Book Review: The Maze Runner
Thomas woke up in an elevator. Pitch black. No memories. When the doors finally open he finds himself at the center of a maze – called The Glade - with dozens of boys staring at him. As Thomas tries to fit in to the community around him and make friends with the other Gladers, he learns that each day runners head out into the maze to find a way out, only to return at night while the maze change its pattern for the next day. The boys still return each day trying for years to solve an unsolvable puzzle – can you say frustrating? Furthermore, the walls to the Glade close down each night to protect the boys from the deadly Grievers.
Two days after Thomas’ arrival the only girl who has ever arrived at the maze shows up. And things change. Now the boys have to find a way out. No matter what.
This is high-concept book with an over-arching consipiracy theme – think The X Files or Lost. Why are these boys living in a maze? Why can’t they remember anything about their previous life? What are the grievers and who put them there? How do they get out? Throw in dystopia, telepathy, and deadly viruses and, well, I could not put this book down. It helps that the author ends every single chapter in a nail-biting cliff hanger. I literally had to ask myself, can I make it until tomorrow to find out what happens. I made a lot of coffee the week I read this book, trying to recover from my late night of reading. The author leaves the reader guessing through most of the book, which can be frustrating at times (and if you follow Lost, you know what I mean – this books has the same feel to it) as you are practically begging for an answer, ANY answer rather than more questions.
And this book is scary. Perhaps even nightmare scary, but definitely wide-eyed, holy-crap scary.
My one criticism is the characters need some more developing. As we learn later in the book, these kids are suppose to be the “best of the best”, but even Thomas himself seems a bit whiny and sulky. But, I chose to put the weak character development aside and just enjoy the action.
This book gets my highest recommendation and it will appeal to both boys and girls 12 years old and up. The ending of this book actually makes the reader GROWL in complete and utter surprise and disbelief. Then you will get a DEMAND from your child for the next book in the series – which has not been published yet.
Title: The Maze Runner Author: James Dashner Genre: Science Fiction , Dystopia Age: 12 and up
