So I made a goal to actually read books this year – I know, a writer reading? It’s unheard of! Well, I’ve been doing terribly so far but I decided to go out and read a book the other day and I picked Maze Runner by James Dashner. You may have heard of it since the movie is coming out in September, starring Dylan O’Brian. I like Dylan, so I figured I’d read the book.
My first impression: it was good, moved fairly quickly, wasn’t too annoying with epithets. It’s one of my pet peeves when reading, when writers use descriptors instead of a person’s name. There were a few moments when I wanted to reach in and erase the word “keeper” and replace it with a name.
I tend to be extremely picky when it comes to the types of books I like to read. I hate first person POV. I am getting more and more frustrated with YA books that only begin when a girl meets a boy or a boy meets a girl and they “turn their world upside down.” I went to the bookstore and about 90% of the books I looked at were like that. Luckily, The Maze Runner is not one of those books, at least not in the first book of the trilogy. There is a girl, but she doesn’t feature so much in the beginning and the story is not one of romance. At least, not yet. I haven’t finished the trilogy, though, so I could be wrong.
Overall, I enjoyed the book – it has lots of action, and though the majority of the characters are male, it didn’t feel like the book was vomiting masculinity everywhere. It helped, perhaps, that the characters were in their teens or younger, still able to feel some vulnerability.
My one criticism came near the end in which, after a whole novel of questions, we’re about to get answers, and instead of getting to see it, we have to sit and listen to the narrator tell us what happened. I would have much rather read about it myself than to get his boring one-page explanation.
It was good enough, however, that I went out and got the second book in the trilogy. We’ll see where The Scorch Trials take Thomas and the gang.
A Writer's Musings 
I need to get this book; sounds cerebral, yet fun. Thanks for the review. I appreciate the part where you said it’s not “vomiting masculinity”.
It was definitely a lot less Lord of the Flies than I was expecting when I found out it was a group of boys, which is a good thing.