The Maze Runner by James Dasher

The Maze Runner is an enjoyable and entertaining book that contains adventures, mysteries, and a hint of Romance. This book is post-apocalyptic and was amazingly written by James Dashner. The Maze Runner shows how 12 to 18 year old boys work together and create a society to get out of a maze.

The Maze. A complex system invented by the creators. The maze surrounds what is called the glade; a large amount of land with food and water. This place is just waiting for civilization to absorb it. So in order to start it, the creators send a new boy between the ages 12 to 18 every month in a box with no memory except for their name. No one knows how they got there or where they came from. All they have to do is figure out a way to get out of the maze, but you see, this isn't as easy as it sounds. Considering the walls move every night, leaving the gladers with no possible way out. More importantly, after sunset everyday, the doors from the maze into the glade close. You may call this unfair, because then the gladers can't see the wall movement, but the gladers call it protection. There are creatures that come out into the maze during the night called grievers. They are monstrous figures that contain blubber, spikes, and machinery. Fortunately for the gladers, the walls protect them from those creatures. More importantly the gladers need to find a way out, but everything changes once a boy named Thomas arrives.

The Maze Runner was so entertaining I almost never put it down. It had so many cliff hangers and adventurous moments where they seemed too important to miss. Once you thought it was slowing down, Dashner threw another twist in the book. The grievers were probably the only graphic thing in the book and even those weren't that bad. Some of the things that were mentioned were,"Spikes were popping in and out of blubbery skin; their bodies shuddered and pulsed." (pg. 334) Other than those little things, it was enjoyable for me the whole time I was reading it.

It is difficult to agree or disagree with the author and his decisions in the book because the end of the book doesn't leave any answers. It is as if the book never ended. It also seems like he couldn't figure out what the ending should be, so he just stopped the book. However, there is a sequel to The Maze Runner so perhaps it will answer some questions. Overall, I liked how Dashner wrote the book and what he wrote it on.

This book not only talks about how the boys get out of the maze, but the trials they have to overcome. This reminds me of our world and the struggles we have in our life, but what really stuck out to me was the homeless and those who don't have families. You see these boys are separated from their families and have to work very hard to make new friends. Sometimes they are even too shy to make friends at all. The boys in The Maze Runner do everything they can to survive. They build their own buildings, raise their own animals, and even have to cook their own food. The gladers have no love from their friends and probably don't even know what love feels like. I relate this to those in reality who have to find a new place to live every night. They don't know where they are going or why they are there, but they do every thing they can to stay alive. Some People in our world may not even know what love is either. The life of a glader is never paradise and neither is ours.

Overall, the book was enjoyable and fun for me to read. The only small thing I would warn you about is the griever, but if you don't care about that kind of stuff, then this book is perfect for you. I definitely still enjoyed it, even if it was just a tad bit gross. The only thing I would like to be different, is the ending. To me, it needed a better conclusion. Other than those small things, this book was very entertaining, enjoyable, and just plain adventurous. I absolutely rate this an A+ and if you are looking for a good book to read, this is definitely the one to choose.