Dear Reader,

I just finished reading a 400 page, fiction, dystopian book called The Maze Runner by James Dashner.  The Maze Runner was published in 2009 by Random House Children’s Books. It’s book one to its series, I read this book because it was recommended to me by so many of my friends and they said it was an amazing book. If you like the Hunger Games or Divergent you will like this book, it’s thrilling, action packed, and is a modern classic you need to read. I have never read anything by this author before so this book really left an impression on me.

The Maze Runner is about when a boy named Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He can’t remember anything, his memory is blank. He’s not alone, when the doors open he’s surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade. The Glade is a large, open expanse surrounded by massive stone walls. Thomas is just like all the others, he doesn’t know how or why they got to the Glade. All they’ve come to know is that every morning the stone doors open and every night they close up tight. Also they know that every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. They expected Thomas, but the next day, a girl is sent up. There has never been a girl sent up before, until now. And she delivers a message… Thomas is more important than he could have ever expected. If only he could recover the secrets buried in his mind.

I was surprised when Teresa (the girl) was sent up because there had never been a girl before and the message she brang with her changed the Glade and the boys lives forever… Something that was brought up again and again was that Thomas felt a connection to Teresa, like he’s seen her before. But, as he soon finds out there is much more than that.

I liked the way the author included that Thomas thought he’d seen Teresa before, he did that again and again throughout the story. He did this throughout multiple sections of the book when Thomas was trying to remember anything else he’s ever known. But, the author always knows the perfect way to add it in again and again, and the perfect time. I really liked how the author could weave it into the scenes.

This book didn’t really remind me of any of the other books I’ve read. My first time reading this book was in my assigned book club, I didn’t want to read it but they did so I agreed and I loved the book. And since then I have read it a second time and I enjoyed it just as much.

The quoted passage i’m including is when Newt shows Thomas what a griever is.

 

“ Newt tells Thomas that they want to show him why the walls close every night and why he should be glad that he is on this side of them when they do. Thomas can make out something moving outside the window, giving off a strange light. He puts his face to the window and sees a large, bulbous creature about the size of a cow. It is a hideous mix of machine and animal. Its appendages are adorned with instruments like buzz saws and long rods. It charges the window, sending Thomas to the floor. But the window holds. Thomas asks Newt what they are. “Grievers”, he answers.”

I liked how the author made this passage very dramatic and descriptive. It’s really interesting the way the author James Dashner made Newt introduce Grievers to Thomas.Newt could have not told Thomas about the creatures, and he could have figured out about the grievers any other way. This passage was one of my favorite parts of the book because they introduce Thomas to a very scary but interesting creature. I originally rated this book an 8/10 because of the description and the way the author just put everything together, but now I would rate this book an 6/10 because I don’t like it as much as I did when I first read the book. I will always try and reread this book because of the way James Dashner put it together and I will try to read more of his books in high school. James Dashner is an amazing writer and I can’t wait to keep reading more of his books.

 

Sincerely,

Erin Sheehan