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A review by celia_thebookishhufflepuff
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
5.0
I have to say, I honestly don't know what took me so long to get around to reading this. I'd heard of it, but it had never interested me, and I just had too-long a to-be-read list to actually pick it up.
I guess I really have my Dominican Republic trip back in June to thank for finally piquing my interest in it. A girl had taken it, and she had handed it to my roommate to hold. We were at a hotel on a mountain, taking a weekend trip and a break from our service time at the youth centers, and my roommate accidentally held onto it for a night. Being a reader, I picked it up and got through the first four chapters. I knew I wanted to continue.
Now that school's started again and I can finally get to a library every day without having to make a special trip, I have access to most of the books I want. I decided to pick it up while I still have the time to become engrossed in a new series. This was only a bad decision because now I'm not going to be able to rest without finishing the other four books.
Anyway, [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642] was basically exactly what I needed. It's a completely unique science fiction, and I've never seen anything remotely like it before. The concept--that a group of scientists took a group of kids and threw them underground for two years, studying them and learning how they survive with impossible odds against them, and how they solve an unsolvable task--is one that author [a:James Dashner|348878|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1473791260p2/348878.jpg] must have had to really think about to come up with. I've always had this sort of feeling that all writers are absolutely insane for having these stories running through their head, and this book definitely solidifies that. There's just nothing like it.
I think [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642] is truly a lesson about humanity and resilience. The characters all bring something to the table, and they are all important in fighting for a cause. It's a real life lesson in a way, because it shows how everyone in a community is needed to decipher the puzzle of life, and how overcoming adversity takes a lot of creativity from all sides.
As I say in most of my 5-star reviews, nothing was predictable! There were so many plot twists that nobody could have expected, and pretty much every guess I made was wrong. The characters and situation bring up a lot of questions and predictions, but you can never answer any of them correctly. It feels wonderful when there's a book like this that you just can't anticipate.
I can't wait to read [b:The Scorch Trials|7631105|The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388240248s/7631105.jpg|6574198]!
I guess I really have my Dominican Republic trip back in June to thank for finally piquing my interest in it. A girl had taken it, and she had handed it to my roommate to hold. We were at a hotel on a mountain, taking a weekend trip and a break from our service time at the youth centers, and my roommate accidentally held onto it for a night. Being a reader, I picked it up and got through the first four chapters. I knew I wanted to continue.
Now that school's started again and I can finally get to a library every day without having to make a special trip, I have access to most of the books I want. I decided to pick it up while I still have the time to become engrossed in a new series. This was only a bad decision because now I'm not going to be able to rest without finishing the other four books.
Anyway, [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642] was basically exactly what I needed. It's a completely unique science fiction, and I've never seen anything remotely like it before. The concept--that a group of scientists took a group of kids and threw them underground for two years, studying them and learning how they survive with impossible odds against them, and how they solve an unsolvable task--is one that author [a:James Dashner|348878|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1473791260p2/348878.jpg] must have had to really think about to come up with. I've always had this sort of feeling that all writers are absolutely insane for having these stories running through their head, and this book definitely solidifies that. There's just nothing like it.
I think [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642] is truly a lesson about humanity and resilience. The characters all bring something to the table, and they are all important in fighting for a cause. It's a real life lesson in a way, because it shows how everyone in a community is needed to decipher the puzzle of life, and how overcoming adversity takes a lot of creativity from all sides.
As I say in most of my 5-star reviews, nothing was predictable! There were so many plot twists that nobody could have expected, and pretty much every guess I made was wrong. The characters and situation bring up a lot of questions and predictions, but you can never answer any of them correctly. It feels wonderful when there's a book like this that you just can't anticipate.
I can't wait to read [b:The Scorch Trials|7631105|The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2)|James Dashner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388240248s/7631105.jpg|6574198]!