Book Title: The Maze Runner

 Author: James Dashner

 Pages: 374

 Synopsis: Thomas awakes in darkness by himself, a box with no memory except for his name. When the ceiling opens up he is introduced to the Glade and its occupants the Gladers. Alby, the leader. Newt, his second in command, Gally, the guy everyone hates, Minho, the Keeper of the Runners, Frypan, the cook, and Chuck, the light in a dark place. Thomas learns his way around the Glade and eventually learns of the Maze which has held the Gladers captive for two years. With a curious mind and the balls to encourage him, Thomas does his best to help solve the mystery of the Maze.

But everything changes when Teresa shows up, the first girl, with a message from the Creators. “She’s the last one. Ever.” After her arrival things begin to change for the Gladers and they are put on a time crunch to solve the Maze or die trying. But sometimes things aren’t as simple, or complicated, as they seem.

*WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD*

This is my second time reading the Maze Runner. The first time was almost 5 years ago when I was in high school. While the book doesn’t hold the same ‘OMG!’ factor as it did before I can appreciate the characters and their struggle a lot more now that I’m older.

The number of things I enjoyed about this book outweighed what I didn’t like, but not by a whole lot. For instance Teresa’s character irked me throughout the whole book. She was uncaring and unfeeling at times, and she almost comes off as apathetic to the whole situation, except for the end when they take their final stand to get out of the Maze. She seemed more like a character that was made to push the plot along than a character that had anything to contribute to the actual plot.

There were even times when I was annoyed by Thomas. But those moments were very few and far in between. For the most part Thomas’ curiosity was believable and I felt his, and the other characters’, desperation when things began to get heated.

Chuck and Newt are my favorite characters with Minho coming in a close second. Chuck because his jokes, humor, and innocence was a breather in between all the happenings in the book. As Thomas said in the book Chuck was a symbol of normalcy that they hoped was waiting for them when they made it out of the Maze. And we all know the tragedy that befell Chuck. I’m not gonna lie, I knew it was coming, my eyes still stung when Chuck died.

For Newt, I adore him for his leadership skills. Alby may have been the leader but he was too cut off for me. Newt was more ‘human’. I can’t really explain it but he just had a presence about him throughout the book. He was a character I can respect and root for in the next installments of the series.

Finally, my man Minho. Minho for me was another enjoyable character because he was blunt and straight to the point. He didn’t try to BS Thomas by running him around in circles. He insulted Thomas but answered his questions at the same time.

These three characters made up the holy trifecta that redeemed this book for me. Chuck was the heart, Newt was the brains, and Minho was the spirit.

As for the other characters, not all of them were memorable, but they were all unique and had their own little quirks.

As for the plot of the story the mystery was an interesting one. I was a little sad that the Maze wasn’t meant to be solved. But I was satisfied in the fact that it was still a part of the greater puzzle. One of the main problems I had with the progression of the story was that the catalyst was Thomas’ instinct to become a Runner, then his instinct about getting himself stung. If none of these things had happened then they all would have died in the Maze. A lot was left up to chance and wasn’t as believable as it could have been. Despite all of that it was a pretty decent read that turned into a page turner when the action picked up.

A couple aspects that I hope to explore more in future books is Thomas and Teresa’s ability to speak to each other telepathically, more about WICKED and the Trials, and some more background information about the world that they live in how they ended up in the Maze.

Overall I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to people who want to ease their way into books.