Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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.

What I think that I ought to point out is that I first read this book over a year ago, the reason that I chose to reread it is because I recieved the second one in the post last month and just got round to reading it. After about two chapters I realised that I had forgotten the events of the first book, so I reread The Maze Runner.I also hate reviewing sequels if I haven't reviewed the book(s) before it, so I'm making this review pretty short (for me).

I have to say that I enjoyed The Maze Runner just as much the second time as I did the first time.

I warn you now that The Maze Runner is one of those books that will have your brain in knots. From page one, you're thrown into this mystery with all of these questions that you spend the whole book trying to figure out the answers to, the twists and turns in this book will drive you absolutely crazy and you'll come out at the end thinking you know all the answers but the truth is, you know very little more than you did when you first started the book. So it's a very good thing that the sequel is out already.

Aside from the frustrating (yet awesome) suspense-mystery thing that the book has going on, the best part of The Maze Runner is the way that Dashner managed to create this whole new slang, which not only helps to keep this book teen friendly (he basically replaces swears and insults with his own slang phrases) but also puts across that this is a dystopian, these people are living together alone and have set up this whole new world. I think that this new language adds a level of individuality to the novel and have seen a lot of reviews that agree.

I have very few problems with this book apart from that the characters didn't seem developed enough, though this is a trilogy so I pray that this will improve in the next book. I felt that I would have felt more when some characters were killed or injured if I had liked them a little bit more. This is just a small problem though and as I said, it seems as though this will improve in the next book.

Overall rating: B

Stand alone/series: First in The Maze Runner series

UK Release: August 2nd 2010

Publisher: Chicken House

Book obtained via: Bought