Monday, March 5, 2012

Book Review: The Maze Runner


Author: James Dashner
              Website
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 Pages: 374
 Publisher: Delacorte Press
 Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian
 First Published: August 24, 2010
 First Line: “He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.”
 Buy it from: Amazon
                   Barnes & Noble

The GIST (From Goodreads):

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

OPINION: 

This book was a bit frustrating to me. Everything about the main character, Thomas, is introduced to the reader as Thomas learns it about himself. Tom wakes up in the beginning not knowing anything about himself but his name. We learn things as slowly as Thomas learns them. AND THEY WERE SLOW. Sometimes I felt like smacking the other boys who wouldn't tell Tom anything and they did it for no apparent reason.

I wasn't expecting such a mystery. It was the only reason I kept going. I didn't really have many feelings for Thomas or his friends in the things that happened to them although I was interested to see what the whole mystery of the maze was. In the end, I had developed a lot more connection with the boys while being slightly disappointed with the maze. As for the characters, I liked Thomas; he was brave and self-less. Hopefully more will be revealed about him as the story goes on. I also like Minho, Alby and Chuck. Everyone had pretty distinguishable personalities. Maybe it was just the inherent mystery of the plot but I didn't feel like I knew them too well. Hopefully the author goes further into their backgrounds in the next book.

The mystery of it turned out to be completely unsolvable unless Thomas would have been there. I thought the solution would have just been smacking all the boys in the face, it wasn't so. What the end of the maze does lead to was very intriguing and I really want to find out more but, God, I don't know if I want to read the next book. I mean, I'm interested in seeing what happens to Thomas and his friends, but I don't know if I'll be emotionally able to handle it for a while. I feel like a sissy, but I'm going to stick with less intense books for a little and then try to pick up the sequel.

OVERALL:
This was great dystopian novel. It held mystery, a seriously messed up world and a lot of danger. If you're looking for a lot of character development, this isn't the place. Not because of the author but because of the plot. I'm looking forward to getting to know the characters and the world better in the next book ----8.0