*No spoilers ahead*
First of all, what is The Maze Runner?
The first book in The Maze Runner trilogy is about how a group of boys living in a dystopian world have to learn to escape the maze that lies outside of the walls around courtyard they live in. The boys memories are all gone except for general knowledge and their names. The author of this series is James Dashner.
Initial thoughts
I was first introduced to The Maze Runner to one of my oldest friends, who said that he watched the entire series on a sleepover. I thought that the series had to be really good if somebody had watched the entire series in one night. So, next day when I was with friends in Chinook Mall, I picked it up. Just from the cover I could tell that the book was set in a dystopian environment, much like The Hunger Games. The cover itself had a very ominous and chilling theme about it.
Key characters
After diving in a little bit, I began to take note of some of the main and supporting characters:
Thomas: He is the main character of the book, in his first few scenes he is extremely scared about where he is and where his memories have gone. Thomas is seemed to be around 16-17 years old.
Chuck: He is a major supporting character in this book and aids Thomas throughout most of his journeys in this book. He is one of the youngest boys there and is around 12-13 years old.c Chuck acts as a little brother figure to Thomas that he never knew he needed.
Alby: He is also around 16-17 and is basically the leader out of all of the boys. He supports Thomas in learning his surroundings a bit.
Gally: He is a major antagonist who is the age of 15 and is shown as a bully to Thomas and Chuck.
Emotional appeal
This book appealed much to me emotionally with all of it’s heartfelt moments between Chuck and Thomas. It also appealed to me with some of its scary/suspensive elements like the plot of the maze and how to get out.
Writing style
The story often maintains a fast-paced style, with a twist or turn at the end of each chapter, which is often around 5 pages. James uses a great job of creating images in the readers mind with all of his vivid descriptions. The author also often uses dialogue to convey information to the reader and it drives the plot. Additionally, dialogue helps the reader to be familiarized with these characters and understand their personalities, which I know has helped me. Overall, the books writing style is very suspenseful and maintains an unnerving aura about it.
Wrap-up
Overall, The Maze Runner was a very enjoyable read from the start to end. It’s fast pace is what kept me entertained and it never slowed down. Many aspects of this book can be comparable to that of The Hunger Games. The protagonists are likeable and the antagonists are dislikeable. The amount of info the book doesn’t show the reader at the start just makes them yearn to read more, which I enjoy a lot. I recommend this book to anybody who enjoys the genre of dystopian, mystery, thriller, and action.
