediately understands something's wrong. There're bars at the windows and behind them a bunch of screaming people...they look trashy and appear to be sick, screaming nonsense and calling themeselves Cranks.

Thomas has a terrible feeling and finds it true when he arrives at Teresa's dorm and doesn't find her...it's like she has even been there. They find instead a guy, Aris, who gives them a incredible news: he comes from what WICKED called "Group B" and his experience in the Maze was "specular" to Teresa's: he was the only boy in a only girls' Glade.

Disoriented, the guys are instructed on the next challenge: they have to go through the the Scorch, a desert section of what was once Mexico. They have two weeks to walk their way to a safe place, where they'll receive the cure the Flare, which they all have caught. 

The Gladers have to face again incredible and hard trials against climate change, Cranks and (not least) the lies and tricks orchestrated by WICKED.

This second chapter of the trilogy wasn't like I aspected it to be, at all. In the Maze Runner the difficulties were mostly physical, in The Scorch Trials it's all on a emotional and psychological level and, of course, Thomas is the main target.

The end of it left me spechless, I can't wait to read the conclusive novel and to see the movie hopefully late this year.

My vote: 7¾ /10