Book: The Kill Order

“Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and destroyed the world mankind took for granted.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.

Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it–if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. ANd to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.“

I thought there would be more to The Kill Order than what we get, but for what it’s worth, it’s a good book–just don’t expect too much.

The Maze Runner is one of the best novels I’ve read recently, but I thought the sequel and the finale didn’t live up to the promise of the trilogy’s premise. Especially since the source of all the discord and drama barely gets touched upon. So I was happy that there was The Kill Order to fill in the blanks.

Unfortunately–or fortunately, depending on how you look at it–James Dashner focuses on human interaction instead of conspiracies. And so our supposed answer, The Kill Order, to the questions left behind by The Maze Runner trilogy falls short of actually answering questions. What we’re left with, after the trials and misadventures we take in this prequel, are suppositions of what might have happened in between the end of this book, and the beginning of The Maze Runner.

Now, I’ve always harped about how character development is more important than original twists and turns. And if we’re judging The Kill Order by character development alone, it hits full marks. But take the book out of the its environment, take The Maze Runner trilogy out of the equation, and you get a story about a boy who would do anything to save the girl he loves. It’s nothing special. And set in the background of a Post-Flare world, you would have no idea what was going on unless you’ve already read the trilogy that spawned this prequel.

While character development is important, I think it’s also important for a prequel to be able to stand apart from its series–especially if it’s populated by unknown characters, and happens before the events of the series that warranted it.

So would I recommend The Kill Order? Sure. If you’re already a fan of The Maze Runner trilogy–or, at the very least, have already read the series. If you haven’t, you might want to skip this one until after you have done so.

Of course, as I always say, all these are just my thoughts. Feel free to browse the ‘net to find what other people have to say about the book:
I’d So Rather Be Reading
Blog Critics
My Books. My Life.

Book: The Death Cure

“Thomas knows that WICKED can’t be trusted. They stole his memories and locked him inside the Maze. They forced him tot he brink of death by dropping him in the wilds of the Scorch. And htey took the Gladers, his only friends, from him.

Now WICKED says that the time for lies is over. That they’ve collected all the date they can from the Trials and will rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission: to complete the blueprint for the cure for the Flare. But they must undergo one final test.

What WICKED doesn’t know, however, is that Thomas has already remembered far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what WICKED says.

The time for lies is over. And the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever have imagined.“

And so the Maze Runner trilogy ends. I love endings. Especially when they’re as engaging as The Death Cure. Of course, as you might be used to by now, I still have concerns–but overall, I thought this book was absolutely brilliant.

Let’s begin with what I didn’t like though:

For two books, we’ve been very much in the dark about what’s going on. With this being the last book in the trilogy, and with the wrap-up imminent, I was hoping that author James Dashner would trust us readers with more of the truth. But he doesn’t.

Thing is, unlike The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure doesn’t dwell on Thomas’s hunches and hurt ego. And that’s good. This time, when we do get glimpses of the truth, they’re treated as information-sharing–and Thomas pretty much shares everything he learns with his friends from the get go.

What I really don’t understand though is Thomas’s aversion to the return of his memories.

Before I complete go into this, I must warn you that there will be spoilers.

All right, back. Straight off, Thomas refuses the offer of having his memories returned. At first, I really did think that WICKED has something wicked planned for the Gladers once they allow for their memories to be returned. And I was all right with Thomas’s decision.

The thing is, even before the action really begins, the people who did choose to take their memories back did get their memories back–with no side effect. Thomas’s refusal only served to cut him (and a few others) off from the bigger group.

On the one hand, it maybe the smarter decision as a writer to break a smaller group off for us readers to follow. But I must say, it was very frustrating as a reader to still be kept out of the loop–in the final book of a trilogy that was steeped in conspiracies!

I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the book more had the author been more up front with answers. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as good. But that’s neither here nor there now, isn’t it?

The book is far from perfect: there were questions left unanswered, things that came left off field. There’s even one side story that is completely forgotten until the memo at the end mentions it again. The ending is a little too perfect. But the bottom line is this: The Death Cure delivered a good story.

