Book Review

Author: James Dashner

Genre: Futuristic, Action, Mystery

Rating: 3 ½

Can you imagine waking up in a metal box without knowing how you got there? How about not remembering anything about your past? This is what happened to Thomas. His mind was blank and he could only remember one thing, his first name. After the metal box stop after moving for what seemed to be half an hour, Thomas was welcomed by the bright sunlight and crowd of fifty or so teenage boys. The strange place with four impossibly huge walls surrounding a large courtyard is the Glade. The Glade is divided into four sections, Gardens are where the crops are grown, Blood House is where the animals are kept and killed, Homestead is where some of the boys sleep, and the Deadheads is a graveyard out of the way. This place had looked somewhat familiar to Thomas but he had no memory of it.

He quickly finds out that the other boys have no memory of their past, of themselves, or they are there. Although there is a leader, Alby, who brings conclusion to topics in the Glade. Newt, the second in command, who knows his duty and won’t let anything stop him along the way. Then there is Chuck who becomes Thomas’ friend immediately and stays by his side till the end. In a short time, Thomas finds out that the Glade is inside a maze and some brave people risk the dangers by entering it every day. Not only do they have to stay clear from its monsters, called the Grievers, but they have to navigate themselves out. Every sunrise and sunset, a giant door on each of the four walls of the Glade moves. The runners in the maze must make it back before they close or else they will spend the night locked out with the Grievers, something that no one has ever survived doing. Other that figuring out the maze, there is no way of escaping, alive. Many people have been killed by the Grievers or died trying to leave.

The Gladers follow a sense or order. Each Glader has a job and is responsible for doing it every day. Every week supplies, such as food and clothing, are given to them from the metal box. Every month a Greenie, new boy, comes up in the metal without any memories, just like the rest of them. Not only does the metal box bring a new person the day after Thomas arrived, which has never happened before, but it’s a girl. To add the confusion she carries a note that reads, “She’s the last one. Ever.” Suspicions turn to Thomas and people think that he had something to do with her “triggering the ending” along with other drastic change of events.

I thought that this book was a really interesting book. It was full of action and mystery which made it hard to stop reading. It was also full of surprises which added an exciting twist to the story. The beginning was a bit confusing because neither the character nor the reader really knew what was going on. The climax of the story was very intense and was my favourite part of the story. I was a bit disappointed with the ending which made me lose interest in reading the second book. I gave this book a rating 3 ½. I think that is the ending was different then the book would have been a more memorable book but all together it was very good.

Figurative Language

Imagery	“They stood in a vast courtyard several times the size of a football field, surrounded by the four enormous walls made of gray stone and coveredin spots of thick ivy. The walls had to be hundreds of feet high and formed a perfect square around them, each sides split in the exact middle by an opening as tall as the walls themselves…..” Ch.2
Simile	“They finally made it to a rectangular cut in a long wall to the north that looked like a doorway without a door” Ch.33
Symbol	WICKED- World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department-Ch.33 Written in green letters on the back of little creatures that spy of the Gladers.
Imagery	“Ben’s head snapped violently to the left, twisting his bosy until he landed on his stomach, his feet pointed toward Thomas. He made no sound” Ch. 11
Imagery/ Describing setting	“There was the sound of snapping wire. The whoosh of an object slicing through the air. The sickening, wet thunk of it finding home” Ch. 11
Imagery	“The early-morning light had a sharp sheen about it, making everything look bright and crisp-the ivy, the cracked walls, the stone blocks of the ground” Ch.33

