Published October 2009 by Delacorte BFYR
3 Stars
Goodreads Review
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 30 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.
Review: I was really excited to read the maze runner after having met James Dashner at a book signing for his newest series, The Infinity Ring. He had such enthusiasm for writing for kids and encouraging them to read that I wanted to read all of his books right now! However, I was really disappointed with a lot of what happened in The Maze Runner. (sad panda!)
The one thing that got really old with The Maze Runner was the withholding of information from Thomas just because "you don't need to know that right now greenie". UGH WHATEVER! I hate books that try and create tension by purposefully keeping the main character in the dark. It's one thing if the character has amnesia, that I don't mind, but it's when they ask a specific question and are told "you don't need to know that" or "I'll tell you later". No. NO! TELL ME NOW!
This is especially true in a dystopian type setting. Like ok, if it's a contemporary and the reason you don't want to tell the main character something is because you have too many feels and you're just not ready yet or whatever ok. I get that. BUT in a dystopian kind of setting information is how you survive! Why would you with not tell someone some vital information for no reason other than you think it doesn't matter or they don't need to know? That's crazy talk! And yet this went on for pages and pages during The Maze Runner.
However, a pretty interesting story did develop. While I wasn't a huge fan of the majority of The Maze Runner I like where it's going. I was really drawn into the story in the last 25% of the book, so that's where the 3 stars came from. So while the second book, The Scorch Trials, isn't very high on my TBR pile, it's in there. I'm not giving up yet!
