The Maze Runner

I give it kudos for having a pretty interesting concept, but unfortunately, for a book called "The Maze Runner," main character Thomas spent precious little time in the Maze. Most of the book is spent with Thomas either getting accustomed to the Glade, breaking the rules of the Glade, or mulling over the secrets of the Maze inside the Glade. That said, the scenes in the Maze were pretty interesting to read and rather enjoyable- unfortunately, it was at a smaller percentage of the book than I hoped it would be.

Besides the 'withholding important info' way of progressing the plot and Thomas's complete Marty Stu affliction (complete with his instalove with Theresa- yeah, they knew each other before, but weren't they both amnesiacs who knew nothing about THEMSELVES, much less their romance?), Dashner has an annoying method of telling rather than showing. I kid you not, there was one scene where he writes, 'Thomas helped out a bit, then asked Minho if he could assist. Minho told him to get busy because he had a special mission to do, and Thomas felt hurt.' I'm paraphrasing a little, but that's exactly how it went down. Why didn't he just write that dialogue? It could have taken four sentences, and it could have been something as simple as this:

"Hey, Minho, can I help out?"

"Buzz off, Greenie. I have something else to do- a special mission- and you can't be hanging around ruining my concentration."

"Sorry," Thomas huffed, skulking away.

I'm sure other people could write better dialogues of the same scene. But still. The fact that in this scene and others, dialogue is summarized when it could be easily written, was grating and repetitive.

One of the worst moments, stylistically speaking- and I won't even mark this as a spoiler because it's so insignificant (and predictable) in the way Dashner writes this- is when Thomas figures out the code to the Maze and needs the maps to show his enlightenment to everyone else. But GASP! The maps are all destroyed! Thomas gets upset and tells everyone he had figured out the secret... and then DOUBLE GASP! The other kids admit they lied and the maps are fine. That sort of scene could have had potential, except for the fact that were was no tension throughout since there was almost no space between thinking the maps are destroyed and realizing they aren't. The 'fact' the maps are gone is blown away before the reader can even process what that means, and it's even worse considering that the book gives absolutely no context why the boys would hide that from Thomas- another character they hid it from makes sense (due to context), but Thomas?

Overall, an average read. Three stars because it kept me interested enough to finish reading it, but the horrible ending and the problems above made this merely 'okay' at best. I probably won't be reading the rest of the series; since all of the characters feel and talk exactly the same (seriously- try replacing a dialogue tag with another character and see if it changes anything; it doesn't), I'm not remotely interested how their struggle will end.

If you love any kind of dystopian novel, you'd love this one. The author has an amazing way of pulling you into the story and keeping you there. I loved how at almost every end of a chapter there was a 'WTF' sentence that made you need to read the next one, and the next one, etc. A very intense read, even though it seemed bad language was censored by words made up by the author, there were still gory details that made it an intense read. I didn't give it five stars because unfortunately I'm now always comparing dystopian novels to [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293504845s/2767052.jpg|2792775]. I have high hopes for [b:The Scorch Trials|7631105|The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)|James Dashner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280164815s/7631105.jpg|6574198] and can't wait to read it therefore I am reading it next!

If you love any kind of dystopian novel, you'd love this one. The author has an amazing way of pulling you into the story and keeping you there. I loved how at almost every end of a chapter there was a 'WTF' sentence that made you need to read the next one, and the next one, etc. A very intense read, even though it seemed bad language was censored by words made up by the author, there were still gory details that made it an intense read. I didn't give it five stars because unfortunately I'm now always comparing dystopian novels to [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293504845s/2767052.jpg|2792775]. I have high hopes for [b:The Scorch Trials|7631105|The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)|James Dashner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1280164815s/7631105.jpg|6574198] and can't wait to read it therefore I am reading it next!

What. The. Book. This book is CRAZY. Let me be clear: I do not think this is a well-written book, or even a good one really, but it is balls the wall and I have to respect that. I like it the way I like the movie

Cube (not to mention Cube 2 and Cube 3: Hypercube*). I know it isn't well written, with strange metaphors, bad dialogue, and really not good writing, but I LOVED IT ANYWAY. It is a cult classic. Well, maybe not, but it is a lot of fun. 50-something boys are trapped in a large courtyard surrounded by a maze; the oldest boy has been there for 2 years. Every 30 days a new boy is delivered via elevator, and every week the same elevator brings supplies. The boys have divided themselves into work teams to take full advantage of the structures in place, the livestock, and the plumbing/electric. Every day they send boys into the maze to run through it looking for an exit; every day those boys run back to the Glade and map out what they've found, if they survive the monsters in the maze.

For 2 years they don't find anything. Then Thomas shows up, (typically) not remembering his name but knowing something about the Glade is familiar and immediately wanting to get into the maze. Now, I did not really like Thomas. Or any of the characters. Mostly because they weren't developed well, they have bad dialogue, and they are totally overshadowed by the situation. The whole book is a giant puzzle from the first to the last word. It's the most fun I've had reading in a long time.

*If you have not seen these movies you need to stop reading right now and track them down.

Pretty good, not the best book I've read, but exciting and fresh.

Good, and interesting, but a little too creepy

I loved this book! Totally engaging. Love the characters and the world they lived in... can't wait to read more!

I really liked this series. Thomas had to prove he was up to the task of being a runner and when he finally did, he changed how the entire community looked at the maze.