The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Amazon Description: "When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind."

My Review: Full of action and suspense, and with a quirky and intriguing cast of characters, The Maze Runner is a REALLY good book. At first, when I realized it was a society of only teen boys, I was afraid, because I thought it would go in the savage, they're-not-civilized-anymore-and-they're-killing-and-fighting-each-other Lord of the Flies of direction---but it didn't! The boys, for the most part, had built up a civilized society, a republic of sorts. Very refreshing. Also, the plot was VERY intriguing. Normally, when I read a dystopian book, I can figure out the evil mastermind plot and who the bad guys are in like three chapters, but in this book, even at the end, I had a MILLION questions. It DID get kind of frustrating at times, because you got SO few answers, so the book was, a lot of the times, pretty confusing. The action was well-thought-out and not just senseless fighting and stabbing and stuff, and the setting was really creepy and weird, but cool; I could picture it all perfectly in my head This is the start to an awesome dystopian trilogy.

Cover: The cover is kind of gloomy and not very eyecatching...but I think that's the point. Because the Maze and the Glade aren't supposed to be that cheerful anyway. I do like the electricity wires and stuff hung up in the mazes---it shows the creepiness of having people live in and near something that should NOT be lived in or near by.

Overall Grade: A-