The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy (Hardback)) by James Dashner
This was a gripping book in that I didn't get a darn thing done on Saturday. Well, I did finish this book, but I'm not sure that counts. I kept saying to myself, "Just till the end of this chapter, then I'll go wash the dishes" but the chapter would end with a huge crisis or question and I HAD to read the next chapter, but only that one. Then there'd be another cliffhanger and I'd have to read more....and so on and so forth. My nerves were shot by the end of the day.

The book reminded me somewhat of Hunger Games and The Giver. I really enjoyed seeing how this group of teenage boys chose to live an orderly, productive life instead of complaining and sitting on their duffs or becoming savage (like Lord of the Flies). This might be a good book to read with teens to show that everyone has a choice no matter how stinky their circumstances are, and yes, these boys had some pretty stinky circumstances.

The characters were interesting, the action flowed well. We follow a young boy as he enters this world and he has no idea what's going on and gets more and more frustrated as people don't answer or give him half-answers. I was feeling his pain and was just as frustrated as he was and considered chucking the book against the wall for the first little while. I guess that means the author did a good job brining me into this new world.

A fun, interesting read. Probably best for teens and adults as some of the content is violent and the ending is certainly disturbing.

And speaking of the end, I didn't know this would be a series so I was expecting a nice happy ending and instead got another cliffhanger (hanging on a cliff and that's why it's called Cliffhanger).