Book #75: The Maze Runner

Book #75: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
5/5 stars

Since dystopian literature has been all the rage since The Hunger Games series has been published, you might want to check out this new-ish dystopian series by James Dashner! It is fast-paced and an intriguing read, right until the final pages.

The novel starts with Thomas waking up with his memory of the past basically gone, and he finds himself in a strange world, inhabited only by teen boys who call themselves "The Gladers." They explain that they don't know why they're in this new world, all they know is that every month, a new boy is sent into the community, and that once a week they receive supplies from the same box that sends the boys. There is a mysterious maze outside the walls of the community, but you don't want to be caught there at night, because monstrous creatures called "Grievers" patrol the Maze, and can cause serious harm to people, even death. The walls of the Glade are open by day, but close at sundown, so you had better be inside by then, or you will never be heard from again. Each Glader has a job, but the one Thomas wants the most is to be a Maze Runner, a group of boys who head out into the dangerous Maze during the day, and try to study its patterns to figure out a way to escape.

However, everything that the Gladers have known changes the day after Thomas arrives, because they receive the first ever female to the community, and she brings with her a message that everything is going to change, and that the end is coming. From there, the environment changes and the Gladers have to make some quick decisions about how to free themselves, or soon perish, never knowing why they ended up in the Glade.

This novel was super interesting and easy to get into. Lovers of dystopian fiction will enjoy this novel and the new ideas it offers: a world with no adults, secrets that you try to figure out along with the characters, and new, creative inventions of the imagination. The Maze Runner was reminiscent of The Hunger Games series with the secrets in government and teens taking action against the injustices that have been done to them.  After finishing the novel that ends with a cliffhanger, I am excited to get started on the second novel in the trilogy, The Scorch Trials.