The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jan 26, 2014 Jamie rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian-utopian

This barely earned it's for stars. Just over a 3.5 is more accurate.

For the most part I really enjoyed the story. Yet I feel that the last third of the book was rushed and just threw us a bunch of random bits that don't seem to go together. My mind is still working through the mess of the last few chapters. Nothing is really answered! I ended up with more questions than I started with!

While it starts off really good and the premise is most interesting the ending reveals many gaps in the plot th This barely earned it's for stars. Just over a 3.5 is more accurate.

For the most part I really enjoyed the story. Yet I feel that the last third of the book was rushed and just threw us a bunch of random bits that don't seem to go together. My mind is still working through the mess of the last few chapters. Nothing is really answered! I ended up with more questions than I started with!

While it starts off really good and the premise is most interesting the ending reveals many gaps in the plot that just do not add up. The worst part here is I cannot say much without giving things away!

I liked Thomas' character. Independent, thoughtful, and proactive! Unlike many other characters we meet, he does not accept things at face value. And about time too! Some of the other boys in the Glade have been there for 2 years with no results. He questions solutions, speaks up for himself and is determined to figure a way out.

My favorite character is Chuck. While he is mostly picked on an not a favorite otherwise, I found him to be a great, loyal friend. He is one of the younger boys in the "community" and isn't one of the most skilled but he really tries to help Thomas out and befriend him. Another favorite is Newt. an ideal leader and all around, fair, caring guy. Minho (spelling might be off-listened to audio) I had mixed feelings on I liked him but he also annoyed me a lot.

The fact that a bunch of adolescent boys run the glade alone, from building, to medical, cooking, butchering, farming, etc impressed me. I kept wondering where those skills came from. There must have been a prerequisite skill set to be sent there or something.

One other thing I struggled with was the visualization of the Grievers. I felt more attention should have gone there. Each time my mind tried, it saw something different. Even re-reading this via audiobook didn't help. Except picking up more on the squishy bits.

Overall good, but needed more checking that things matched up throughout the plot and the ending could have been less muddled. I have no problem with open questions in the first book, but I like at least some answered and this just threw me for a loop. ...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Nadine Smith rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012

This story drew me in, and I wanted to found out what was going on. I liked Thomas who is the main character. The book reminds me some of "The Hunger Games". I found at times it was hard to put it down because there was so much going on and I just had to find out what! I wasn't totally surprised by the ending, because I knew there was two more books to go. A good quick read a bit disturbing at times, to think that someone is putting these kids threw such an awful ordeal,for what? That is the big ...more

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Apr 17, 2018 Beth rated it liked it

Two stars for writing, character development and dialogue. Four stars for being fun and entertaining — if you can reconcile "fun" with lots of gore (which apparently I can).

It's a cheesy YA novel with flat characters and "clean teen" made-up curse words.

But it's a good ride, and the ending elevated the plot. There were great revelations but with the promise of a continuing story, neither a throw-your-book-at-the-wall cliffhanger nor a dead end. Yeah, pretty good! ...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Athena Macmillan rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2014-reads, ho-hum, apocalyptic-and-dystopia, made-into-movie, sci-fi, action, thriller, engaging-plot, unimpressed, not-for-me

I've read quite a few rave reviews about this, but reading it myself I didn't really get the hype. I can appreciate it was well written, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. The right person would probably love this book, but personally I can't see myself continuing with the series. ...more

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