Quotations

Theme	Importance in the story	Quotation
Confusion	- Thomas first appears inside a metal box with only one thought in his head, his first name	“’Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie’ Thomas was his with a wave of confusion”’Ch.2
Trapped	- All of the Gladers are trapped inside the Glade - They try to escape by going through the maze - If they weren’t trapped then there would be no story	The walls were closing. The walls were really closing-trapping him inside the Glade.” Ch.4
Rebellion	- From the beginning Thomas doesn’t follow all of the rules - The number one rule in the Glade is to never go into the maze unless you are a runner; Thomas broke that rule	“Thomas knew that he had no choice. He moved. Forward. He squeezed past the connecting rods at the last second and stepped into the maze.” Ch. 17
Locked Out	- After being trapped inside “The Glade” for several days Thomas has found a way to be locked-out - No one who has been locked out has survived until Thomas and Minho who hadn’t only survived a night but save life and killed four Grievers, deadly monsters	“Whatever, dude. Break the Number One Rule, kill yourself, whatever. Ch.17
Homesickness	- All of the Gladers have been taken away from their families without any memories of them - They want to have a family or at least remember them	“Thomas, I’m kinda messed up man. It’s weird to feel sad and homesick, but have no idea what it is you wish you could go back to, ya know? All I know is I don’t want to be here. I want to go back to my family. Whatever’s there, whatever I was taken from. I wanna remember.” Ch. 30
Memory-Loss	- All of the boys in the Glade can’t remember anything about their lives before - After trying to remember information for countless hours, there is never any success	“My name is Thomas…that was the only thing he could remember about his life.” Ch. 1
Sadness	- No one in the Glade is really very happy throughout the book - Their lives are dedicated to finding a way out and escaping - Many people are generally sad after looking for so long without any hope	“But happiness had been ripped from their lives. Love had been ripped from their lives” Ch. 30
Hopelessness	- Further into the novel things begin to fall apart - Most people thought that it was bad before but it was just the beginning - Many people lose hope and give up but then there were some that always had some hope	“Closet I’ve come so far,” Newt was saying, “to hangin’ it all up. Shuck it all and kiss a Griever goodnight. Supplies cut, bloody gray skies, walls not closing….” Ch. 38
Fear	- Everyone in the Glade is scared of something whether it’s the maze, or the rules, or even just being in the Glade itself - No one knows if everything will be okay so people are scared of what might happen and what will happen	“Filled with terror at the consequences that might be” Ch. 17

Setting Sketch

The setting of this story is in the “Glade” which doesn’t seem to be a nice place. It is a place where every month a new teenager shows up in a metal elevator just as confused as the one who came before. It is a place where there are runners who try to solve a maze the changes every night. It is a place with four giant moving walls which open and close every morning and night; they keep people in and the unimaginable out. On each of the doors there are metal spikes which act as locks that make is impossible to open. All of the boys in the Glade don’t like it. It could be because they don’t like working all day, or maybe that there aren’t any beds and people are forced to sleep outside, it might even be because no one knows how they got there or how they get out.

“A loud boom exploded through the air, making Thomas jump. It was followed by a horrible crunching, grinding sound. He stumbled backward, fell to the ground. It felt as if the whole earth shook; he looked around, panicked. The walls were closing. The walls were really closing-trapping him inside the Glade."

First 3 Chapters

Review in Brief

Thomas (protagonists) wakes up in a metal elevator not knowing where he was. Not knowing where he was is one thing but not knowing anything about him is another. He then begins to hear voice of teenagers from outside of the elevator. Kids come into view and they are pointing and whispering about him. He looks around to see an open space. Confused, he looks around at the unfamiliar area. He sees a big, larger than some others, in clear view. He seemed to be the leader. Thomas would later then ask about where he was or how he got there but no one would tell him.

Quotes

“The lightless elevator swayed back and forth as it ascended, turning the boy’s stomach sour with nausea; a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse.”

“He looked in every direction but saw only darkness; he felt along the walls, searching for a way out.”

“My name is Thomas, he though. That …was the only thing he could remember about his life.”

“It’s a long story shank. Piece by piece, you’ll learn-I’ll be takin’ you on the Tour tomorrow. Till then….just don’t break anything”

“Welcome to the Glade”

“Where am I?”….”Nowhere good”

Interesting Words

Greenie: the newest person

Glade: a clearing; a piece of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area, or in this case in four stone walls

Shuck-Face: an insult known by to the characters in the book

Keeper: a person who is in charge of a certain task in the Glade

James Dashner

James Dashner is the author of The Maze Runner. He writes children’s fantasies and adult novels. He is mostly famous for The Maze Runner trilogy, The Jimmy Fincher Saga, and the 13^th Reality series. He was born in 1972 in Georgia. He attended Brigham Young University. James lives in South Jordan City, Utah. He is now married and has four children.

Below are some words that readers have said about the book……

“The Maze Runner by James Dashner is a mind-blowing dystopian novel. I sped through the last hundred pages, reading as fast as I could to find out how it ended.”

“Wow. The Maze Runner is by far one of the most suspenseful reads I've come across in a long while.”

“Loved this book! Everyone should read this. It will grab you and you won't be able to stop until you are done with the book. “

“I have just finished this book. Stayed up all night to read it. I give it 2 thumbs up! More if I had more thumbs! Definitely a MUST-READ”

“I just finished The Maze Runner and loved it. There are some books that prompt me to pick up a pencil and jot down prophetic quotes and amazing moments - I just let this one take me on a great ride and I enjoyed every page of it.”

“This book was intense and always kept me clinging to the pages. I couldn’t get enough!”