** spoiler alert ** 
 Confusion. That is all I feel after finishing this series. 
 I enjoyed the first book; it was intriguing with compelling characters and it had a lot of potential. The second book was less enjoyable, mainly because strange things kept happening without any explanation (for instance, were those hanging dead bodies in the beginning real or not?). I did not like what happened with Teresa and Aris; it started out interesting but then fell flat because there didn't seem to be a real purpose to it. I held out hope though because I thought surely everything would be explained in the final book. 
 Nope. Still confused. 
 WHY didn't Thomas want his memories back? That made no sense to me, as it could've only helped him escape from WICKED. What was the purpose of him being locked in a white-walled room for three weeks? Who was the actual leader of WICKED? Why didn't Chancellor Paige ever make an actual appearance in the story? Why did she change her mind about WICKED? Why did she leave Thomas a note but not talk to him directly? Was she immune? If she was a chancellor, why didn't she have more power in the company? What was she a chancellor of? What was Brenda's connection to her? Why did Brenda change so much? What kind of "patterns" was WICKED looking for in the Gladers' brains that required them to go through the Maze and then the Scorch? Where the heck did that ending come from? 
 I spent half of this novel thinking everything that was happening was fake because it was just another trail and test for Thomas. I thought Brenda was bad the whole time. And I did not like how Thomas treated Teresa -- the poor girl! There was so much more that could've been done with her character. 
 Minho and Newt were the best parts because they're the only ones that ever say anything sensible. I also liked that Gally came back, though I never really understood his role in the Right Arm. (Don't even get me started on the stupidity of the Right Arm. Their only purpose seemed to be to create a run-for-your-lives scenario at the very end.) 
 I put off reading this series for a long while, and now all I feel is disappointment in it. I'm actually hopeful that the movies will be better, and I never think that's actually possible.