The Maze Runner by James Dashner (may contain spoilers)

[zaynab_m]

Warning: May contain minor spoilers only, not major ones.

The story begins when a teenage boy, Thomas, wakes up and finds himself in an elevator. He remembered nothing, no solid facts, except his first name. He did, however, recall abstract general ideas like snow settling on tree tops, people at the city square, a road covered with leaves. But his mind couldn't remeber concrete, important things about him. He rememered nothing of where he lived, who his family was, whether he even had a family or not. He didn't know who he was. But most of all, he didn't know how he had gotten here, into this rickety old, dark, elevator, that showed no signs of stopping.
Thomas panicked, and when the lift finally came to a halt he was greeted with the faces of a hoard of teenage boys around his age. He had no clue as to who they were and why they were here. He didn't know why he was here, for that matter. The group of boys looked rough; they weren't dressed very well. And the greeting they gave him wasn't the friendliest, either.
Thomas lived in the Glade for the next two months or so, trying to adjust to the lifestyle of the Gladers, as the boys called themselves. He then goes on a mission to find his way through the seemingly unsolvable maze that surrounded the Glade, and to ultimately find a way out of his prison.
During the end of his stay at the Glade, an unusual and unheard-of-in-the-Glade event occurs - the arrival of a girl. Her name is Teresa. As soon as she was taken out of the lift, unconscious, Thomas's life took a turning point.

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I gave this book 3 stars out of 4. It was overall a thrilling read, full of excitement and suspense. There was satirical humor in many places, and I even found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. The plot is original and unique; definitely an enticing read. The "mini-mysteries" dotting the storyline provide interesting journey through the book; these "mini-mysteries" being, for example, what WICKED is and what it stands for, and the crumpled note Tessa clutched when she arrived etc.
The Maze Runner has its own blend of sci-fi, young adult fiction, and just a tiny bit of romance.
However, there is a reason I gave it 3 stars out of 4. My biggest quibble, that isn't really a complaint, just an opinion, is that the book had some violence and was quite gruesome, the Cranks being a perfect example. Of course, some people might not mind such vividly described - that being a compliment - images of people with diseases, others might even enjoy such aspects of the series. The first book was the least repulsive in my opinion, hence I actually read the whole thing. I couldn't get through more than the first few pages of The Kill Order due to the same reason - it was too sickening for my liking.
I would recommend The Maze Runner to people interested in thrillers (who isn't?) and also sci-fi. And of course, if you don't get queasy like me, because of little things!

Sorry if this review was long, I wanted to get out all my thoughts on the altogether, awesome beginning of a series by James Dashner!

-Zaynab

[gali]

Duplicated topic

The Maze Runner