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 deliver.

(view spoiler)[For instance, I thought the grievers were thoroughly creepy in the beginning, the stuff of nightmares, but once Thomas encountered them, Dashner didn't bother scaring us anymore. I felt as though he thought we could freak ourselves out now that we understood what they were, but after Thomas beat them, I needed Dashner to remind me that they were a threat. And I was disappointed with that night in the maze. Going into it, the suspense was awesome, but then the night felt like two hours from sunset to sunrise and it was too easy for Thomas. I wanted more escaping going on, more struggle with the maze, more time in there. (hide spoiler)]

Dashner explains why Thomas has an easy time in the maze, but still. I would have liked more discovery from him instead of him just knowing stuff from his erased memory and that goes for the whole glade and all the people, not just the maze. It's tough to balance a plot-driven story with the slow pace of character development, and I think this story needed to be faster paced, but I would have liked a little more development, a little more showing of the other characters instead of Thomas telling us what they were like. More depth to the stereotypes and even with Thomas, a few fatal character flaws, a few catastrophic mistakes (other than going into the maze), that made me have to figure out if I liked and trusted him and fear for his life a little more. Also, the fake swears didn't ring true. Normally I love made-up words in a dystopia, but these didn't feel like made-up words so much as replacements for real swear words Dashner didn't want to use. There were a few times that it was too obvious what words they were supposed to be and that they were a straight-across replacement.

I think the story could have used a few more drafts before publication, but overall it's a solid, suspenseful story. I really liked the idea of the grievers and the maze test and WICKED: intense, unique, creative. When all my nitpicking fades, I'll remember that I liked the story.

If I'm in a good mood 3.5 stars.