Friday, October 8, 2010

Review - THE MAZE RUNNER

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) - James Dashner
Genre: YA Dystopian/Sci Fi# of pages: 374 (hb)
Publisher: Delacorte, Random House
The Maze Runner @ Parental Book Reviews

Poor Maze Runner! It sat on my shelf since March before I got around to reading it. Luckily, it was definitely worth the wait. I highly enjoyed this book, even if it did take me a long time to read.
The author, James Dashner, really did an excellent job maintaining the suspense and a strong feeling of foreboding, and he also did a great job, I think, of describing the world of the Glade and the Maze to us. As far as dystopians go, this book has it all: futuristic, post-apocalyptic feel, absence of useful adult characters (absolutely no adult characters, in this case), which intensified the drama, a perfect blend of action and suspenseful quiet, and the brain-itching question of "What is going to happen next?!"
It seems to me that Dashner treats his readers the way he treats Thomas, the story's narrator - he drops them into this storyworld, right in the middle of all the action, and presents no answers (at first). Thus the purpose of the book is not only to survive and to overcome, but also to figure out what the Sam Hill is going on. And I think he did a fine job. It helped me relate to Thomas and the other boys to feel just as lost and confused as they were.
It seemed like we didn't get any answers until the last 100 or so pages. I would have liked the revelations to be a little more gradual and spaced out, just because it felt like I was being hit with a tidal wave worth of information. Also, there really only seemed to be one "thing" out there in the Maze, the Grievers, and they really weren't that scary to me, so segments that really should have been "exciting" or "borderline scary" just weren't. I would have amplified the creepiness factor of the Maze, made it more terrifying. However, the ending (especially the last few chapters) was EPIC. As in, best spankin' way to conclude a book. It sets up for The Scorch Trials so tantalizingly!
The only thing that could have been better was the story's characterization. The narrative seemed at times to be inexpressive and matter-of-fact, and I didn't really feel like there was a lot of character depth. The narrative told me what Thomas was feeling, for example, but it didn't really show me. I'm interested to see if characterization becomes stronger in the next book.
The 'language,' too, seemed a little overdone. I found the made-up expletives very amusing, but a bit overused. On the other hand, I can't be certain that boys wouldn't speak so colorfully, if they were by themselves in a big shucking maze. :)

Highly enjoyable and highly recommended! And whadaya know! The Scorch Trials is available now!

Final Grade:

Books for Sale/Trade!

Note: I just had a post not long ago similar to this. Sorry for the redundancy!

Just got a paypal and so I figured that I could try selling the books I don't have room for anymore.

If you see something you'd like (either to buy or trade for) please email me at aeimaginer12@gmail.com

Books Available
Beastly - Alex Flinn (pb)
Pastworld - Ian Beck (hb)
Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer (pb) **never been read**
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones (pb)
Pretties - Scott Westerfeld (pb)
Faerie Wars (Faerie Wars, #1) - Herbie Brennan (pb - British cover edition)
The Purple Emperor (Faerie Wars #2) - Herbie Brennan (pb - British cover edition)
Ruler of the Realm (Faerie Wars, #3) - Herbie Brennan (pb - British cover edition)
Faerie Lord (Faerie Wars #4) - Herbie Brennan (pb - British cover edition)
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation - Lauren Willig (not YA)
The Masque of the Black Tulip - Lauren Willig (not YA)


- paperbacks are $5 each and hardbacks are $8. If you want me to ship multiple books, let's talk via email and we can figure out S&H. Ditto to international requests.

Books I'm looking for
Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen
Water Song - Suzanne Weyn
The Grimm Legacy - Polly Shulman
Oh My Gods - Tera Lynn Childs
Captivate - Carrie Jones
Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
Note: This list does not include ARCs I'm looking for. If you have an ARC that you'd like to trade, please feel free to email me and we'll talk! I just usually don't put up ARCs I'm looking for... but I'll consider any!

:) PS - I take very good care of my books!

 
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