I just hope The Kill Order, the prequel to the Maze Runner trilogy, delivers good answers.

Now, let’s see what other people have written about The Death Cure:
Dead Trees and Silver Screens
Mundie Moms
Nose in a Book
YouTube Review: megs3493

Book: The Maze Runner

“When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is empty.

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 expanse encolsed 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, for as long as anyone can remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, for just as long, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the Maze after dark.

The Gladers were expecting Thomas’s arrival. But the nexdt day, a girl is sent up–the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more suprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might find their way home … where that may be. But it’s looking more and more as if the Maze is unsolvable.

And something about the girl’s arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers–if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind.“

Oh, wow. This book is really something. Really.

The funny thing is, I’ve been meaning to start reading this book since forever. Okay, maybe not forever–but ever since I saw the cover and the title, I’ve been intrigued. It wasn’t until now though, with me having so much free time suddenly, that I finally found myself buying the book and reading it.

I loved it. Loved it, loved it. So much so that I already bought the second book and the prequel, and have the third book reserved for when the bookstore I haunt finally get a new shipment of the paperback version.

What is the book about? Read the synopsis, there’s not much more explaining needed. The synopsis actually tells around ninety percent of the story. So why do I like it still? Why, because of how it’s written of course.

The Maze Runner is a simple story on survival. But it’s no Lord of the Flies. It’s not Michael Grant’s Gone. When we enter the world James Dashner creates, there is already a pre-existing civilization. The confusion brought on by the unfamiliar terrain and jargon actually adds to what made the book work for me: there’s tension, there’s fear.

But what really made The Maze Runner an awesome reading experience for me was the main character: Thomas.

Thomas is pretty much a blank slate–except when he’s not. All his actions seem pre-programmed, which highlights the fear and antagonism felt by the token villain. Suddenly, the protagonist you’re rooting for is turned on his head. What if, all along, he was the villain?

It’s a great play on what is becoming a trope in dystopian young adult literature: the hero is plucked from a normal life, put in an unfamiliar world, and his experiences and the trials he goes through makes him (or her) a hero. That’s not what The Maze Runner is–

In this book, we start out the same way: plucked from normal life and put in an unfamiliar world, and then he gets accused as being the person responsible for creating this cruel world in the first place. Except, we readers don’t know if it’s true, because our anchor (Thomas) has no clear memories.

And then, suddenly, things become familiar for Thomas. And he himself begins to think that he might have had a hand in creating the maze. And then we readers no longer know what’s going on–and it’s exhilarating.

Suffice to say, I don’t really care that ninety percent of the book is already spoiled in the synopsis. I don’t even mind the fact that the remaining ten percent is a set up to the next book.

I loved The Maze Runner, and I’m looking forward to loving The Scorch Trials too.

Though, I am curious too as to what other people have said about the book. So why don’t we check out some of the ones available online?
A Thousand Wrongs
Clouds and Cuticle Oil
YouTube Review: ReadTomes

Book: The Knife of Never Letting Go

“Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Pretisstown. But Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.

Or are there?

Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.

Which is impossible.

Prentisstown has been lying to him.

And now he’s going to have to run…”

This is one of those books that everyone keeps recommending, but I never really found the desire to read—much less, buy. But whilst killing time at the mall, I found myself being drawn to the bookstore. And though I still had around a dozen books left to read, and an Ilustrado that’s still waiting for me to finish reading it (and maybe because of this), I decided to give The Knife of Never Letting Go a chance. This time, learning from the Twilight mistake, I only bought the first book from the Chaos Walking trilogy.

After the first couple of chapters, I was happy with my decision not to buy the second and third book—because I found the story absolutely boring. I did not love The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Well, not at the beginning anyway. The author’s choice of storytelling was confusing and infuriating.

And then there was no Noise.

And then there was a girl.

And then, I understood.

The way Patrick Ness, the author, structured the story is for the reader to discover the secrets at the same time as the protagonist. Infuriating, as I said earlier, but it made for compelling storytelling—once we got to the part where something actually starts happening, when Todd first encounters the gap in the Noise. Prior to that though? I was ready to strangle Todd myself.

