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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
its a book that you cant put down
but it could have been better
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, follows (approximately) 16 year old Thomas and his experience when he wakes up, with no memory of his past, in a place called the Glade. The Glade is like a little town self-run by boys, from the ages of 12-18, who were also dropped into this place without a clue who they were. Surrounding the Glade is a giant maze that is open during the day but closes off, and changes, every night. In the maze there are creatures called Grievers that are basically grey blobs of evil (not even joking that's how they're described) and they come out at night which forces the boys back into the Glade to sleep.
Things have always been systematic, with getting a new boy each month, new supplies every two weeks, and the doors of the maze closing each night, until Thomas gets there. Then crazy stuff starts happening, like a girl named Teresa being dropped off whom Thomas has a telepathic connection with and knows from his past (he doesn't get his memories back, it's just something he ~knows).
The entire plot is way too complicated and long to summarize, but I found it quite enjoyable. Dystopian is a popular genre atm yet I found this fresh and exciting- I read it in about two days. I'm usually reluctant to read books that are a part of a series because I find a) things never seemed to be answered or explained, as a poor attempt at creating intrigue I suppose, and b) after a while (because it seems all YA series seem destined to be extremely long) I get bored of them. That being said, I think Dashner did a pretty good job with this book. While many things are still unclear, enough questions were answered to leave me feeling satisfied. Also, I applaud him for not exploiting the romance between Thomas and Teresa. There's obviously some sexual tension there, and I'm sure it will come to point in later books, but it has always seemed so unrealistic to me that, in the face of the end of the world or a revolution or some other life altering event, the teens involved have time to focus on a budding romance along with saving mankind (I mean shit I can't even focus on eating and reading at the same time).
The part where the book fell flat for me was the characters. (Well, and the writing style. It read like a first person pov and was repetitive- like I swear to god if I had to read one more time about how weird it was that Thomas didn't have any memories of his past, yet he had basic knowledge of how the world worked, I was gonna scream.) For some reason, even after 350 pages, I didn't really feel like I knew, or had connected with, any of the characters. I won't give away any major spoilers, but I will say that at the end there is a scene that should have been extremely emotional but just wasn't for me because I didn't have any strong attachments to the characters. Part of this may have been because none of the characters knew their past, and therefore barely *knew* themselves, but I still feel Dashner failed majorly with this part. For me, the characters are just as, if not more important than the plot in any given work.
As for whether I will read the next in the series, the juries still out. The stack of books by my bed and on my to-read list indicate no, but I am curious to know plot-wise what happens next, so only time will tell.
Things have always been systematic, with getting a new boy each month, new supplies every two weeks, and the doors of the maze closing each night, until Thomas gets there. Then crazy stuff starts happening, like a girl named Teresa being dropped off whom Thomas has a telepathic connection with and knows from his past (he doesn't get his memories back, it's just something he ~knows).
The entire plot is way too complicated and long to summarize, but I found it quite enjoyable. Dystopian is a popular genre atm yet I found this fresh and exciting- I read it in about two days. I'm usually reluctant to read books that are a part of a series because I find a) things never seemed to be answered or explained, as a poor attempt at creating intrigue I suppose, and b) after a while (because it seems all YA series seem destined to be extremely long) I get bored of them. That being said, I think Dashner did a pretty good job with this book. While many things are still unclear, enough questions were answered to leave me feeling satisfied. Also, I applaud him for not exploiting the romance between Thomas and Teresa. There's obviously some sexual tension there, and I'm sure it will come to point in later books, but it has always seemed so unrealistic to me that, in the face of the end of the world or a revolution or some other life altering event, the teens involved have time to focus on a budding romance along with saving mankind (I mean shit I can't even focus on eating and reading at the same time).
The part where the book fell flat for me was the characters. (Well, and the writing style. It read like a first person pov and was repetitive- like I swear to god if I had to read one more time about how weird it was that Thomas didn't have any memories of his past, yet he had basic knowledge of how the world worked, I was gonna scream.) For some reason, even after 350 pages, I didn't really feel like I knew, or had connected with, any of the characters. I won't give away any major spoilers, but I will say that at the end there is a scene that should have been extremely emotional but just wasn't for me because I didn't have any strong attachments to the characters. Part of this may have been because none of the characters knew their past, and therefore barely *knew* themselves, but I still feel Dashner failed majorly with this part. For me, the characters are just as, if not more important than the plot in any given work.
As for whether I will read the next in the series, the juries still out. The stack of books by my bed and on my to-read list indicate no, but I am curious to know plot-wise what happens next, so only time will tell.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
For a book that's at its core a human drama about hope, despair, courage and fear, it does surprisingly little character exploration and everybody felt relatively one-beat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence
Moderate: Body horror
I listened to this as an audiobook since I never read it in the post Hunger Games craze back in the day. I loved the dystopian plot and I think it’s an interesting concept. I only gave it 3 stars because I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style but still invested in the series and look forward to listening to the next book. I agree with a lot of other reviews that the characters didn’t have as much dimension as the ones in HG.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated