WICKED had done all this to him. WICKED had taken his life and those of his friends and were using them for whatever purposes they deemed necessary. No matter the consequences.
Little background before I review the third book in this series. I watched the films before I bought the books and was a little underwhelmed when I read the first one The Maze Runner (this never happens and I still haven't quite forgiven myself...). The movies were extensively simplified which actually made the storyline more exciting and helped to develop the characters a little more. That being said, I did enjoy this series and I thought the dystopian future was very well thought out. The first 2 books follow The Gladers, a group of boys who have been chosen by a government group to help find a cure for a deadly virus that has destroyed the world. WICKED has set a series of trials in order to find a cure for the Flare; these trials are actually death traps that knock off characters left, right and centre. The books definitely got better as the series went on, with this final book being the best.
*SPOILERS*
There is definitely an underlying political agenda to this book, which I found fascinating, and definitely has lots of connotations to today's modern society. I knew right from the off that the virus was a little to perfect, a little to malicious to be anything but man made. It is confirmed in this final book that the virus was in fact released by the government as a means to control populations after the sun flares scorched the Earth. Unsurprisingly, Thomas is absolutely horrified when he finds out. Everything him and his friends have been put through was all because of a some bigwig in a bunker who wouldn't have to deal with the consequences - this is also ultimately the downfall of the remaining cities. I think this element really helped to develop Thomas' character and we see him evolving throughout the series.
My biggest niggle with these books (I do have a few...) are the portrayal of female characters. There aren't many girls in this series so the ones that we do meet have a big impact on the reader. Let's start with Theresa. Dead inside. The only time she ever showed any real emotion was when she died, and even then she didn't get a full sentence out. I understand that she is a catalyst character and is supposed to create drama but she her reactions and responses are just flat and unrealistic.
And then there's Brenda. Brenda is a real bad ass (I love a girl that can look after herself!) but the word clingy springs to mind - maybe even desperate. Thomas can't decide which one he wants until he's only got one to choose from *sighs and bangs head against the wall*.
Not the best dystopian series I have read, but I did enjoy it. It's on the same lines as The Hunger Games and Divergent, so is a good read after those! Whole series 7/10
Get the trilogy here...
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