The Maze Runner

This is a review for The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
I gave this book ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 stars, I loved it.

Synopsis: Thomas wakes up in a moving freight elevator and can't remember anything about himself except his name.  When the lift stops and he is helped out of the box he is met by a bunch of other boys just like himself, no one can remember anything about their lives before the elevator.  The world he is living in now is called The Glade and it is surrounded by a giant wall.  Outside the wall is The Maze, the walls of the Maze change every day.  At night there are monsters in the maze but the boys living in the Glade are safe inside the walls.  The day after Thomas arrives the lift arrives again with a girl, the first one to ever be sent up, and an ominous message that everything is going to change.

I have been wanting to read this book since my husband dragged me to see the movie, usually I prefer to read the book before seeing the movie.  There are a lot of differences between the two mediums.  As is usually the case with me, I much preferred the book.  Because I saw the movie before reading the book I think I will always see Dylan O'Brien as Thomas and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt but that isn't really a problem for me!

The plot is interesting and keeps you hanging on waiting for the next piece of the puzzle to fall into place.  The gladers have a very well thought out organizational and governing system.  The book takes place two years after the first group of boys woke up in the Glade so they have had time to establish rules for living in the Glade and they have explored the Maze looking for a way out many times.  They have developed much of their own slang and worked out ways to deal with their missing memories but they all to go home above all else.

The monsters that wander the Maze at night are terrifying.  The reason the boys were placed in the Glade is even more terrifying.  The epilogue opens the most terrifying thought of all and demands that I read the next book as soon as possible!

I really enjoyed this book, if you enjoy dystopian fantasies you should definitely check this book out!