The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Review by BookInABag

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Review: The Maze Runner is a Dystopian/ Science Fiction novel starring the main protagonist Thomas. Thomas is a curious character and, like us, wants to know as much about the Glade as possible. The Gladers were very pretentious in the beginning of the book and their dismissal of answering one, at least one, of our questions instead of just saying, "You'll learn soon enough, Greenie" was agonisingly annoying.

 Furthermore, the mystery and suspicion caused by the recent events that occurred soon after Thomas's arrival was intriguing and drove me to continue reading the book, yearning for answers. The plot was decently paced, and whenever things started to get dull, some dramatic action would always occur. The plot, although sometimes being a bit uneventful, had a good bit of action and excitement in it which compensated for some of the long exposition scenes with Thomas and the Gladers. 

The Maze Runner interested me with its deep, complex story and it's shocking plot twists. These plot twists or 'OH SNAP!' Moments were definitely my favourite part of the book and added an element of drama to the book which made it even more thrilling.

 The character development was decent too, with some friendly relationships formed between Chuck, Teresa, Minho and Thomas whose friendships added life and perspective into the text. The characters could be very frustrating sometimes and whilst I did grow fond of some, their arrogance and smart comments put me off too much for me to fully like them.

However I enjoyed the overall read and found it exciting and suspenseful and had me thoroughly engaged with its cunning mystery.

3.5 stars out of 5