The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

Image Source

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE...

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is empty. 

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 expanse enclosed 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, for as long as anyone can remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, for just as long, they've closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the Maze after dark. 

The Gladers were expecting Thomas's arrival. But the next day, a girl is sent up - the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers, The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might find their way home... wherever that may be. But it's looking more and more as if the Maze is unsolvable. 

And something about the girl's arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers - if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind. 

Yay dystopia wheeeeee

But oh, where to start...

I wasn't expecting to like this book. But my mum bought a copy for her classroom (she teaches English to poor, unsuspecting middle schoolers, and keeps a library of novels for them to read), and I wanted something to read, and I was like OH WELL may as well give it a try.

So. Kid finds himself in an elevator - sorry, lift - and he can't remember anything before that, except for his name, which is Thomas. He descends to this place called "the Glade," where a load of kids live. They don't remember anything before the Glade either. Surrounding the Glade is the Maze (so creative, these names), filled with creatures called Grievers. People called Runners go into the Maze to explore it and make maps - it changes every day, you see. And they have to be out before night, or they're DEAD.

I have to say something: The plot and concept of this book were interesting, and it was fairly enjoyable. BUT this book has LOADS AND LOADS OF PROBLEMS.

Honestly, my first reaction to this book was MAN these kids have annoying slang. It felt awkward and unreal, and it drove me crazy. I got a bit more used to it as the story went on, but it never stopped bugging me. Newt in particular - he constantly used "buggin'" and "lovin'" and particularly "bloody." I know Mr. Dashner didn't invent that word, and in and of itself it's not particularly annoying, but when something is bloody every bloody few bloody words and he bloody never bloody stops and it bloody doesn't bloody even bloody make bloody any bloody sense, I'm bloody like

Image Source

Oh, and I have to share this bit, where one of their slang words is explained:

"Klunk's another word for poo. Poo makes a klunk sound when it falls in our pee pots."

Image Source

The writing throughout the book was just... awkward. Here's a sentence that struck me as particularly dumb:

Thomas knew he was a smart kid - he somehow felt it in his bones. 

He felt in his bones that he was intelligent? Really? Well, good for him. His bones are intelligent, I guess, even if they are the only part.

It would have been nice if we had gotten any other indication of his great intelligence. Or any of them. Apparently the kids in the Glade are their because of their above-average smarts. I could not have guessed that without being told. They come across as average, if that. Let me reiterate: These kids have ZERO specialness.

And they were BORING. These are not interesting people. WE ARE DISCUSSING A MAJOR LACK OF PERSONALITY HERE. THE FLATNESSSSSSSS IT BURNSSSSSS USSSSSSSSS PRECIOUSSSSSSSSSSS. (I might have liked Newt, but his constant bloody-ing made him far too annoying, and Minho was good until he started bowing and scraping to Thomas, and then I wanted to hit him.) One of the characters dies near the end and I DID NOT CARE. Thomas was the worst, but Theresa (the only girl) was up there. She was utterly flat and never did anything, even when she wasn't in a coma. You thought she was a big deal, but then she didn't actually do anything. 

Moving right along.

Here's something I hate: Our Hero comes to a new place. He knows nothing about this place. He does not listen to what the people who know what they're doing tell him. He turns out to be better at doing what needs to be done than anyone else. Doing whatever he says ensues.

This is Thomas. And he does these things not because he figures out what's best to do, but because he just feels that this is the thing he must do. He "just knew" everything. He got answers without doing anything.

ALSO THOSE CLUES WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT OF THEM I DON'T EVEN

Oh, another thing. It's little, but it came up several times and bugged me. People were exclaiming questions. Which is fine, but they were doing it without question marks. When you want to exclaim a question, you need to use both a question mark and an exclamation mark, in what is called an interrobang, thus: "Why didn't Mr. Dashner use interrobangs?!" If I had said, "Why didn't Mr. Dashner use interrobangs!" it would have been wrong. Plus, I love the word interrobang. (Fun fact: the question mark and exclamation mark can also be put together into one character, thus: ‽) 

I've bounced back and forth between three and two for this book. Having thought it through, I'm giving it a two. 

Needless to say, I'm not seeking out the sequel. 

 
In Six Words: Everything's changing; how to solve maze?