A review by starsnstitchin
The Maze Runner by James Dashner

challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This book was very frustrating! There was no reason--in world reality or plot device--why everybody would have been so secretive. The kids had built a fully function micro-community and yet didn't have a newbie onboarding program, despite expecting a newbie to show up every month. That also didn't add up--supposedly this thing had been running for 2/3 years but there was at least 50 kids. If they really did only show up 1/month then that would have only added up to 20-30 kids. The characters were also very inconsistent, only half effort of giving up or pushing through. I can tell the author wanted to add the giving up as an emotional element to show just how messed up the situation is, but needed them to keep going for the plot to work out and ended up tangling both together half heartedly in both directions at the same time or flopping back and forth in the same character.
I get that there's probably more explanation for how/why Thomas and Theresa ended up in the maze themselves despite being part of its creation, but it created confusion in this book without some sort of explanation. They didn't seem to have any feelings about being there at all and no matter which way it's spun they would have had some sort of reaction based on why they were there; if it's unwilling they'd be pissed/betrayed, but if it's their choice they'd be happier or something. I don't know, it just felt lacking that way.
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