The Death Cure by James Dashner

This is the third book in The Maze Runner trilogy. I thought it was good. I enjoyed the ending and, although it was somewhat menacing, it was still nice that the fighting was less for a little while. I am reading a Prequel book right now and it is pretty good too. The books are too action-packed and violent for me, but good enough to keep reading.

In this book, Thomas regularly deals with the Cranks who are past the gone (crazy) and Wicked (an evil organization responsible for all the suffering Thomas and his friends must endure while they persue a cure for the Flare which turns people into Cranks and makes them crazy) is taken down. Rat man is dealt with sufficiently as well.

It's a good book. I'd give it a 7/10.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

This book was similar to The Maze Runner, of course, since it was Book Two I suppose. It was equally interesting. The book was action-packed. Thomas and his group must pass through a land so hot they can't expose their skin to the sun because of sun flares. There is a conflict in this book as Theresa is not in most of it and another girl hits on Thomas. Theresa betrays Thomas very severely toward the ending of the book. I would like to know how things turn out in this respect. Personally, I would never hang out with Theresa again if I were Thomas, regardless of how sorry she claims to be.

I don't know if everyone got the cure for the disease called the Flare that everyone is supposed to have been purposely infected with. The promise was that they would all obtain the cure if they made it through the scorching hot area they were assigned to cross.

I would give this book a 7/10.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Lots of description was used in this novel, which I enjoy. It took a while for me to get into this book. The description of Monsieur Bovary's childhood seemed to have little to do with the rest of the story, except to maybe make the reader feel sorry for the doctor when he is married to his cheating wife, Emma.

It's easy to sit back and judge the woman thinking she should smarten up and appreciate the steadiness and reliability of her husband, but I understand why she would act in this manner. It gets boring after a while in the normal every-day humdrum of life. I guess people need to work on their relationships always, or they go stale. Excitement and "life" can be looked for elsewhere.

It was painful watching Madame Bovary make such a fool out of herself. Both of the men she had an affair with didn't like her after they used her up. Her husband did like her. Emma also ruined her child's life in the end. The poor innocent child ended up losing both of her parents. Emma killed herself by poisoning herself with arsenic and her father died of a broken heart after finding out that Emma had cheated on him. The little daughter ended up having to live with strangers and be their servant because she was destitute because her mother spent all her families money and went into debt.

Very sad.

7/10.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

My overall impression of this book was that the story was mildly interesting enough that I bought the following three books in the series and I am about to read them. I found the writing had noticeable grammatical errors which made me question the book. I know the author may have been using the slang of the characters, but even when describing them he used it. Regardless, it didn't seem right. The main character was Thomas who ends up being somewhat of a leader of a group of boys who are feinding for themselves outside of the help they intermittently obtain from and elevator in the floor. There is a large maze that the boys try to find an opening to every day and the runners are assigned to run all day around the maze looking for a way out of their world. When Thomas first comes up in the elevator in the floor he is disoriented and alone with no memory of anyone from his past as is the way all the boys who arrived at the Glade (the place where they are living) get there. The first person Thomas forms a friendship with is Chuck. The relationship between Chuck and Thomas was charming and sweet. The book was so sci-fi that I almost didn't want to read it. I really enjoy Brave New World (dystopian) style books though, so the lure was still there for me despite the writing and the tendency toward sci-fi. 

The Maze Runner reminded me of The Hunger Games. In The Maze Runner there was a large fake world that the participants lived in and died in while an organized group of adults controlled everything that happened to them. 

I would give this book a 6/10.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Really good biography. I got a bit bored in the first half of the novel after Louis Zamperini joins the military and the minute descriptions of B-52s and how they fly etc. I don't care about it, but I liked the opening of the book about how Louis was as a child and how he fared in the Olympics.

For me the novel really picked up when he was lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean and as a POW. It was very violent though, and I can't stand reading about torture. Horrendous how he was starved and beaten repeatedly by the Bird and other Japanese captors.

I enjoyed how he maintained such a positive attitude in the end and I find his life inspirational. I think people would be better for reading this book. It teaches history that isn't taught in school and is important to know. It teaches the importance of forgiveness. It teaches the evils of war and the dark nature that lies within humans to inflict on others. I think it was great that the USA won over the Japanese in a huge way. I don;t like dominating anyone else, but I think freedom is extremely important. I am very impressed with the author. 9 3/4 out of ten.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Horrible book. I was so entertained by Gone Girl that I wanted to read all of Gillian Flynn's novels. I'm done at this one. It was so dark and disgusting that I could barely make it through the book. Extremely negative circumstances overall. The very ending held out a bit of hope, but I would never want to read a book like this on purpose again. There is a lot of blood, gore, dysfunctional relationships, and general ugliness. The language is really bad and the darkest parts of peoples' personalities are revealed. Horrible book.

A woman named Libby who is in her early 30s had her family murdered by her brother. The true killer is researched by a reluctant Libby and I would say her brother isn't totally innocent. This portrayal is far beyond what a person would describe as trash. Sick book.

I would give it a 1/10.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Great book. Very well-written in how descriptive it is. I felt like I could understand how people in the book felt and I felt I understood what it was like in New York even though I've only ever been in the airport there. I didn't know Missouri was considered the Midwest though. I thought that was North Dakota and Minnesota, maybe Ohio.

The twists in this book were totally unpredictable by me. It was a bit much at the ending, but the rest of the book was so good, that's ok. The language obscene.

I would give this book a 9 3/4 out of ten. Excellently written, excellent story. I could understand the characters... Until they got really out of hand.