Title: The Maze RunnerAuthor: James Dashner
Series: The Maze Runner #1
First Published: September 25, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 386
Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround them is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.
Remember. Survive. Run.
Get the Book: AmazonReview
The Maze Runner is one heck of a slump buster, an action packed adventure with plenty of mystery to keep readers engaged. This was the kind of book where I could shut my brain off and enjoy the ride, the book keeps up a frenetic pace throughout.
The book was released during the YA dystopia boom of the late 2000’s and has all the hallmarks of the genre. A group of teenage boys are abducted and wake up trapped in a dangerous maze, their memories wiped. Each month a new kid is dumped into the maze until one day everything changes. I was invested in the ragtag group of Gladers that I wanted to see what would happen to them. The boys have an invented language that took some getting used to, but I felt that it added some charm to the dialogue.
The story relies a little too heavily on an amnesia plot, and the story only advances when the main character remembers things which is a tired method of storytelling. Despite that, the intrigue kept me reading and I raced through the pages wanting to know what was going on and seeing what was in the maze. I did like that despite the story having some romantic elements, it wasn’t a central focus to the story which was refreshing for a YA book.
Overall I found The Maze Runner to be a treat that I can honestly recommend for a non-serious, pure fun read. If you’ve seen the movie and are like me and hate it, consider giving the book a second chance, the movie was trash compared to the book.
Quote
“You are the shuckiest shuck faced shuck in the world!”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About James Dashner
James is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, including The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, The Kill Order, and The Fever Code, and the bestselling Mortality Doctrine series (The Eye of Minds, The Rule of Thoughts, and The Game of Lives). Dashner was born and raised in Georgia, but now lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains.
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