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Jan 23, 2012

Izzy rated it:

This book was recommended for fans of the Hunger Games series, a series that has become one of my favorites. I began The Maze Runner excitedly, hoping for an equally enjoyable, dystopian adventure. I didn't find it.

The plot was intriguing and kept me reading; in fact, it was probably the only reason why I kept reading. Some writers are able to seamlessly integrate characterization and good writing with a fast-moving plot; James Dashner is not one of them. The pacing is strange, a More...

33 comments like (73 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2012

Cara rated it:

Reading this book + No sleep= brain shock. Oh more like my brain was blown into freaking little bits. I kept thinking about it after I was done. I finished it into the late hours of the night and I kept circling in my head what was going to happen next. The point is mute but I am definitely going to read the sequel The Scorch Trials.

From the start as the reader we have NO idea what is happening. All Thomas can remember is his name. Not where he came from or any specific details of hi More...

15 comments like (21 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2012

Heather rated it:

At first I was a bit put out with this book. I don’t know what it is about male authors, but they can be down right infuriating. Men truly do think on a different wave length and speak another language than women. I was becoming rather frustrated with the lack of information being given, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to endure that sort of aggravation for 300 plus pages. Luckily around page 60 or so, Dashner hit his stride and I became enthralled with this story.

It’s so diffi More...

8 comments like (21 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

Becky rated it:

I love mazes (and labyrinths, although they are technically something entirely different), but for some reason, when this book came out I wrote it off, thinking that it would be a sort of juvenile adventure story, and not really my thing. I didn't know anything about it, but the title just didn't call to me.

So when I finally did get around to reading it, even after many, many people have told me how great it is, I was still impressed by how awesome it is.

Oh awesomeness, More...

1 comment like (17 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2011

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

This is one of those dystopian thriller stories, where something very, very bad has happened to the world, but you don't know what. With teenagers.

Thomas regains consciousness in an elevator that deposits him in this enormous clearing being lived in by a group of teen boys. He maybe was there before, but he's not saying. (I didn't like how coy Thomas was, even with himself. In fact, I didn't much like Thomas.) Surrounding this clearing are these crazy maze walls that move around at n More...

9 comments like (16 people liked it)

Aug 01, 2010

Morgan rated it:

Thomas wakes up in a lift with no other memory besides his first name. The lift deposits him in the Glade, a large courtyard surrounded by impossibly high stone walls. The Glade is populated by teenage boys in the same situation as him, they also have no memory. But they have made a life for themselves in this place, their only hope is trying to solve the maze that surrounds the walls. The Maze is a dangerous place, filled with terrifying half-machine/half-slug monsters that exist solely to s More...

11 comments like (17 people liked it)

Oct 21, 2011

Laura rated it:

“…sometimes you don’t look very hard for things you don’t believe will or can happen”

When your path in life appears to have more questions and confusion than answers, how do you keep going? How do you keep dreaming, hoping and searching when everything is so unclear, dark and hopeless? Well…welcome to life in the Glade!

The Glade is a place of unknowns. A world, with no sense of time or place in the universe, populated with teenage boys all trying to solve and get out of More...

5 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

This book would have been great IF:

1) the characters had some personality

2) the main character - Thomas - weren't such a Gary Stu and showed some character development and growth instead of conveniently "remembering" important information to advance the plot

3) the book weren't filled with atrocious made-up slang - "shuck-face," really, is this supposed to be cool?

4) the villains - Grievers - were actually scary or dangerous
More...

67 comments like (100 people liked it)

Jun 07, 2011

Kyle rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

20 comments like (7 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Emily rated it:

Well, let's just say I will be checking Amazon every day waiting for part 2 to be released. This is one of those books that leaves you desperate for more, gives you just enough so you're never bored but always manages to maintain mystery and tension. I found myself deeply attached to the wonderful array of characters and wanted more than anything that they would all make it out of the maze alive. I was pleasantly surprised by the development of Chuck's character; at first I imagined he would sim More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Milly rated it:

(Audible Review)

My two cents:

I was not impressed upon reading this book. Perhaps it was a different experience altogether having to hear the audible version rather than reading the book itself. Perhaps the flaws of the book stood out more when heard rather than when read. That or the narrator of the book was simply a poor reader and just didn't do a good job narrating. Though, I'm quite sure it's the former rather than the latter that I found this book's prose juvenile an More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2011

Hannah rated it:

Let me first confess that I don't read alot of dystopian YA fiction (more like almost nil), so my rating and my review of this book is certainly not anchored in any real appreciation or understanding for this genre. The only other series I can compare The Maze Runner with is The Hunger Games, and this is definitely no Hunger Games IMO. I think I was very lucky to be recommended The Hunger Games, as that series seems to set a high standard in the dystopian genre, and one that even neophyte read More...

3 comments like (9 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2009

Camille rated it:

Good night, this was so...
It was amazing. So intense, I was gripping the book, excited to find out how it ended. I read this in one day, not even that. I started it around 4:00 pm, and finished around 7:00 pm. Oh man! It was great! This book had everything, there was mystery, suspense, horror, a little humor. I felt this book was far too short, I wanted more, and I'm very happy this is a series, cause I want more. That is a first, well second, my wanting a book to be a series.
Well w More...

4 comments like (13 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2010

Nic rated it:

I've just finished and all I can say is holy shuck! This book is awesome!

I was a little bit scared when I started this book that I wasn't going to like it as it is my first real dystopia/sci-fi book I've read. After about 110 pages it got to the point where I couldn't put it down for anything even while eating dinner I had it one hand and when bedtime came I wanted to stay up all night and read it.

