A Book Review of The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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Series: The Maze Runner (Book 1)
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Publisher: Delacorte Press; Reprint edition (August 24, 2010)
Page Count: 375 pages


What I liked: I read this book originally not long after it came out with a friend. Now I’ve reread it in preparation for the movie. So excited. ^ ^ The story is really intriguing and I really like a bestseller finally with a guy character since most tend to be with girls. I’m a girl. I know, but it’s nice to have some more boys. Thomas is a bit of a blank character as to be expected since he lost his memories, but he grows in the story and becomes caring and brave. I like his arch as coming from being clueless to a clever, determined, and kind character. 


The story is gripping and the ideas are imaginative and fascinatingly creepy. Gotta love the Grievers in a way that you never want to be around them but you admire the idea of them … The pacing is good. I love how the chapters get shorter as the tension builds toward the end. The description is great. I always got a good picture of the setting. The ending was well done. You felt happy for the characters, but sad for others, but with a twist at the end that made you hungry for more. When I reached the climax, I couldn’t stop reading till the end.


What I didn’t like:  A few things that bothered me were some rookie writing mistakes. Dashner frequently told emotions (angrily, sadly, happily). I feel like he could’ve done better in that area. I haven’t been writing as long as him and I know about these no-nos. He also had several action reaction errors that jerked me out of the story. He described the reaction of Thomas before you knew what he was reacting to. The last thing is that I felt like some other characters could have been developed more. The main ones were but I felt like the side characters needed more definition. 

Content Cautions: I’d give this book a PG-13 rating for crude humor, gore, creepiness (if you want me to be all official like “thematic elements”) and there was a form of a swear word at one point (the Irish version of rear). 


In Comparison to the Film: The movie has the fan seal of approval. There were only two things that I wished they kept to the book (trying to keep this spoiler free), but the soul of the book was there. I didn’t care for the added swearing. The key events were there just rearranged a little or changed slightly for pacing reasons. 


One thing I did like about the movie over the book is that the characters had more definition and more personality. I cared about many of them more in the film than I did in the book. They also made the Glade a bit more tribal which made sense to me. Overall good film. Totally worth seeing. I actually wrote a full review of the film over on the website I write for Geeks Under Grace. Check it out!


In conclusion, I love the story and the characters and the tension is gripping.

About the Author:

James Dashner is the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series that includes The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, and The Kill Order. He has also written The Eye of Minds (book one in the Mortality Doctrine series), the 13th Reality series, and two books in The Infinity Ring series: A Mutiny in Time and The Iron Empire. 


Dashner was born and raised in Georgia but now lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains. To learn more about James and his books, visit JamesDashner.com, follow @jamesdashner on Twitter, or find dashnerjames on Instagram.

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Do you want to read the Maze Runner? Did you see the movie? In honor the film’s release, I’m giving away a copy of the book!

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