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A review by egbella
The Fever Code by James Dashner
4.0
I'm currently re-reading these books, and in chronological order this time, instead of the order they were released. After the Kill Order (which I didn't like as much as I remembered), comes this one, and I was pleasantly surprised!
Pros:
~ I just like prequel stories. They can definitely mess stuff up if not done well, but I felt The Fever Code was pretty good about staying true to the original books while still offering valuable backstory.
~ Getting to see the main characters (Thomas, Teresa, Aris, Newt, Minho, Alby, Chuck, Gally, etc.) before their Maze adventures. Their personalities felt very consistent with the later books. And I liked Thomas and Teresa's characters a lot more after seeing them in this book. I was never very fond of either of them in the rest of the books.
~ The depth and backstory of the people working at WICKED. I found Dr. Paige's character development particularly fascinating. The contradictions in her actions between her love for the kids and her passion to find a cure no matter what the cost, seemed very human and made me appreciate her character more. Even if I despised her by the end.
~ As a whole, the entire portrayal of what WICKED did to try and find a cure. I often stopped and wondered what I would do in that situation, and it drew some thought-provoking questions. How much can be justified in pursuit of a final good? How do you even determine what is good? There was a constant back and forth of both selflessness and selfishness that gave depth and realism to the themes.
~Good intrigue and suspense, and many times that I couldn't quite tell what was going to happen next the first time I read it. Even re-reading it, the balance of foreshadowing and secrets was good.
~ Thomas 'forgetting' his real name. That sequence was well-done.
~ Newt's snippet of backstory at the beginning (and his family relationship with Lizzy)
~ In general, most of the things I liked about this book were because of the very nature of a prequel. I enjoyed all the tie-ins to the rest of the books, and the clues laid for the rest of the story. The explanations for things that happened later were neat to see. I enjoyed them.
Cons:
~ Parts of the prose itself seemed pretty amateurish. Not quite sure why, but there were several places that pulled me out of the story as the writer in me thought, "wow, that's a lot of 'telling'", or "that probably could have been worded better." I thought some parts could have been trimmed.
~ Thomas and Teresa's thoughts and actions when they were young. I get that they're supposed to be incredibly smart, but most of the things they said and did felt way older than they were said to be. I would never have pegged Thomas at almost 5 near the start of the book.
~ Not necessarily a con because I think I'm just being slow, haha, but I still don't know whether it was Teresa or Dr. Paige that wrote the final memorandum to the staff at the end of the book. Also, after reading the Maze Runner book, either I'm missing something else or there's an inconsistency:
~ Like the rest of the books, a bit more usage of language (including 'made-up') than I'd like.
~ I'm not sure what to think about Thomas and his friends being able to sneak all over the place. I suppose it makes sense if WICKED was willing to let them do some things just to monitor them, but some things they did felt way too easy to get away with. Including them getting outside.
Overall, I know prequels tend to get a lot of grief, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I thought it was pretty well-written and most of all, I enjoyed the explanations, character development, and tie-ins to the rest of the series.
Pros:
~ I just like prequel stories. They can definitely mess stuff up if not done well, but I felt The Fever Code was pretty good about staying true to the original books while still offering valuable backstory.
~ Getting to see the main characters (Thomas, Teresa, Aris, Newt, Minho, Alby, Chuck, Gally, etc.) before their Maze adventures. Their personalities felt very consistent with the later books. And I liked Thomas and Teresa's characters a lot more after seeing them in this book. I was never very fond of either of them in the rest of the books.
~ The depth and backstory of the people working at WICKED. I found Dr. Paige's character development particularly fascinating. The contradictions in her actions between her love for the kids and her passion to find a cure no matter what the cost, seemed very human and made me appreciate her character more. Even if I despised her by the end.
~ As a whole, the entire portrayal of what WICKED did to try and find a cure. I often stopped and wondered what I would do in that situation, and it drew some thought-provoking questions. How much can be justified in pursuit of a final good? How do you even determine what is good? There was a constant back and forth of both selflessness and selfishness that gave depth and realism to the themes.
~Good intrigue and suspense, and many times that I couldn't quite tell what was going to happen next the first time I read it. Even re-reading it, the balance of foreshadowing and secrets was good.
~ Thomas 'forgetting' his real name. That sequence was well-done.
~ Newt's snippet of backstory at the beginning (and his family relationship with Lizzy)
~ In general, most of the things I liked about this book were because of the very nature of a prequel. I enjoyed all the tie-ins to the rest of the books, and the clues laid for the rest of the story. The explanations for things that happened later were neat to see. I enjoyed them.
Cons:
~ Parts of the prose itself seemed pretty amateurish. Not quite sure why, but there were several places that pulled me out of the story as the writer in me thought, "wow, that's a lot of 'telling'", or "that probably could have been worded better." I thought some parts could have been trimmed.
~ Thomas and Teresa's thoughts and actions when they were young. I get that they're supposed to be incredibly smart, but most of the things they said and did felt way older than they were said to be. I would never have pegged Thomas at almost 5 near the start of the book.
~ Not necessarily a con because I think I'm just being slow, haha, but I still don't know whether it was Teresa or Dr. Paige that wrote the final memorandum to the staff at the end of the book. Also, after reading the Maze Runner book, either I'm missing something else or there's an inconsistency:
Spoiler
In the memorandum mentioned above, it's claimed that Teresa's going to write 'WICKED is good' on her arm before her memory is wiped, but after she enters the Maze in Maze Runner, then she tells Thomas that she wrote it down in waking moments between feverish dreams.~ Like the rest of the books, a bit more usage of language (including 'made-up') than I'd like.
~ I'm not sure what to think about Thomas and his friends being able to sneak all over the place. I suppose it makes sense if WICKED was willing to let them do some things just to monitor them, but some things they did felt way too easy to get away with. Including them getting outside.
Overall, I know prequels tend to get a lot of grief, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I thought it was pretty well-written and most of all, I enjoyed the explanations, character development, and tie-ins to the rest of the series.