The Maze Runner Series Book Two: The Scorch Trials

Wow. Thomas is probably the unluckiest person left on the destroyed earth. This week I finished The Scorch Trials, which is the second book in the Maze Runner series. WARNING THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. So if you are reading and want all the surprises to be surprising, I advise going to a different blog.

So where do I begin. Thomas experiences misfortune after terrible event and I don't know how much this kid will be able take. At the end of the first book it seems like finally this group of kids will get a break. But then, surprise WICKED is still in control. This book is all about the second trials the remaining Gladers face after escaping the maze. There are many twists and turns in this book. Almost too many. I admire what James Dashner is trying to do, but the amount of plot twists is almost too many to keep up with. Also, it seems like at least half of the chapters end with Thomas passing out or falling asleep. This was a pretty good book but I liked the first book a lot better. It's almost like you get to a bad part and think, "Hm, I wonder how hes going to get saved this time. I can't wait until it happens again." (Sarcastic)

To all who have read the first book: Keep reading the series. All those lingering questions tugging at the back of your mind won't be answered this book, but I'm about 60 pages into the third book and stuff is already making a little more sense. Dashner can only include so much heartbreak, betrayal, death and destruction into one chapter right?

A picture of the sun flares. The main cause of the disease that is known as The Flare in The Scorch Trials. Thomas and his friend's mission is to get through an area of the world known as The Scorch. At the end of the destination will be a place called The Safe Haven. There they will find a cure for the horrible disease. 

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

My partner and I are nearly finished with the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This book takes place in Sierra Leone, during the civil war there in the mid 90s. The author lived in a village that was attacked by rebels when he was around the age of twelve. He was not in the village at the time but it was destroyed. Knowing that the rebels would soon come to the village he was staying at, he and his friends went on the run. During this time he is recruited for the governments army. While he is there he learns how to kill mercilessly and do drugs when he is not at war. This book includes his memories on his time in the army.

While I was reading this I realized that war is only cool in movies. In reality it is gross, disgusting and repulsive. Some of the things that Ishmael was told to do by his lieutenant were absolutely horrible. To make matters worse, all of the terrible things he did, he did as a boy that was between the ages of thirteen and fifteen.

In our society today we have many forms of media that make war look "cool". Many of the video games we have today make the killing look awesome and fun. However, after I read this book I started having second thoughts on those kinds of games. The stuff that Ishmael experiences should never be purposely recreated for someones pleasure.I do not agree with a lot of the video games that exist after reading this book.