By: James Dashner
Published: October 6, 2009
Published By: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Description: The first book in the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series—The Maze Runner is a modern classic, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.
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.
My Thoughts: This was one of those books I picked up because I heard a lot of hype about it, and then got afraid that it wouldn’t quite stack up, so it stayed on my shelf for forever. I finally picked it up the other day, and I read through it in a day. All in all, it was a pretty good book.
We follow Thomas, who’s been dropped in the center of this Maze with all these other guys. The ultimate goal of course, is to get out. Unfortunately, it’s been 2 years, and none of the other guys have been able to find a way out, so they doubt the possibility that Thomas will be able to. The difference between then and now though is, Thomas has been able to do things no others can do, he has secrets in his mind that imply that he knows more than others, and they no longer have as much time as they want. With the addition of a Female to the environment, things in the maze begin to change, and the lives of everyone are at stake.
The story started out pretty slow. We were dropped in the story and were just as clueless as Thomas. Though I understand the author’s reasoning, this was utterly frustrating. I hate not knowing what’s going on, and as Thomas asked questions that went unanswered by people that knew the answer, I grew pretty annoyed. It got better as I went on though, and more things were revealed. The storyline was well thought out and it was an interesting book. That being said, I don’t like Thomas. I can’t quite put my finger on why though; I just know I don’t like him. I think if I met him in real life, I would ignore every word out of his mouth.
I think the hype surrounding this book messed it up for me. If I had just picked it up with no expectations, I would probably have given it 5 stars. It was certainly good, just not as good as I’d hoped. I give it 4 stars.
2 comments:
I started trying to read this one a while back because of all the hype and because it's being made into a move. I couldn't keep going because as you said it's so slow.......Don't know if I'll pick it back up again if it does that thing where characters withhold vital information!
I agree that it is very slow in the beginning. I really enjoyed this read because of the premise and the mystery of it all. Having completed the series, I think you are onto something with Thomas. I can't pin point why like you but I didn't feel that way as early as you.
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