The Maze Runner is the first book in the Maze Runner series, which consists of a total of 5 books. I first became interested in this series after seeing clips from the movies on social media such as TikTok. After learning that the movie was an adaptation of the books, I knew that I needed to read the series to get a better understanding of this new world. When I was given the series for Christmas, I began reading right away.
The story is set in a dystopian society, where a large group of teenage boys are living in a giant stone maze. All their memories are wiped, leaving no recollection of how they got there, where they came from, or who they truly are. The only thing they know for certain is that they must escape the maze. The story centers around Thomas, a 16 year old boy who finds himself in a new world while not remembering anything except his name. The fifty boys that live there called “ Gladers” live in a farm in the middle of the maze called the “Glade.” In the “Glade,” each boy has specific jobs such as being a farmer, cook, butcher, and most importantly: runner.
Every day a small portion of boys, called runners, go out of the four walls surrounding the Glade and venture deep into the maze. They do this every day in an attempt to find an escape. However, this is no easy task, as they have to run for miles on end. What makes it even more difficult is that the walls of the maze shift every night, creating new paths and dead ends. To make matters worse, once the sun goes down, terrifying monsters appear in the maze. Thankfully, the 4 walls directly surrounding the Glade close every night to protect the boys from the monsters.
For 2 years, that is all the boys have known. However, after Thomas arrives, strange things begin to happen, the strangest being the latest arrival… a girl! Seeing as a girl has never been in the maze before, it becomes evident to everyone that things are changing. When the walls protecting the Gladers from the monsters mysteriously stop closing one night, they know their time is limited. With Thomas’s help, the Gladers become closer to solving the maze than ever before.
I personally really enjoyed this book and would give it a 9/10. I would definitely recommend it to others. It was very suspenseful and action packed. While reading, I found myself becoming attached to the characters and becoming very nervous for their safety. While I don’t usually read thriller books, I found this book to be very captivating. I will definitely continue to read the rest of the series.
