The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

2009, Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Series: Book 1 of Maze Runner

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: 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 thirty 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.

The Good: This is a massively impressive world Dashner has created. I was constantly questioning what was going on, why it was happening and what it could all mean. There was a real fear response on my part to the situation Thomas and the others were living in. Had books like this been around when I was a kid, I would have had nightmares.

The Bad: The Maze Runner was just so hard for me to get into. While the story made me fear for the characters in a general sense, I had trouble connecting with any of them. Without that emotional connection, I could have put the book down at any time with only a slight curiosity as to what comes next.