Review: THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner
First, we’ll take a look at my Goodreads review:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was one of those books that I just wasn’t sure about as I was reading it. I loved the premise, but the actual execution? Not so.
I think the main problem was that I just didn’t connect with the main character, Thomas. I thought he was quite rude a lot of the time, and a bit presumptuous.
And I had problems with the ending. After all the build-up thoughout the novel of how are they doing to get out of here? the actual ending disappointed me. It just seemed too easy, too convenient that Thomas went through the Changing and remembered everything.
Also, I thought Teresa was a poor character… seeing as she was representing the girls (hello, she’s the only female character!!), I thought she could’ve been developed a lot more. She didn’t really seem to do much, yet was always eager to point out that she was capable–yet spent a lot of time either in a coma or locked up.
But I still finished the book, which I suppose, says something.
Now, my other thoughts:
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what all the fuss is about this book. Maybe I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I expected to because I’d heard so much about it, had listened to friends rave about what an amazing read it was… my expectations had been built so high, that when I bought it I just couldn’t wait to start reading…
But I was disappointed.
I found the writing rather clunky in places, though as a writer myself, I could appreciate the effort Dashner had put into it. Maybe part of the problem was that I was reading through it, I was thinking constantly about things that could be done to improve it. I would’ve liked to have known more details, to make the whole situation feel more realistic. And, as I mentioned in my Goodreads review, I really would’ve preferred more female characters if Teresa couldn’t be a strong one.
Also: the ending. I thought it seemed contrived, especially with the epilogue–yet I can see how that sets up the premise for the next book. But I just through that it tried to close book one too neatly… and it didn’t really work for me.
Normally, if I find a book I love and there’s a film out, I’ll try my best to get the DVD so I can watch it and compare… but I’m not sure I’ll be doing that with this book. I just didn’t love THE MAZE RUNNER enough, and I don’t know if I can put myself through two hours of screen time for it–unless I hear from others that it is better than the book.
And yet I still gave this book 3 stars.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why. I just couldn’t bring myself to give it 2 stars… maybe because I could see the potential in this book, and I liked the set up, just not how it all progressed, from the point of view of a good book’s structure.
