Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

About the Book

The Death Cure by James Dashner

Published on October 11, 2011 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

GoodReads Description

It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

The time for lies is over.

My Thoughts

Well, my student is rather proud of me!  I told him that I would finish these books and I have.  I guess he still expects me to read the prequels too, so you can look forward to those reviews as well.

I liked the way that this installment started.  It was fast-paced and I cared about what happened to Thomas. I was excited to figure out what the cure would be and to finally understand why WICKED was good.  

As I read further, my opinion changed drastically.

What I Liked

• I thought that the relationship between Minho and Thomas stayed strong.  I loved that this was the one thing I could count on throughout all of the books.  They definitely had each other's backs when the going got rough, which was most of the time.
• I loved that Brenda went from being a relatively small character to an important one.  I am a sucker for character development and there was a little bit more with Brenda than with the others.  

What I Didn't Like

• What in the world was Newt's note supposed to be?  I really don't understand the secrecy? Why didn't he just pull Thomas aside and tell him what his wishes were? That way, Thomas would have been able to fulfill his request sooner and Newt wouldn't have needed to suffer.  I felt like this was simply added drama that detracted from the rest of the novel.
• This book did not answer any real questions.  This open ending left me still wondering why in the heck WICKED is good.  Why did the head of WICKED simply give up after so long? There was so much work put into this project and they simply gave up? This does not seem very believable.  
• I hated that there was very little character development in this novel.  Growth is necessary in a world where you have to fight for your life.  You have to learn so much and endure too many things to remain the same person that you always were.  And yet these characters remain flat.

I'm truly hoping that many of my unanswered questions are answered in the prequels.  There is simply too much left wide open and too much that is underdeveloped in this series.

My Rating