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 might just have some answers- if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind.
Goodreads Rating: 4 stars with over 920,000 reviews
Goodreads Challenge: 34/50
Genre Listing: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction,
2019 Reading Challenge: #59 A book with the letter Z in the title (See the full challenge, here)
Book Review:
Happy Thanksgiving, readers! A friend of mine let me borrow the entire Maze Runner series from them, so I'm trying to make my way through it. I finished the first book a couple nights ago. I really enjoyed it and ended up starting The Scorch Trials shortly after. I will say that the first five or so chapters of The maze runner were a little disorienting, but I think that was by design.
There's not a ton of background story for the characters in the book, so it gets right into the action, which means it moves really fast. I think the entire book takes place over maybe a week or two tops. The first five chapters are basically Thomas trying to understand where he is and what is happening to him. It's disorienting to read, but like I said, that's by design. He's confused as to where he is and who he is, and you can feel that when reading the story. Once Thomas starts to get used to the flow of how the Glades works, everything is thrown upside down again when Teresa is sent to the Glades.
I found myself really engaged in The Maze Runner. At one point, I was bargaining with myself on how much to read. I'd tell my things like, "okay, I can read three more chapters, and then I have to go to bed." Of course, three chapters would turn into several because it'd be too much of a cliff hanger to stop where I had intended. The whole having to sleep and get up for work thing really gets in the way of my reading.
I think that the most interesting part of the story for me was the self-sustaining aspect of the Glades. It ran like clockwork, and the Gladers assigned themselves leaders, and each person had a job to do to keep it running. They got some supplies from "the box," but it was mostly self ran by the teenagers. I haven't read it, but I gather this is very Lord of the Flies-Esq. I thought their own creation of language was intriguing, as well. I'm trying to not dive into the rabbit hole that is the sociological aspects of this book. I'm a giant nerd.
The characters were interesting, but without a back story, I didn't get really interested in them, just the overall story. With how action-packed everything is, there really isn't time to dwell on the lack of character information or development. The entire story is very focused on what needs to be done to survive.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to move on to the Scorch Trials. I've read a few chapters in it but not gotten very far yet. This is a good read for anyone in need of a YA dystopian story with lots of action. It moves fast and is easy to get through.
I think that the most interesting part of the story for me was the self-sustaining aspect of the Glades. It ran like clockwork, and the Gladers assigned themselves leaders, and each person had a job to do to keep it running. They got some supplies from "the box," but it was mostly self ran by the teenagers. I haven't read it, but I gather this is very Lord of the Flies-Esq. I thought their own creation of language was intriguing, as well. I'm trying to not dive into the rabbit hole that is the sociological aspects of this book. I'm a giant nerd.
The characters were interesting, but without a back story, I didn't get really interested in them, just the overall story. With how action-packed everything is, there really isn't time to dwell on the lack of character information or development. The entire story is very focused on what needs to be done to survive.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited to move on to the Scorch Trials. I've read a few chapters in it but not gotten very far yet. This is a good read for anyone in need of a YA dystopian story with lots of action. It moves fast and is easy to get through.
Unrelated note: Stay tuned for the 2020 reading challenge. Tress and I are working on it!
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