Book Review! Maze Runner by James Dashner

It’s been a few days since I finished reading this book but life has a tendency to get in the way of my reviews lately.  Back when I was working in a bookstore, I often picked this book up hoping to read it but never got around to it.  When the movie came out, I determined it was better now than never.  I still haven’t seen the film but now that I am done with the book I will be watching and reviewing it shortly.

That being said…Maze Runner by James Dashner is everything that I thought it would be.  I wasn’t looking for the next best book in young adult reading, but I was hoping for a new tale with a decent  plot.  The premise of the book and the mystery of the maze throughout are pretty good.  However, I thought the ending fell apart a bit with a rushed explanation.  There was a definite, rather blatant, deferral to the second book which I felt did the first book an injustice.  Yes, tying in a series is always difficult to manage, but each book in a series should still be complete in and of themselves without a need to read any of the other books in sequence.  The only other fault I found in the book was the lack of sympathy for the characters.  Plain and simple, I just didn’t care enough if they lived or died.  Maybe this was due in part to the time of year I read this (being busy around the holidays with work and family).  I suppose I’ll find out when and if I pick up the second book.

All in all, I don’t find the negative reviews posted on various sites to be fair.  Many reviewers are comparing this book to The Hunger Games series but they truly are apples and oranges.  Though both books written in the dystopian genre, that is where the similarities end.   You can nitpick any book to death but in the end, if you are entertained, no matter how small, it is a win.