Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

Review by Keaton Silver

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is one of my personal favorite books because it has every element you need in a book. It also has tons of great characters, like Thomas, Newt, Teresa, Alby, Chuck, Minho, and many more that I will tell you about. It starts out with a boy named Thomas who wakes up in a elevator, and when he reaches the top, he is greeted by many other boys. He has arrived at The Glade. There is a bit of an issue, though. Thomas doesn't remember anything, not even his name, and well, the glade is a giant maze with terrible monsters inside of it called grievers. As well as being a maze, the giant concrete walls shift every night, and well, that's also when the grievers come out to play, so you don't want to be stuck there overnight, as no one has ever made it through the night in the maze.

Thomas later finds out that the glade is run by two boys, Alby the leader and Newt the second-in-charge. Though Alby isn't too fond of Thomas, Newt seems to like him. He is informed by the two boys that every week the elevator that he arrived in brings supplies, like medicine, food, tools, and rarely weapons. But the thing that's most surprising to him is that every month it brings a boy with no memory of who he is or anything about himself.

Thomas is shocked by this news, as he tries to remember his past or at least his name. But it has been a month since he arrived, and the new arrival is a girl with a note saying, This is the last one. Yes, and everyone is surprised, as the glade is full of only boys. Her name is Teresa, and although she does have some memory, she immediately falls into a coma. This isn't the only abnormality. Thomas feels like he knows her, but he can't remember where from, but well, not just that, but they also can talk to each other telepathically. So Thomas talks to her while she is in her coma and learns a little bit about himself. He finds out even more when she wakes up and tells them about W.I.C.K.E.D, the people that put them there.

Teresa's arrival triggers a number of abnormalities in the glade, like people don't act normal, the sun doesn't come up, and the doors to the maze stay open during the night. This allows grievers to get in and hunt the children. Along with this, Thomas and Minho become runners, which are people who run through the maze and try to find a way out, but one day they get stuck in the maze and are the first to ever survive the night in the maze. Thomas suspects that the maze isn't random, but has a code. So will they figure out the code and escape, or will they all die to the grievers? You'll have to read the book to find out!