You ever have one of those moments where you’re running for your life from some monster, and you turn around just to check how close it is, only to smack straight into a brick wall? Yeah, me neither. But let’s just say, if that ever happened to you, you’d be totally screwed. Not only would you be knocked out cold, but that creature would be feasting on your juicy flesh in no time. Bravo, genius.
The first half of the book is a mad dash of action and suspense, like Usain Bolt running from a pack of hungry cheetahs. We meet our hero, Thomas, who is dropped into a strange world filled with a bunch of moody teenage boys, all of whom are tight-lipped about their home, the Glade. It’s surrounded by towering walls, and beyond them lies the Maze, which is safe-ish during the day but lethal at night thanks to the deadly Grievers.
Sidebar: What is with dystopian authors and their obsession with capitalizing random words? Seriously, find a new shtick, folks.
Thomas’s situation is grim, but things get worse when he witnesses some truly horrifying acts of violence. And just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder, a girl shows up in a world filled with boys. Talk about a fish out of water!
Despite the author’s questionable use of words like “klunk” and “shuckface,” the characters are believable, acting and speaking like real teenagers. And the constant mystery keeps you on the edge of your seat. But then Thomas spends a night in the Maze, and the book goes downhill faster than a rollercoaster with no brakes.
Dashner writes himself into a corner and decides the only way out is through telepathy. That’s right, folks. Telepathy! The girl that appeared out of nowhere suddenly communicates with Thomas using her mind, and it’s supposed to clear everything up. But it doesn’t. It just creates more questions and frustration.
As the plot unravels, it becomes more and more unbelievable. The moving walls of the Maze form patterns of letters that Thomas somehow knows what to do with after he experiences the Changing. It’s all too convenient and contrived, and the book loses its momentum faster than a balloon with a hole in it.
I had to put the book down because it just wasn’t holding my interest anymore. And every time I saw that dumb green cover, I felt a shiver run down my spine, knowing what was in store for me. Sometimes, when the first book of a trilogy ends on a cliffhanger, I feel compelled to continue. But in this case, I couldn’t care less about what happens to Thomas and his band of misfits. They could all turn into Grievers for all I care.
But don’t let my negative review stop you from reading it. Maybe you’ll love it, maybe you’ll hate it. Maybe you’ll join a cult and worship it. Who knows? The point is, give it a shot and find out for yourself.