The plot was fast paced, suspenseful and full of suprises. The twists More...

110 comments like (33 people liked it)

Jul 26, 2010

Annalisa rated it:

If Dashner got anything right, he delivered with the suspense. The writing can be a little dry and non-descript (maybe it's a guy thing), but once I became involved with the story, I didn't want to put it down. My problem with the book is that Dashner sometimes sacrificed the story for the suspense. It didn't always feel organic, the character choices and the plot direction, and it made me pull out of the story a little. Also, because he built up the suspense so much, the story didn't always del More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2011

Everley Sharp, the Clankinist rated it:

OH. My. God. THIS WAS AMAY-ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or rather, a-MAZE-ing. Geddit?

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2011

Ellie rated it:

3.5

Well. There was....well, first of all, I have to get a cup of water because I have a major headache.

*Goes to get cup of water*
*Returns*

Aah. Much better.

Okay, ~~first~~ second of all, my friend recommended this book. Soo I requested it, and (foolish me) left it lying on the table where I do my homework, in plain sight of my parents. Oops. So THEN my dad says, at dinner:
"Oh, Ellie, by the way--I borrowed that book of yours, Runner? O More...

32 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2011

Stephanie (The Night Bookmobile) rated it:

Books like The Maze Runner are the reason why I read. I was so engaged in this novel that I was up into the late hours of the night reading it, hiding from the cold under the covers with my book light, while my boyfriend slept next to me. He read the book before I did and immediately bought the second book; so I knew this book was going to be a good one already because he is extremely picky when it comes to books and it is hard for a book to hold his attention. I finally put the book down for th More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Nov 04, 2011

prettybooks rated it:

It’s quite a simple premise really: teenage boys are taken from their homes and put in a futuristic, technologically advanced maze with dangerous, deadly creatures – Grievers – roaming the grounds. What happens next? The Gladers have to 1) avoid dying, 2) figure out what is going on, and 3) escape.

I absolutely loved The Maze Runner. I enjoyed the maturity of the characters. They were organised and worked together to create a mini society within the Glade (the middle of the Maze wher More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 27, 2011

Ashley rated it:

Alright Cillian, let's see if I can dredge up some of my initial thoughts of this book, and hopefully I'll be able to write up a decent review of the book I read over a year ago.

First off, I can still remember why I picked up The Maze Runner in the first place; the cover caught my eye and begged me to take it home. Come on, a giant, decrepit stone entrance to a maze? That reeks of an epic adventure, right?

Well, maybe "epic" isn't quite the word I'd use for The M More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 08, 2011

Eliza rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2011

LuAnn rated it:

March 5, 2011 Review
In 2009 I read The Maze Runner,, had a terrible time getting through it, and I wrote a scathing review (see below). Because I love James so much, and because I absolutely adored his other books, I decided to attempt a second read of the book and ended up abandoning it because my initial thoughts and issues with the story hadn't changed. But last week I tried a whole new tactic. I listened to the audio book, and suddenly I understood why everyone loves The Maze Runner. Al More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2011

Wendy Darling added it

A premise full of promise, but after 150 pages, how can there still be no answers? Deliberately withholding information becomes frustrating not only for the protagonist, but for the reader as well. The fact that Thomas does not demand more answers from his fellow captives makes it difficult to sympathize with or care what happens to him. The spoilers for the book make it sound intriguing, but I can't wade through another 200 pages before it gets to the point.

Aside from a few physical More...

2 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

Janina added it

Yeah, this was a quick reduction of my TBR pile. I won't rate this, as I've only read the first twenty pages, and am just not willing to invest any time to find out more ... Lesson I've learned: Do not buy/swap books if you aren't that interested in actually reading them ;).

#5 Street Corner TBR Pile Reduction Challenge (Jess)

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Kenna. rated it:

Just finished this book today... Wow. I don't think this is the best book I've ever read, but it is defidently the most different one! I've never heard a story like it.. It was completely unpredictable with a great story. However, it wasn't my favorite writing... I sometimes got frustrated with how naieve the characters could act... not realizing things right in front of them. The book was a bit scarier than I had anticipated. But there were only a few heard-pounding scenes and they were gr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 07, 2011

Mariana rated it:

Ater finishing The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, nothing from my gigantonormous pile of to-read books was grabbing me. The only cure? Literary crack. I'm scratching that itch like a mofo.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2011

Cici rated it:

I am like 1/2 way into the Maze Runner and I'm liking it so far, I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but neither do they, really, there's a lot of mysteries still to be solved.. I'm starting to develope my own ideas but I could be completely wrong.
I picked this book up because it was recommended to me since I loved Hunger Games, well it definetly doesn't compare, for me anyway.
I think my nephews and my son will just love it though. It is a pretty good story, it really got me thinki More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 23, 2012

Page rated it:

Ok, now I know this is a weird title for a post but it really is the best way to describe my feelings on The Maze Runner by James Dashner. At my work, we have a main core to our little reading circle; Myself, Brenda and Yoli. Other people read what we are excited about here and there, but the three of us are the most committed to sharing each other's reading obsessions and we compare the most notes. Yoli was the first to read it and while she liked it, she was also not sure just exactly how m More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 02, 2012

Alexa rated it:

I love the pace of this book. I finished it in 5 hours. I usually don't time how long I read but I just took medicine at 8am since I'm feeling horrible and I was supposed to take it every four hours (totally missed the timer since I set it to midnight not noon). I was expecting to sleep, since I have didn't sleep at all at night, after I downed the stuff but when I checked the clock when I finished it was 1pm. In no way did I feel rushed to finish this.

It's like a slow burn or a slow More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

slayra rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

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