The Maze Runner movie comes out September 19. The movie trailer was enough to get me excited about the book. Unfortunately, I wasn’t totally excited by the book in general. I gave it a 3, which = liked it.

Plot

One of the better features of the book. The boys are in a strange place where no ones knows much except that life is dangerous and they’re stuck in a maze they can’t get out of. There is plenty of tension and excitement, though some parts were a little convenient. The way the maze was solved was highly anticlimactically. The major plot twist at the very end did redeem it some in my eyes and make me decide to read on to the next book in the series. Before the end, I was not going to bother.

Characters

I liked Thomas and Theresa. Most of the characters, however, were not fleshed out very fully. They’re pretty similar to each other and not all that interesting. Their little custom slang got old after a while. It did seem like life ran a little smoothly for a bunch of random teenage guys who didn’t remember much.

Writing Quality

This was maybe one of the biggest disappointments for me. It came off rather amateur and was distracting. I think a few more rounds of polishing would have made this book much better.

Entertainment

So long as you include the end, which twisted the perspective of the whole book, it was fairly entertaining. I’m thinking this may be a case where the movie has lots of action added to make up for where the book lacked.

The Goodreads Description

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.

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Did you read it? What did you think?