Synopsis via
goodreads.
When Thomas wakes
up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is
blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself
surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse
surrounded by stone walls.
Just like Thomas,
the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that
every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened.
Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been
delivered in the lift. Thomas was
expected.
But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in
the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be
more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark
secrets buried within his mind
First, SPOILERS are
ahead so read with caution. Second, this is the August/September selection for
the book club that I participate in so I decided to borrow the audiobook and
have it solve two tasks. One is that I have actually completed a novel for book
club AND two is that I get to write an audiobook post about it.
This book is
marketed specifically to fans of the Hunger
Games and Divergent series and I
have to say it delivers in that respect. There is the strange fantastical
landscape with hints of potential apocalypse in the outside world. There is a
level of mystery/intrigue surrounding the maze as well as the boys’ search for
answers to its/their existence. I was also impressed with the social/political
system the boys put in place once sent into the Glade. Though the book ends
with more questions, clearly part of series (Son of a Biscuit!), we have some
closure in parts. It was definitely not the situation I was expecting, which
was a pleasant twist.
That being said, I
did not like this novel as much as I liked the Hunger Games and Divergent
series. Could this be because I am slightly biased towards a female protagonist?
I am female so that could be the exact reason; however, there are plenty of
books with male protagonists that I have enjoyed in the past such as Everybody Sees the Ants, Harry Potter, America, The Outsiders, Lord of the Flies, and The Chocolate War. So what’s my deal?
Perhaps it’s
Thomas. As much as Thomas develops in progress with the novel, it seemed he
still lacked personality. My thought is
that this is in reflection of his memory loss. Without those memories it is
hard to predict Thomas’ actions or relate to him. It is hard to root for a
protagonist when he has little personality, even if the reason behind that is a
loss of memory.
Then there was the
obvious solution to the memory loss dilemma. As soon as the solution presented
itself, I shouted “well duh, why hasn’t anyone done that yet!” This is how it
went in my mind (SPOILER):
”Oh you kids have
memory loss? Well here are these Griever monsters that have needles that will
inject a chemical into you which will give you back your memories. Oh yeah, why
don’t I use that to help us get out of the maze! I’m a genius.”
Granted the
“Changing”, which is the physical process of getting your memories back, was
painful and a lot of boys went crazy afterwards, BUT you’d get your memory back
and therefore would know more about this mysterious death maze you’ve randomly
been placed. The “Creators” obviously and deliberately installed that
characteristic in the Grievers so why don’t you use it!
Also, they used the
terms “shank,” “schuck,” and “clunk” too much in the place of curse words. For
example, they kept calling each other “schuck face” or “you stupid shank.” Even
though I can appreciate the low level of cursing for those middle level
readers, the use of these particular words was going into overkill. It felt
like every other sentence out of a kid’s mouth used these three words.
Seriously, did you kids not remember any other insults?
In terms of the
audiobook, the narration was ok. It was not the best I have heard (see
Fault in Our Stars), but still decent. The narrator did excellent accents
for Newt and Minho, but the general reading felt stale. There were times where
I felt my mind drift away rather than focusing on the story; therefore, my
engagement is a little lost.
The
Maze Runner is
considered to be a classic for future readers and even though it didn’t look
like it, I enjoyed listening to it. Sometimes I get stuck on the littlest of
things and therefore some of these postings seem more negative than positive.
Just to clarify, so far there has not been a title that I truly detested. A
great purchase to any YA collection especially since a movie is coming out.
Here are some
suggested reads that are not Hunger Games
or Divergent. This is based on
Novelist, goodreads, and my own personal judgment.
Lord
of the Flies by
William Golding (boys surviving on an island)
The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld (touch
of dystopia/apocalypse)
Variant
by Robison Wells
(kids trying to survive at a school with no adults)
Legend by Marie Lu (touch of
dystopia/apocalypse)
The
Giver by Lois
Lowry (touch of dystopia/apocalypse)
