Aimee's Book Corner: The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

If you’re anything like me, you watched the first movie (and probably the second) and thought to yourself; “THESE ARE BASED OFF BOOKS?!? YES PLEASE!” But my friends, you are lucky I am here with you, to tell you; do not do it.

You heard me right, the girl that preaches for you to read is actually telling you to avoid these books like the plague. Let me tell you why. The books start off pretty good; similar to the movie. Introduction to characters, plot development, the usual. You learn to love (and hate) some of Dashner’s made up words and you fall for the characters like you are there with them, surviving in the Glade and running the maze with no luck.

You meet Teresa. Now; there is one thing the first movie does not mention. The little thing called telepathy. Teresa and Thomas are able to mind-speak. It’s a pretty cool thing really, adds a touch of sci-fi to the otherwise apocalyptic novel. Now, here is where the book goes to hell in my honest opinion.

It starts off with some awesome action! Woo! Thomas triggered some bad stuff, and everyone’s mad. They have to figure out how to get out of the maze. Then Dashner does something that in my mind is really stupid. He relies on ‘magic’. Now, in a book that is heavily laden with magic, I would not care in the slightest. But with Dashner, the only other slightly magical thing that is ever mentioned is the telepathy. It’s like Dashner realized he was nearing on 60,000 words, and needed an ending quickly.

Dashner never really goes on to explain the ‘Griever Hole’ or how it worked, or anything like that. He leaves the reader to try to figure out how the hell magic fits in with a world that is mostly built on science and technology.

This is why, my friends, that I tell you DO NOT READ THESE BOOKS. If you like the movie, stick with the movie. This may be the only time I ever tell you to watch the movie and not read the book.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