This wasn't exactly the prequel I wanted but it turned around in a way I liked. I couldn't help but notice that again Dashner created a bunch of cool female characters who disappear for most of the story. (I usually don't notice this in fiction so not sure why it bothers me so much in this series.)

I can't not finish a series that I start but this one is the worst of the bunch. There are too many character decisions that feel more like an author cop out than a natural choice. And yet again, all female characters but the new female love interest, are sent off on a different narrative path.

Good general read. The story is more interesting than the first. However, this is where I first started noticing Dashner's struggles with creating/writing female characters. He likes to create smart/badass female characters but then sends them off so that 90% of their story happens off page.

Good, light dystopic YA fiction. Enjoyable if you don't think too hard about it.

It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know...
- Ray Bradbury

The love of knowledge is a kind of madness. - C.S. Lewis