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Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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The Maze Runner is the first book of the Maze Runner trilogy written by James Dashner and published in 2009. The Maze Runner follows the main character Thomas. Thomas wakes up in an elevator, called The Box, along with animals and other shipments, without any memories of anything except his name. When the box stops moving, the light shines in showing silhouettes of teenage boys all staring down at him. He meets Newt, Alby, Minho, and Chuck who show him around the Glade which is the area in the middle of the large Maze surrounding them.

Around them is the Maze with four doors into the maze that close at night. Thomas wants to become a runner like Minho. Runners run through the Maze and map it trying to find a way out. At night, monsters called Grievers roam the Maze and after Thomas saves Minho and Alby when they get stuck in the Maze overnight, he becomes a real runner and makes more progress than anyone else. Shortly after, a girl in a coma known as Teresa arrives along with their last shipment. Everyone becomes suspicious of Thomas since all the strange happenings start when he arrives. But when everything changes, Thomas and his new friends try to solve the Maze and find a way out.

The Maze Runner is a dystopian science fiction young adult novel that includes an interesting story making you want to read the next book to find out what happens next. It’s a thrilling and suspenseful book that gives unexpected twists and turns with the characters. Each character acts the same and have the same beliefs as each other but, have small differences shaping their personality. The descriptions of the characters also help shape them in a way for the reader to envision them properly. Some of the characters are a bit bland but the other characters are very likable. My favorite character is Newt because of his personality,how independent he is, and how he keeps everything in place.

The Maze Runner has an interesting story which includes different mysteries that need to be solved. It is intriguing and sucks you into the story. I was excited and wanted to read this book for a little while after hearing how much people liked it but was somewhat hesitant after also seeing some bad reviews. It was fun to see secrets unfold and the mystery of the Maze come to light. Even though the book was a bit slow at times and ends in a cliff hanger, it was well written and I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, The Scorch Trials.

-Nicole R.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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If you wish to read The Maze Runner, you’re in for a long adventure, totaling in four books and two behind the scenes books. Once you start, you cannot stop. Prepare to be thrown headfirst into a whirlwind of life, death, happiness, sadness, love, and hatred.

We begin in the Box. We watch as Thomas, the main character, is thrown into a community of 40-50 boys, who live in a place they’ve come to call ‘the Glade’. We learn that the place these boys live I see actually a maze, surrounding the Glade on all sides. The boys have been trying to figure out the maze for two years, and a new boy, or Glader, is sent up in the Box every month. Just like clockwork, one boy every month, none of which have any memories, except their names.

The boys in the Glade have developed a system, to keep them from going crazy. A boy named Alby is the leader, with a boy named Newt as his second in command. There are 9 jobs in the Glade: Builer, Slicer, Cooks, Track-Hoes, Med-Jacks, Baggers, Sloppers’ Brick-Nicks, and Runners. Being a Runner is the most dangerous job, because it is your job to run through the Maze and memorize the corridors. Then, you must return to the Glade, and write down what you’ve memorized.

You may ask, ‘well, why is this job so dangerous?’ This is because in the Maze, monsters come out at night. They are called ‘Grievers’ by the Gladers, and are disgusting, fleshy creatures that roam the Maze at night. If you are stung by one of these creatures, you go through something called the Changing, which gives you back your memories in a painful process.

Thomas, of course, wishes to become a Runner. We all assume that he will lead a happy life in the Glade, and that perhaps he and the boys will be able to escape. But, as usual in adventure books, something happens.

A girl comes up in the Box, only a day afterward Thomas. She is delivered with a note explaining that she is the last one. She is in a coma, only speaking a few words, such as ‘I’ve triggered the Ending.’

The Maze Runner is a fast paced, exciting book. Many will enjoy to twists and turns of the thrilling adventure novel created by James Dashner. I highly suggest this book!

-Sophia D.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Posted on by
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The Maze Runner is about a group of teenagers stuck in the middle of what appears to be a maze. This book is the first of a series of four books. All the books tell the story of escaping the maze and finding out who put them there and why.

The first book of the series tells the story of Thomas and his escape. Everything seems normal when he wakes up in the glade. However, things soon change drastically. Grievers, the monsters that are usually in the maze, start entering the glade. Soon everyone in the glade realizes that they have two choices: escape the maze or die. They quickly form a plan to escape the maze.

However, some people chose to stay thinking that they would be rescued straight out of the Glade. Those that went succeed in escaping from the maze and find who put them there. It was a group of scientists called WICKED. They are then taken by a group that tells them about a sort of disease called “The Flare” that killed half the population. They are taken to some sort of camp to recover from all the results of the maze. As is revealed in the epilogue, there were lots of other Glades with other people living in them.

-Emilio V.

The Maze Runner series by James Dashner is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.