The Kill Order (Maze Runner Prequel)

After reading The Maze Runner series over a year ago, it's an understatement to say that I completely and totally understand The Kill Order. Truthfully, I didn't understand many parts until a dim light bulb goes on in my head.

The Kill Order was much more interesting than The Maze Runner. It was not as good however. The reason I like The Kill Order is because we finally find out what was truly behind the Flare. The background book. The prequel. It has the same amount of pages as The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure.

It is also sad and strong. Most of the characters in the Kill Order are dead before The Maze Runner, assuming the survivor survived. (Want a hint? Go to the Spoiler Section of this review. Think before you look.)

The prologue was amazing. Teresa's POV freaked me out. I can't believe that she is so into WICKED. Wow. She wasn't kidding when she said, "WICKED is good." Teresa's POV was entertaining and straightforward. It's perhaps the most straightforward part of The Kill Order. It was easy to understand. Teresa is wicked. (Thomas was there.)

The main plot was told from Mark's POV. It tells of a story of a young boy forced to undergo a journey full of unknown. (Not as unknown as Thomas's journey in the Scorch Trials or The Death Cure). He finds courage and truth as the plot unfolds. He fights for his life and other lives. He believes full heartedly in the cure that will be found. He seeks the cure and then realized the truth behind the Flare and the Cranks. He finds the hidden.

The epilogue was amazing. We get to see Thomas's removal from his mother. We see how his name was created. We see the beginning of Thomas's journey. This is why this book is only the prequel.

Characters:

Teresa... Only in the beginning. I really like her. I felt she was like Talia al Ghul. Except the part that Ra's al Ghul is WICKED.
Mark... He's desperate for survival. He fell hard when he found out he had the Flare. He loves Trina and for most of the book, he searches for traces of her. He wants to find the cure. (Duh.) Mark was a sweet boy in the beginning. As the events unfold, we see Mark become more and more Cranky. (Ha ha). In the end, we see a huge character change. He becomes a cold killer and a good murderer. He's an expert at survival in the end.

Trina... She doesn't do really much in The Kill Order. It's evident that Mark loves Trina. Trina loves Mark as revealed in the flashbacks. She's more of an object the main character wants or is more of the goal the main character needs to pass.

Alec... An ex-soldier. He's intelligent. Smart (I know I'm repeating this stuff). Wise. A sage. Athletic. And gun smart. He is like a mentor to Mark. Obviously, he dies in the end. He had the Flare like Mark and Trina, unfortunately.

Deedee... A minor character who affects the path of the main character. She's around five years old. That's all I am going to say about Deedee.


SPOILERS


1) Everybody dies except for Thomas and Deedee. Again, assuming Deedee didn't die.

2) Most of the characters have the Flare.


END SPOILERS


Rating of The Kill Order: Three out of Five.

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The Kill Order, the prequel to one of the best series out there. I was kinda disappointed with this book, it just wasn't as good as the original series. I liked the idea and all, with the origin of the Flare, I thought it was brilliant and horrible. I thought it was sad for those leaders to think the solution is to destruct, really sad. What I didn't really like about this book is how Mark didn't think twice about killing, and ran off with Alec when he could be protecting his friends, his actions had no real reason.

I really liked the plot, and how it explained a few details that linked with the Maze Runner (Crankheads, the origin of the disease, and immunes). Although it had parts with Thomas and Teresa in the prologue and the epilogue, it didn't really connect deeply, which is both good (freedom to write) and bad (Thomas is awesome!).

I thought that the ending was kinda sad, how everyone just died. The whole journey for Mark and Alec to the base was really worth nothing at all, as they did not pass the information on to anyone, so it just died with them. They could of spent the time they wasted doing better things, like stopping Bruce and helping Deedee and Lana. I also felt like Mark and Trina should of spent more together, as in the blurb, the book hinted it was about them, not Mark and Alec, who were never to far apart.

All in all, The Kill Order was a great edition to the Maze Runner series. If you love the Maze Runner, then it is definitely worth reading. Be warned, I think it is a good idea to read this book after the Death Cure, as in the prologue and epilogue, it reveals much of the story in Maze Runner that would spoil the surprise. :)

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