Emily Darnell

Dystopian society novels are all the rage right now with trilogies such as The Hunger Games – and The Maze Runner is just another book to add to that list. In James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, Thomas wakes up in a maze, surrounded by other teenage boys; he has no memories of who he is, where he came from, where he is, or any details of his life.

The boys live in a place they call the Glade surrounded by the maze. There are runners who search for a way out of the maze, but it changes every night. A girl then appears, and she delivers a mysterious and terrifying message that puts the whole Glade on edge.

Even though the plot line is interesting, this book is difficult to get into. The beginning couple of chapters serve mainly as an introduction, leaving the reader as confused as Thomas sometimes. Several questions and problems are raised which are rarely answered and leave the reader more puzzled than before.

There are so many problems, obstacles and questions thrown at the reader in the very beginning of the book that it is slightly overwhelming at first. Things calm down near the middle, but basically all the issues at the beginning have been forgotten, leaving the reader almost frustrated with confusion. The characters are all intriguing but there is still so much left out that distracts from the fascinating characters.

Overall, the book gets more action-packed near the end, but still is deliberately ambiguous. If Dashner’s goal is to make the reader feel as confused as Thomas, his goal is achieved. The characters have complexity but that just adds to the general mystery of the book. The page turning plot unfurls close to the middle, and if the reader perseveres until then, they are in for an intriguing and exciting ride.