The Maze Runner

 
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Book Review: The Maze Runner
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Good Points
(Warning: Review may contain spoilers!)

To tell the truth, I expected a lot from this book, especially that the idea of a maze that changes every night is a highly intriguing concept. The movie adaptation, which I now realized did not entirely stayed loyal to the book, also did not help as I previously thought it was an awesome film (What, did you expect me to not like it when I can see Dylan O'Brien's face for the entire duration of the movie?). However, now that I've finally had the time to pick up The Maze Runner by James Dashner and have perused it over the course of three days (three days, can you believe that? I've never gone that long to finish a book!), I realize that perhaps I expected too greatly.

When I first started reading the book, I candidly did not enjoy it. I constantly found myself reading one or two chapters, then closing the book to go and do something else. I did not relish the first several chapters because I think that the story is going too slow for me. The narration goes at a plodding pace. There is a lot of repetition going on, mostly the parts where Dashner keeps mentioning how Thomas can remember the basics of life, like, what a hamburger is, what theatres are, but he cannot remember his family, his home, or who Thomas was with when he ate a hamburger or when he went to the theatre to catch a movie. Nonetheless, by somewhere near the middle of the book, when the actual content of the Maze is finally involved, that is when I found myself resisting the temptation to put the book down and give my eyes its much needed rest. The characters are suddenly interlaced with a lot of action and mystery and puzzling clues, which are often times the key elements that I always look for in a good book.

The Maze, overall, is one clever idea. Dashner has managed to create this harrowing puzzle that changes course every night, and is filled with ghastly creatures called Grievers. However, as slick as the idea is, I honestly feel like I would have liked The Maze Runner better had Thomas and his co-Runner Minho did not move in one specific area in the Maze. The route to the Cliff seems to be too "easy," so to say. I get it--I get that Minho have been mapping the Maze for two years and have the entire route memorized, thus the Cliff being easy to navigate, but I personally think that it would be more adventurous if the other sections of the Maze were also explored, not just mentioned. I think that it would have made the Maze sound even more intimidating and difficult.

Dashner's writing is simple with few prosaic similes. His choice of wording and sentence structure is easy to read, nevertheless, lacking words that sound almost too foreign that you have to pick up a dictionary as though to make sure the word actually exists in the English language--which is a good thing because, hey, less time browsing through the dictionary and more time to indulge in the story! Dashner's characters, however, have a certain diction that is kind of hard to understand in the beginning. Words like "shank," "splinthead," "shuck-face," "Greenie," and "klunk," were honestly hard for me to get used to. It makes me wonder how the early habitants of the Glade came up with those words--how they came up with their own language.

Notwithstanding the specific things that I did not like about the book, I cannot help but admire how Thomas's character can evoke emotions so easily. As I was reading the book, I felt irritated sometimes at Thomas's constant nagging, but it's so understandable because if you would just put yourself in Thomas's shoes, you'll also be asking tons of queries about what is going on. The way I see it, it is always good for an author to elicit emotions from their audience--whether it be sympathy, anger, irritation, love, or whatever, because that's when you would know that your writing is working. It's doing something that makes it capable of producing such reactions from their readers. Dashner is able to work that magic with me because I found it easy to connect with Thomas, to Newt, and to the other characters, no matter how shallow and cruel they seemed to be in the book.

As far as recommending The Maze Runner, if you are someone who is looking for a book with little to no romance at all and you just want to read something adventurous, The Maze Runner is the perfect novel to pick up. It may start out slow, but it eventually picks up pace once the real deal begins. Although I did not enjoy the book as much as I imagined I would, The Maze Runner is still promising with its heart-pounding action scenes and mystery that makes you want to either stay clear of the Maze or enter it and face the horror it houses.
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A Fun Read
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3.7
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The Maze Runner by James Dashner is another title in the uber-popular genre of YA books about teenagers in dangerous “fight-to-the-death” games. But in this case, the main character, Thomas, is not on television…probably. He doesn’t really know the truth because his memory is wiped.

Thomas, along with the rest of the cast, are stuck in the middle of the Glade. Right next to them is the mysterious Maze with ever changing walls. Somewhere, deep in the Maze are evil Grievers which are half slug, half robots ready to attack.

Will Thomas be able to solve the Maze and lead the other kids to freedom or is he actually their worst enemy?

