Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Series: The Maze Runner Trilogy #1

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Source: Owned

Goodreads//Amazon

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them, open. Every night they are closed tight. And that every 30 days a new boy is delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. Only the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets that are buried within his mind.

For a review of the second book of the series, The Scorch Trials, check out Alvie's review here.

Well. Hi again. Remember me, Hayley? The one that left for a month and is now going to magically reappear like a magical unicorn? Well. Yeah. So hi. ON WITH THE REVIEW.

The Maze Runner has been on my 'to-read' list (which, as you know if you see me on Goodreads only goes up in numbers and never back down again) for a long time- it was first recommended to me when I read the Hunger Games, and since then it's been popping up on all of my recommended and to-read lists, though I fully blame that on the ridiculous amounts of dystopian novels I read being the cause. So I had high expectations for this novel. I expected it to knock me off my feet.

And it did.... well, kind of. 

See, The Maze Runner was technically a good book. It had a really nice main character, the secondary characters were fleshed out and everyone was generally quite interesting. The idea was fantastic. It was a perfect dystopian setting, and the plot and action and everything should have been awesome. So why didn't it give me ALL THE FEELINGS? Why didn't I get the little excited shivers I usually get when reading about dysto worlds and how they worked

After a fairly small amount of thinking, I had the answer. *que dramatic horns*

There was very little world building. Yes, it existed, on a minimal amount about the small area they were in, but not even the way they behaved indicated they were in a dystopian area. There was close to no information gained about the world throughout the entire novel, and it was only at the end where you got a tiny glimpse of what the world was like, though I have to say by then I wasn't really paying attention. World building is crucial, and I mean crucial to dystopian novels, and that was what James Dashner lacked.

Another thing I have to nitpick on was the fact that I felt no connection to the other main character- the girl/love interest/plot point/soul mate/magical unicorn. She's supposedly very important, but all she did throughout the novel was be in coma and communicate telepathically. There was just no information, and that frustrated me immensely throughout the entire novel.

Overall, The Maze Runner was an action packed book full of mystery but I felt as if the world building was lacking and I never connected with some of the main characters. I do wish I loved it, but I don't. 3 stars... or more circles, now that I think about it.