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kaishi01's review against another edition
4.0
def going through a “rereading old ya dystopian books i was obsessed with 10 years ago” phase & this one holds up well
abiebowers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
3.0
sarahchabs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
beaktastic's review against another edition
4.0
So I really enjoyed this book. It's one I heard about ages, thought it sounded intriguing, but I had other books higher up my 'to read' list and so I left it. Then I heard it was being turned into a film and my interest piqued more. Then i was reading another book recently that I just found way too boring and such a slog, and decided I needed something a bit easier and more fun to jump into. I chose this. Overall a good choice I think... If I could, I would rate this 4.5 stars (Goodreads - introduce half stars already!!)
The Maze Runner starts off with a boy, Thomas, waking up in a strange lift that takes him to the Glade. He remembers nothing about his life before he arrived in the Glade other than his name. The Glade is inhabited by teenage boys who arrived in a similar fashion to him. The lift delivers a new boy every 30 days. It is surrounded by an unsolvable maze, and at night is haunted by mysterious and deadly creatures known as Grievers. When Thomas arrives, it's just another day in the Glade. The day after however, the lift delivers another new person - this time, a girl. A girl with a message that will change the life of all the Gladers, and Thomas, forever. The race is on to solve the Maze and a find a way home... wherever that is...
So like I said, I really enjoyed this book. I thought the concept was interesting and a bit different amongst most YA literature lately (although it does obviously originate from older stories, like the Greek myth). I can see why it is being pegged for fans of the Hunger Games, and I would say that is a reasonable comparison.
At first it was really hard to get my head around the language. Dashner introduces a whole vocabulary that is used in the Glade, with slang terms thrown around like 'shuck face', 'klunk' etc. This was hard to get used to at first but it soon became easy to follow, and I feel this was intentional on Dashner's part so the reader would mirror Thomas' own confusion.
I thought the overall plot was quite exciting and thrilling, and whilst it was vaguely obvious what some things would happen, on the whole even I couldn't guess a lot of the specifics, or fathom out all of how the Maze would be solved and stuff.
Thomas was kind of an annoying main character, but not too much. I kind of found it hard to relate to him at times and sympathise with him, but I think characterization is a slight flaw of Dashner's. I thought a lot of his characters felt a little flat - Teresa, Chuck etc. But on the whole this wasn't a major issue for me for this kind of book and series.
I felt like some of the plot twists and revelations kind of came out of left field and were forced, or otherwise were poorly explained. Like how I also thought the ending was a bit confusing, yet intriguing, and whilst I'm slightly annoyed that it wasn't fully explained to my satisfaction, I suppose that's because Thomas doesn't understand what happened (thanks to that epilogue reveal clueing the reader in a bit) and mirrors the language thing I mentioned earlier.
I felt like some expository stuff was really convenient, such as Thomas, and it was kind of annoying that characters such as Newt would refuse to talk about certain aspects of the Glade or the Maze or the Grievers for ages, until all of sudden they changed their mind because it was more convenient for the story for it to be revealed then.
I also didn't feel like the Grievers were scary enough. They're basically giant slugs, which whilst creepy, aren't particularly terrifying (although the Grievers obviously have some modifications to help with that). I kind feel like for it to have been really scary the Griever's should have been scarier monsters, like modified-wolves or bears or something. I dunno. But I suppose in terms of the in-story, from the Creators POV, they would have been harder to 'defeat' as it were...
I feel like these are minor issues though, and I think some of these things, such as things not being fully explained or a lack of depth in some characters, will obviously change as the books in the series continue.
Overall, I thought this was a really good and exciting book, and a good start to what will hopefully be a thrilling trilogy.
P.S. - also, so much YA literature these days is told by a young, feisty girls POV, so it was refreshing to have this story told from the POV of a teenage boy. :)
The Maze Runner starts off with a boy, Thomas, waking up in a strange lift that takes him to the Glade. He remembers nothing about his life before he arrived in the Glade other than his name. The Glade is inhabited by teenage boys who arrived in a similar fashion to him. The lift delivers a new boy every 30 days. It is surrounded by an unsolvable maze, and at night is haunted by mysterious and deadly creatures known as Grievers. When Thomas arrives, it's just another day in the Glade. The day after however, the lift delivers another new person - this time, a girl. A girl with a message that will change the life of all the Gladers, and Thomas, forever. The race is on to solve the Maze and a find a way home... wherever that is...
So like I said, I really enjoyed this book. I thought the concept was interesting and a bit different amongst most YA literature lately (although it does obviously originate from older stories, like the Greek myth). I can see why it is being pegged for fans of the Hunger Games, and I would say that is a reasonable comparison.
At first it was really hard to get my head around the language. Dashner introduces a whole vocabulary that is used in the Glade, with slang terms thrown around like 'shuck face', 'klunk' etc. This was hard to get used to at first but it soon became easy to follow, and I feel this was intentional on Dashner's part so the reader would mirror Thomas' own confusion.
I thought the overall plot was quite exciting and thrilling, and whilst it was vaguely obvious what some things would happen, on the whole even I couldn't guess a lot of the specifics, or fathom out all of how the Maze would be solved and stuff.
Thomas was kind of an annoying main character, but not too much. I kind of found it hard to relate to him at times and sympathise with him, but I think characterization is a slight flaw of Dashner's. I thought a lot of his characters felt a little flat - Teresa, Chuck etc. But on the whole this wasn't a major issue for me for this kind of book and series.
I felt like some of the plot twists and revelations kind of came out of left field and were forced, or otherwise were poorly explained. Like how
Spoiler
Teresa suddenly 'triggered' the end whilst in the middle of her coma - how she triggered it or what caused her coma is never fully explained to my satisfaction. Also, the fact Thomas and Teresa are telepathic!? This was just a bit strange and jarring. I'd assumed this book would just be a basic post-apocalyptic YA story, which it is and that's fine, but the introduction of telepathy was just a bit strange and threw me a bit. I don't know if this will play into a larger thing in books 2 and 3, or if this is mostly just a convenient way for Thomas and Teresa to talk when they are apart. We'll see I guess.I felt like some expository stuff was really convenient, such as Thomas
Spoiler
taking the Grief Serum and suddenly being able to remember enough to help them, even if it was probably the Creators intentions that this happen. I also found it convenient that he seemed to remember it for a long time afterwards when this didn't happen with the others who took the Serum and experiened the ChangingI also didn't feel like the Grievers were scary enough. They're basically giant slugs, which whilst creepy, aren't particularly terrifying (although the Grievers obviously have some modifications to help with that). I kind feel like for it to have been really scary the Griever's should have been scarier monsters, like modified-wolves or bears or something. I dunno. But I suppose in terms of the in-story, from the Creators POV, they would have been harder to 'defeat' as it were...
I feel like these are minor issues though, and I think some of these things, such as things not being fully explained or a lack of depth in some characters, will obviously change as the books in the series continue.
Overall, I thought this was a really good and exciting book, and a good start to what will hopefully be a thrilling trilogy.
P.S. - also, so much YA literature these days is told by a young, feisty girls POV, so it was refreshing to have this story told from the POV of a teenage boy. :)
soccer8s's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
4.5
Love the book... so much better than the movie!
kyragiselle's review against another edition
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
archietrott's review against another edition
4.0
Read this series when I was 14 working split shifts in a hotel kitchen and I could not put it down. The first book series I wanted to read every chance i got: whilst eating my breakfast and on my lunch breaks. Good shit
ravensnow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? It's complicated
5.0
goldshard13's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5