Jenny's Book Bag

This reminded me of the Hunger Games except it takes place in a maze that’s surrounded by a stone wall. Hunger Games is exponentially better than The Maze Runner. I was drawn to this novel due to the popularity and because I can’t watch the movie until I read the book.

I liked The Maze Runner, but I just didn’t love it. The story was interesting and the narrator on the audiobook kept my attention, but the overall writing was just OK.

The beginning was a bit confusing, so it took me a moment to get my bearings. I didn’t like how the story began because there wasn’t enough background to help set the stage for the readers. The protagonist, Thomas, kept asking a lot of questions at the beginning, but the only response he got from the other kids was that he had a lot to learn. I’m guessing James Dashner was trying to build suspense by creating a mystery, but I just didn’t find his execution appealing.

The characters were interesting, but they lacked depth. There was only one girl in the maze, which I didn’t understand. I felt absolutely nothing in some scenes that were supposed to be very emotional. It just felt very detached to me.

I had no idea how this novel was going to end or why they were in the maze in the first place. Obviously, you find out at the end, but I didn’t see any clues throughout the novel.

I’m not sure if I would recommend this novel or if I liked it enough to continue the series. It’s not terrible, just middle of the road. I could have given it two stars, but the story was intriguing enough that I bumped it up a star. I can find hundreds of books that I would rather read than the next book in this series.