As the story commences though, it becomes tough to put the book down. You wouldn’t want to. Because the world Patrick Ness creates, a real New World if there ever was one, is so complete, so real that you can’t help but picture yourself in it.

No, it doesn’t have minute descriptions of the moss that grows on the rocks that our protagonists pass by. But the atmosphere created by the way our hero describes how he feels about everything, about the new things he’s seeing, it’s enough to create the world. You fill in the blanks with your own experience of the world we’re in.

And for me, that’s better than describing the texture, the color, and the other what-nots. Because by letting us, the readers, color in the world, we’re giving part of ourselves to the story. We’re becoming part of the story. And that in itself, I think, makes the book engrossing for a reader.

And that feeling of connection, how to book draws you in into its world, is enough for me to recommend this book to anyone looking for anything to read. Seriously.

I’m not going to write about how well-written the story is, or how I’m not a fan of the spelling that Mr. Ness employs for the dialogues. I think that’s been done enough by other people who’ve read the book and written about it before me.

I’m basing my recommendation on the fact that The Knife of Never Letting Go is one of the most engrossing books I’ve ever read.

Still, if you’re the type of person who wants a review, here are some blogs where people actually do a review:
Dodging Commas
District YA
Chachic’s Book Nook

Book: Eat Slay Love

“Sarah and David have survived the Zombie Apocalypse. They stood side by side and fought the undead, mad scientists, and even bionic monsters… until the unthinkable happened. A zombie bite. But not even that could stop them.

Now, with a possible cure in hand, they’re headed east, looking for a safe zone behind the rumored “Wall.” They’re feeling pretty optimistic.

That is until Dave stops sleeping–and starts lifting huge objects.“

I don’t actually know why I bought this book. I remember deciding, after Flip This Zombie, that I wouldn’t pick up the next one anymore. But I did. And I have to say, i don’t dislike it as much as I did the first two. Maybe because this one is more structured–and we actually get a purpose, and not just a romp through the zombie apocalypse.

Okay, let’s do a bit of recap. In Married with Zombies, the world went to hell. Or rather, hell went to the world. Zombies started rising. And it had to happen during one of Sarah and David’s therapy sessions. Things happened, zombies were killed. In the end, Sarah and David figured that they do still love each other, and they can make their relationship work–even in a world infested with zombies. Flip This Zombie saw Sarah and David having a sort-of business as zombie exterminators. And there were rumors of bionic zombies. Yes, zombies that have superhuman strength–and the capacity to think. And that’s pretty much what the second book was about. There was a kid and a mad scientist too, but they don’t add much to the story until near the end.

Eat Slay Love now puts our protagonists in a predicament we can root for: they have what might be a cure to the zombie virus–and they are traveling to take this cure to the rumored Wall, a border built by the US government to safeguard the part of civilization that hasn’t been touched by the zombie plague yet.

Truth be told, I’m a little confused as to how a zombie infestation can happen in one part of the United States (and even Mexico) but not in the eastern part. I take it the phenomenon isn’t worldwide? If you can accept that the zombie problem is contained with the western part of the United States (and Mexico) though, then… good for you.

That confusion aside though, I was highly entertained by this book. It didn’t deal too much with the psychosis of the main characters as couples, as it did with the people they have become after the apocalypse. Their marital problems now are more zombie-related and not just chic-lit fodder placed haphazardly in the zombie world. It also helped that the second book introduced the problem of David being bitten by a zombie–but not turning. It was a secret that Sarah had to work at keeping–and it presents a new threat to our heroes that actually follows them as they move from one place to the next.

We also get to meet new survivors that doesn’t seem forced into being included. The supporting characters in Eat Slay Love are more fleshed out.

But most importantly, you can actually feel sympathetic to Sarah and David now. Which, if I remember correctly, was my main gripe with the first two books. I wasn’t rooting for Sarah to survive then. I am now. And I will be looking forward to Sarah and David’s next adventure–which I hope will be as well-structured as this one was.

Read what others have to say about Eat Slay Love! Check out the following reviews:
My Bookish Ways
The Book Smugglers
Scooper Speaks