The Death Cure Part 1: Even the Title Makes Me Nervous

Are you ready, kids? No, it's not Spongebob. It's time for book 3 of The Maze Runner series. The most ominously titled book I have ever read. The Death Cure. Let's do this.

Chapters 1-4

At the beginning of the book, Thomas is still trapped in the completely white room that he was put in at the end of The Scorch Trial. He had been in the room for three weeks. They never turn out the lights and there is nothing in the room except for a desk and a small toilet. Thomas sleeps curled up in the corner. He gets three meals a day, but they don't come at regular intervals and they are always the exact same thing. He has no way to actually tell how long he's been in the room except for instinct. Also, he hasn't had a shower since he was on the Berg leaving the Scorch, so he's pretty gross. In fact, the first line of the book is, "It was the smell that began to drive Thomas slightly mad." So there's that.

In Chapter 2, Rat-Man (the guy who told the Gladers about the Scorch Trial at the beginning of the last book) enters the room. Thomas is naturally hostile. There's a bit of verbal back-and-forth, with Thomas being antagonistic and Rat-Man being condescending. At the beginning, Rat Man gets really agitated and angry after Thomas questions his motives (I've included the passage below). Eventually, Rat-Man gets down to business. He tells Thomas that there is "no value in keeping you in the dark... Not anymore." This means that WICKED is going to start revealing important information to him and the Gladers (thank the gods for that). Rat-Man goes on to explain that they almost have all of the data they need in order to produce a cure for the Flare. There are only a few additional things, like fine-tuning that they need. They need the Gladers' input for this. He then tells Thomas that he does, in fact, have the Flare. But, here's the kicker, he is immune to it.

Scorch Trials 9: It Took Way Too Long to Read This Book

Okay, Kids. I'm finally finished with this God-forsaken book. I will warn you, you're about to be underwhelmed and not entirely surprised.

Chapters 56-End

A storm is brewing overhead, and Thomas, Teresa, and Aris are still behind the Gladers and Group B. They decide to catch up to the others, naturally. The deadline is slowly approaching, about three hours remain before they need to find the safe haven. Thomas, Teresa, and Aris start running to catch up to the others. While doing so, Thomas and Teresa talk telepathically (say that three times fast). He tells her about his weird memory/dreams and she tries to explain her actions again. Thomas isn't really having any of it, though.

That's seriously all it said.

Eventually, they catch up to the other groups, who are all standing around a stick in the ground that is exactly where they were told the safe haven would be. They are getting along because Harriet explained everything to Minho. The stick they are looking at has a ribbon on it that says 'The Safe Haven.'

There is about two hours left until they run out of time. Everyone just sort of sits around. They are exhausted and dejected. No one knows what the hell is going on. The storm is getting worse over head. There is wind and rain. It's starting to look like the storm from earlier with the lightning. No good. Brenda finds Thomas and has a very frosty conversation with Teresa, because why have two female characters be friends when they could be enemies?

Scorch Trials Pt 8: James Dashner Should be Kicked

So... I didn't finish the book. In my defense, I'm working a shit-ton of hours, so I have very little time for reading. That combined with the fact that this book is increasingly fucking frustrating mean that I won't be done until next week.

Anyway, here goes nothing.

Chapters 49-55

Thomas is all about not being murdered by Group B. He's hella stoked about it. Only, not really because he's never happy about anything. This poor fucking kid. Anyway, Teresa is still gone, which is good because she's shady as fuck. Thomas briefly considers ditching Group B to try and find the Gladers. He doesn't but he thinks about it. He gets the low down on Group B's mission from Harriet, who is super helpful and seems genuinely nice. I'm thinking of her of a less sarcastic Minho, which makes me happy. Basically, they were told that they need to kill Thomas in order to get into the safe zone. That's not all though. Harriet tells Thomas that every interaction he has had with Teresa since hitting the Scorch has been a lie. She tells him that when they met in the shack outside the city, she was lying to him. It was a trick to give him a false sense

Teresa is a big, betraying liar. Not acceptable.

of security. Basically, Harriet pulls the rug out from under Thomas and Teresa's entire relationship.

Scorch Trials 7: Shit Gets Real

It's Tuesday once again. Hurray! Let's do this! (Sorry, I'm full of caffeine and sugar. I'm super pumped about everything right now).

Chapters 45-48

Fair warning, you're about to be super frustrated.

Okay. So Thomas and Teresa are unhappily reunited.  She and Group B have kidnapped Thomas. At the beginning of chapter 45, the are still with the Gladers. Teresa is being super sketchy, but keeps whispering to Thomas, acting like her old self. She hits him and then quietly whispers that it is for a reason. She says, "They're blocking me from talking to you in our heads. Remember to trust me." Later, she adds, "Hang in there. It'll be over soon." She whispers this only to Thomas. No one else can hear her. At this point, it is impossible to tell if she is lying to him. They then leave the Gladers with a parting threat of harm if they follow.

At this point, Teresa reveals that Group B is only doing this because they have been told to. WICKED has tasked Group B with killing Thomas in order to get into the safe haven. Teresa has also convinced the group that Thomas has done something to her, but won't tell him what it is supposed to be. Yet again, no information is shared. Everyone is hiding things from everyone else. The lack of information in this book is harrowing.

This becomes relevant again.

The girls drag (literally) Thomas up into the mountains. They arrive at Group B's camp and tie Thomas to a tree. Thomas tries to convince them that they don't want to kill him. Two girls, named Harriet and Sonya, seem to have been the leaders of the group before Teresa came along. They seem the most perceptive to Thomas's pleas. Thomas is reminded of the sign that was outside Teresa's door back in the dorm. You know, the one that caller her The Betrayer. However, Thomas still doesn't know if this is a trick by WICKED or an accurate description of Teresa.