My nine-year-old son loves, loves, loves The Maze Runner. He read it start to finish in one day. To me as an adult it seemed predictable but fun. I wish there were more female characters but I appreciate Dasher’s brilliance in crafting a book that makes adolescent boys want to read.
JB
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Really Good Book
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4.0
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I believe that this book is extremeley gripping, the plot and how James Dashner make me feel like I was
also in the shoes of the characters, overall this book is pretty awesome! I am still hoping that the rest of the series will be good or even better than this first one
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Good, familiar book
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3.7
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If you liked The Hunger Games then you will like this story. The book feels really familiar but still has
enough unique aspects to keep it interesting. It's worth your time to read it.
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Worth It
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4.3
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The Maze Runner By James Dashner was an action packed medium paced book. The book starts off with the main character Thomas arriving in a metal box with absolutely no idea of what happened to him before. He is than welcomed by a group of boys to a small little society that's enclosed from the outside world called the Glade. After being shown the rest of the glade Thomas realized that he wont be leaving the glade anytime soon. Since it is closed off by huge chunks of wall called the maze that surround the glade. Now since hearing of this book I was quick to put it a side as it did not capture my interest whatsoever, just seemed like another version of the Hunger Game which I had already read. But after given it a second look, I could not put it down. I would recommend this to anyone who liked the Hunger games and the Divergent series.
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Great plot, but lacks a bit of interets in times
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4.0
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I really do not know what to think about this book. For the most I liked the plot, but it wasn't my favorite book. I did like the characters. I enjoyed the friendship between Thomas & Chuck.

I will pick up the next book, but I do not when. Do you think I should? Will the story I get better as it processes?
AG
Top 500 Reviewer
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The Maze Runner Review!
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4.3
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Wish there was more introduction to the plot!
Good Points
I just finished The Maze Runner and I’m a little bit skeptical. I’m really glad I didn’t have any huge expectations, because although it was a good story it wasn’t as great as I thought it was going to be.

James Dashner shared with us a story about a teenage boy named Thomas who enters the Glade. When Thomas shows up he doesn’t remember anything about himself and he doesn’t know where of why he is in the Glade. The only thing he remembers is his name and that’s how we start off the story.

I think what made the book so slow for me was that Dashner took forever to tell us the background information and finally get into the story. The first few chapters of the book are just Thomas going around trying to find out where he is and why. like the books that tell us the background quickly in the prologue so we can get right into the story and I think if Dashner was to take a little time to write a prologue that told us what the Glade was and things like that it would have been a lot better, For me anyways.

I liked the few friendships Thomas had while he was in the Maze. Truthfully he really made about three friends including Chuck, Newt, and Minho. Out of those three Chuck was my favorite because he was with Thomas from the beginning and he was just plain old goofy I loved him! My next favorite was Newt because he was just an all around good guy. He hated the bad guys and he was a great leader! Lastly there was Minho who I liked because he basically took Thomas under is wing.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars because of points I talked about in the beginning, but I’m going to give this trilogy another chance and go ahead and read the second book. Not right away but I’m going to give it a try!
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The Maze Runner
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4.3
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Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
Genre: YA Thriller

Where I got it: ODLC (the library’s e-book collection)

One sentence: Thomas wakes up with no memory of his past in a community of teens inside a giant maze, but as soon as he gets there, things start to change in the maze and in Thomas, as he realizes he might hold the secrets to finally escaping the maze.

Themes: Secrets, loss of memory, suspense, mystery, post-apocalyptic

Main character: I felt like there was very little characterization for the main characters, Thomas and Teresa. I couldn’t really connect with them beyond imagining what I personally would feel in the situations they were in. Thomas had Gary-Stu qualities; he showed up having no idea where he was, magically knew he wanted to be a runner, broke all the rules, became a runner anyway and earlier than anyone before, and ending up leading the entire group.

Secondary characters: I found that I liked some of the secondary characters like Newt, Minho and Chuck better than Thomas or Teresa, simply because they had more depth. They had faults that I could connect with and were interesting to read.

Writing style: A little dry. Sometimes I knew there was an intense moment and I just couldn’t get into it because of the writing. I like how Dashner came up with new slang for the Gladers because it really expanded the world and reflected the fact that they had been so separated from the rest of the world that their vocabulary had evolved differently.

Plot: This is what really drew me into the story. I loved the idea of the maze and how Dashner wove in the post-apocalyptic bits. The only part that really disappointed me was the ending (see section below). It probably should have just cut off when they left the maze.

Best scene: Where Thomas, Minho and Alby spend the night in the maze

Positives: Plot, suspense, gasp-worthy epiphanies, setting, mysteries of the maze

Negatives: Characterization, some dry writing, ending.

Ending: A little disappointing after a good rest of the book. Probably could have waited until the next book, just because it was so different from what the rest of the book had been.

Verdict: A good, suspenseful read. The few flaws did not distract me too much from the great plot. I will definitely read the next book.

Rating: 7.6 / 10
A
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MAR-VO- LES
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Reader reviewed by LUNA

the title i gave this review is nothing but the truth 100% the truth.
 the book is amazing i do have to admit i read for four hours straight!!!
it was so captivating ........ there also was a matter of the amount of how grusme
the book is ...........but it was so worth it i could not stop!!!!!!!! it has certianly never been done before it is new and untoched .........both thumbs up!!!!!!!!!

G
#1 Reviewer
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