Author: James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 384 (hardcover)
Genre: Dystopian, YA, Sci-fi
Rating: 5 Stars
I actually finished this only four or five minutes ago and was just floored, I knew I had to review it and get all of my thoughts out right away.
When I first started reading The Maze Runner, I honestly didn't think I would get into it as much as I did! In the beginning it's really hard to get used to how language and dialect of the characters, they have a completely made up vocabulary. But once you get past that confusion, it's just a fascinating story.
There are soooo many dystopian novels out recently, that it's hard to separate from the pack and really stand out but this book really does. The concept is just so out there and unique, I couldn't put this book down for anything unless I really had to.
A group of boys are thrown into this place called the Glade, they have no memory of who they are, where they're from or even how old they are. They're brought to the Glade in what they call "The Box" and are basically just scared out of their wits. They have no idea why they are there, just that they're stuck and have to try to find a way out. Outside of the Glade is the Maze, where these evil monsters called Grievers that are half machine live and can poison you with their venomous needles. The description of these creatures is just so bizarre, that if you were ever actually faced with them you would just be completely terrified. They have these mechanically metal arms, and a pulsating jelly-like body, with metal spikes that shoot out of their sides, they can scale walls and basically devour you if they catch you and intend to kill. The walls of the Maze change each night, the boys of the Glade before Thomas arrived thought that they would eventually find the right path through the maze that would lead them out. When Thomas arrives, he is constantly hit with feelings of deja vu but he can never understand why or recall anything. Throughout the story he remembers things here and there and other Gladers who have been stung by a Griever can also remember things because it is a side effect of a Griever sting/serum.
I really loved the personalities of the different characters and after a while you get so used to their language that you just understand it and it's actually funny. I thought it was clever too how Dashner named the characters after scientists because the characters actually find out towards the end of the book that the names they think are there's actually aren't and were planted in their minds. Thomas was given the name after Thomas Edison, Newt after Isaac Newton and Alby after Albert Einstein. I think of my most favorite characters would have to be Chuck. He's just this sweet little boy, around 11 or 12, that is just so optimistic about getting home and was Thomas's first friend and at one point his only friend. I just thought his character was really sweet and a breath of fresh air when there was all of this gloom and doom happening throughout the story.
This story never really had a dull moment, there was something constantly happening where you couldn't put it down. Another thing that made it hard to put down was that most chapters ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger, so you had to keep going to see what was going to happen. Definitely one of the best books I've read recently.
Time to download The Scorch Trials on my nook because I can't wait long enough to go to the bookstore..
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