Book Review of The Maze Runner

[Michael]

After reading the novel, The Maze Runner, I found I really enjoyed this book. It is a well-written dystopia novel and teenagers should read it. There are two elements in the book that I am very interested in. The first element is the setting. The main story takes place in a giant maze in the future and the residents in it are all teenage boys. In order to survive inside this maze, these youths form a small society. Each of them has different work to do and the semblance of order keeps their minds off the possibility that there may not be an exit. On the other hand, this maze is designed to test these teenagers' reactions to an almost hopeless situation. These boys just repeat their daily lives in the maze until a girl arrives. It changes everything. The protagonist, Thomas, has to find an exit before everyone dies. This part is my favourite. These boys' reactions facing the end are realistic and I like how the protagonist saves others from complete chaos. My second favourite element from this book is the theme. The main theme is hope and it is hope that motivates the protagonist, Thomas, to accomplish such heroic success. Hope is just like the heart of our bodies. It creates energies and motivation so that people can keep moving towards their goals. Although there are many enjoyable aspects in the novel, there is also an element that I have a small issue with: the character development in this novel is not masterful. The characters in the book don’t seem to have clear personalities. When the protagonist's friend dies at the end, I could not feel strong emotions about it. Not only do these secondary characters not have clear personalities but also, the protagonist's personality traits do not change, so his actions are less plausible or believable. Basically, when the protagonist faces any troubles, he just searches his memories and "discovers" pieces of the puzzle. Then the problem is solved. My overall assessment of this novel is good. The Maze Runner is worth reading and in spite of a few flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel.

[Vee]

god i loved the maze runner series! they were soooooo good! when a character died...i would cry. loved all the characters, and i think they all developed well throughout the series.

[[deleted user]]

I kinda have to disagree with your point about the characters not having clear personalities. I mean, Thomas was the main guy with a good heart who couldn't kill, we know that.

Alby was in charge/the leader. He was always serious and after 2 years of being there he was only suspicious of Thomas coming in and everything changing.

Minho was the funny guy.

Newt was wise and more so the nice guy, even though he gets a little grumpy at the end... who wouldn't?

Chuck is the cute, little annoying buddy. You could tell he had a gentle heart and only wanted to be everyone's friend.

Gally was angry and he hated Thomas, but he had a good reason.

I understand all their personalities, how are they unclear? When Chuck died I cried a lot, and when Newt died I BALLED. I grew strong feelings for all these characters.