The Maze Runner - Review

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, # 1)

By: James Dashner

Published: October 6th 2009 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

374 pages

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Source: Borrowed from my local library

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Goodreads description--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.

I read the description for The Maze Runner like a couple of years ago and decided that I wanted to add it to my TBR list. But it's been since I initially added it that I've read the description, and I don't think I've read a single review for this book either. That being said, I pretty much went into The Maze Runner blind--which is a good thing to me.

The Maze Runner was definitely different from most of the books I like to read. I like books that are about lurve! But that's not really what The Maze Runner is about. You do find out that Thomas has a connection to Teresa (the girl who shows up the day after him) where perhaps before they had their memories wiped they might have been developing a "thing," but no memories means we don't know for sure.

Anyway, Thomas was a likable character for me, but I didn't get too attached to many of the other Gladers. For some reason the majority of the guys living in the Glade were kind of secretive about what's going on. They pretty much kept Thomas in the dark about everything, but they'd get annoyed when he pressed for answers or when he didn't really know what was going on. Of course, Thomas couldn't leave himself in the dark and so he did what any sane person would do who has woke up in the middle of a maze with no memory of their previous life, he kept pressing until he got answers. All the secrecy between the guys in the Glade keeps  the reader in the dark just as much as Thomas and so from a reading stand point I was hooked early on to find out just what in the world is going on. However, that same aspect also got old quick.

I loved how James Dashner created this world of the Glade and the Maze. I loved how the kids had their own language and terminology that has been developed over time. But I never could really picture the Grievers like Mr. Dashner described them. I came up with one picture in my head after Thomas's first glimpse of a Griever through the window, but then Thomas's first encounter with one in the actual Maze gave me a completely different picture. --I'm completely aware that if you haven't read this book, you have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'm trying not to spoil anything.

All in all, I'm very intrigued to see what the next test and environment is going to be thrown at these poor kids in The Scorch Trials, book 2. The Maze Runner gets 4 Stars from me. What do you think? Have you read The Maze Runner? Let me know!