My Review of "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

While I was reading "The Maze Runner", my 11 year old daughter came over to see what I was reading. She saw James Dashner's name on the front and said, "I like his books! They always have so much humor in them." I turned back to her and said. "Not in this James Dashner book. He must have been in a really bad mood while he was writing it."

All kidding aside, this book was not meant to be a "funny" book or for 11 year old kids. He has stated from the first, that this book is for the older teen crowd and adults.

Here is a brief description of the plot line of the book- "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."

There are many tension filled scenes ; from not knowing what was happening (neither did the characters so I wasn't alone in this fact, wondering what was going to jump out from the next turn in the maze, to the monsters that came out at night. There were a few nights I decided not to finish a chapter right before I fell asleep. There were things that made me so jumpy I really didn't want to be dreaming about them in the night.

Despite the horror and suspense associated with this book, there were very clever and interesting things that were unraveled at the end. At least I thought so until I read the last page of the book. Then I just groaned and smacked my head and cried at the fact the next book would not be out for many more months. The next book in the series is called, "The Scorch Trials".

"The Maze Runner" is the best work James Dashner has done, in my opinion. This is one of the most riveting books I have ever read, especially from about the middle through the end. It was a somewhat slow start as Thomas tries to figure out what the heck is going on. I kept scratching my head along with him.

I know, readers that loved "The Hunger Games " will enjoy this book. With such a well developed plot and out of control world that the teens were placed in, you will be taken on a wild ride just as I was.