Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Grade: B

Pages: 374
Summary:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. 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 expanse enclosed 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, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.


Plus: A quick take on a dystopian world, where kids are bizarrely put into the Maze as part of an experiment to showcase the really smart ones. I enjoyed the second half of the book, and the story got better once the girl woke up. The ending is terrific, and has a surprising twist.

 

Minus: Initially, when Thomas arrives at the Maze, he is obviously confused and has a lot of questions. What irked me is that no one took the time to sit him down and explain a few basic rules to help him aclimatize. The seasoned kids just brushed off his questions, saying he would learn for himself. In the book, they came off as callous, and Thomas appears utterly lost. Perhaps the author could have tweaked this so there wasn't such a long period of no-one answering questions. I also had a minor issue with the faux swearwords used by the guys - "Shuck" for ex, just seemed like a placeholder for a stronger word. 

Overall: Well, while I did enjoy the latter half of the novel, I found the first half really whiny. The characters weren't great, and not very memorable. I found it a little surprising that teenage boys could have self-organized to the extent of having a council - the characters described made it hard for me to imagine they had rational thought. The ending made up for a lot, so overall it is a decent read.

I would recommend it to:

Readers who enjoyed the Hunger Games series, YA fans looking for a different story.