The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner
Published by Delacorte Press on October 6, 2009
Length: 374 pages
Genre(s): Young Adult, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Source: Bookdepository / Barnes&Noble
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 thirty 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
It wasn't all that bad, perhaps the book just fell a whee bit short and didn't really measure up to what I expected it to be. For the first part, it was actually pretty good. The story started to get shaky and went downhill the moment Thomas started with the questions and sort of acted like people owed him answers. His inquisitiveness is rather understandable but something about the way his questioning nature was written down felt troublesome and downright annoying for me to read. It felt forceful, self centered and bratty at some point.
His reactions may have been described on a varied manner but it still came out sounding redundant and therefore dull for me. I was never one to read on excessive emphasis on a characters reactions because it just stresses me out. I get it he's confused let us all move on because I just can't take the fact that I am being reminded over and over that he is frustrated he is annoyed he wants answers!
The slang was another issue for me. The words were just way off the awkwardness chart. It isn't rare for authors to actually pitch a slang or two of their own but the words just doesn't sound appealing at all to my ears.
Given how descriptive the book tends to be, I give positive points with the scenic descriptions which I think was properly executed as opposed to the poor characterization.
