Review: "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

Despite all my best intentions, I was still only able to read one "real" book last month.  I struggled a bit with "The Maze Runner", but I'm glad I finally read it because it's been on my TBR list for so long!  Here's what I'm hoping to read for the Real Book Challenge over the next three months:

Quite the pile, I know!  I'm soooo intimidated by that Stephen King book, I don't know how I'm going to get through that one!!!

So, I might as well kill two birds with one post - read on for my review of "The Maze Runner".

"If you ain't scared, you ain't human." When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers--boys whose memories are also gone. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out--and no one's ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

This is one of the rare cases where I think the movie might surpass the book.  I had a hard time getting into the book at first, but I pushed on, and I"m glad I did because I'm quie excited to see the setting and action of "The Maze Runner" on the big screen.

One think I really got a kick out of was the slang/swear words the boys in the glade used.  I wonder what people would think if I called my car a piece of "klunk"?  I think I might try to incorporate some of these into my everyday language - might keep me out of trouble!

The glade and the maze were easy for me to imagine.  The boys, on the other hand, kept getting mixed up in my mind.  I never had a clear image of Thomas, and once the other boys were introduced and described once, that was it.  I think Alby was African American, and I think Newt was blonde, but honestly, if you told me the opposite was true, I wouldn't be surprised.

The action was somewhat sporadic, making the plot a bit slower than other dystopian YA novels I've read, but if you don't mind taking your time with a book, "The Maze Runner" is worth a read.

My rating: