{Book Review} "The Maze Runner" & "The Scorch Trials"

James Dashner the author of The 13th Reality wrote these two books and the third to this trilogy "The Death Cure" will be released sometime this fall. There is also "talk" of a movie in the works.
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The Maze Runner-Book Synopsis:
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade-a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up-the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

The Scorch Trial-Book Synopsis:
Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

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I read these books after the first Hunger Games book, and my first thought was that they were somewhat similar, but they are also very different than each other, and this series is worth picking up imo. I was even able to get my son hooked on them, now he is begging for the third. :) My son also read the HG's and liked that series too.

This series has a lot of twist and turns, but it kept me wanting to know more, I still do and cannot wait for the third book! I have issues with knowing where a book or movie is going from the beginning, too many are predictable-and this turns me off to them, but this series kept me guessing and I love that!

The series is for Teens and Adults, has some violence and made up swear words which were a bit irritating, but overall a clean read.

4 stars