James Dashner’s work was a welcome reminder of a series I have loved for some time. Dashner writes an introduction that is timely and reflective, and then offers a brief story exploring missing pieces of one of the characters’ stories from The Maze Runner series.

The book series was one my middle grades students devoured, and I would gladly share this new entry, building conversation around the emotional depth Dashner explores and the world we are now living in. Dystopian fiction is often timely and reveals aspects of our society to reconsider — Dashner’s work is an entertaining and thought-provoking example of this affordance.

Such a fan of maze runner and I absolutely love when they do spin off novels so we can see what happened to the different characters! Quick read and so insightful. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was my introduction to the Maze Runner series. If all the books are as good as this one, I've been missing not reading these. Emotional, lots of great action and characters, and a great story. Will definitely be reading this series, starting at the beginning.

5/5 stars

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you haven't read the first three books in The Maze Runner series, don't read ahead. You have been warned!

What do you do if you have a disease that destroys your mind, turning you into what is essentially a zombie until your death, while all of your friends are immune? What's worse: abandoning them or letting them watch your descent into madness? Newt makes the choice to leave them, though it pains him to do so. He doesn't really have a plan or goal since he'll just fall into madness and die anyway. But he meets a mother and child who are determined to survive together, and that is just what Newt needs to give him purpose. Eventually ending up in the Crank Palace, Newt's story is finally told. The events that took place in The Death Cure are told from Newt's perspective.

You think I would have been prepared to be devastated and heart-broken after reading this, seeing as how I know the conclusion of The Death Cure. And yet, like a dummy, I went and read this book anyway simply because I love Newt. Thank you, James Dashner, for once again breaking my heart into pieces. If you thought The Death Cure was bad, this is on a different level. As Newt leaves his friends and succumbs to the Flare, you hear his thoughts, you watch him struggle until his inevitable end. Now you know what went through his head during all of this. Poor, sweet Newt--he deserved so much better. Once again, I'm left heartbroken over him. 

To my fellow readers who also read this series and fell in love with Newt, this book offers some closure that I felt we did not get in the original series. However, getting this closure will most likely break your heart in the process. I recommend this book, as well as tissues, a warm blanket, and ice cream, to any Newt fans out there.