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Some of my readings come from "oh this trailer is nice, I want to read the book". The Giver serie was a great choice for me this year (hard to put away the books). For The Maze Runner, I didn't see the trailer but a story with a maze seemed unusual, so I wanted to try it.

The reviews for this one are mostly hate or love. For the 1st half, I was more in the loving part as I liked discovering the tiny world even if I wanted to kill half of the characters (no wait, all of them :p), the 2nd half is a lot less pleasant, so maybe it will end with a bad rating.

I find the writing... hum... concise, which is a good thing when you don't like never ending descriptions. Clearly it's a problem when you have characters! The story could improve a lot without conversations or with real ones (most of the talks are something like "I don't like you" and "Shut up *add some handmazed insult*"). At 75%, I don't like anybody and with a survival story, when you don't care, there is a problem (maybe the problem is that I'm not a teenager?).

I'm looking forward to finish this one (and to write a stellar review for it :p).
Are there some "loving" readers here? I'm interested to understand how the book can succeed to have so high ratings. "Haters" are welcomed too, of course :)

I loved the movie and wanted to set the book on fire. Ugh!

Zaz and Lora, I haven't read the book OR seen the movie, but all of the reviews seem to say the exact same thing y'all are saying here. Crazy. Maybe it was just a good idea that didn't get executed properly?

I think the idea is properly executed in fact. Problem for me is the characters! Most of the time, writers try to build them so they'll seem real, even if they are "good" or "bad".
Here I've the same feeling than when I'm in a train and a group of male teenagers is near me: they say stupid things, insult themselves, etc. I don't think it's "who" they are, it's just some boring social interactions. The author did that: putting you in the maze and let you watch people like they are some sort of annoying aliens :p

The hero has some little character development but it's all about complaining and changing his feelings every two sentences, so good luck to find this realistic!

It fits for a movie, but for a book it seems a failure. Maybe teens who are more in action than character development can enjoy that. I'll watch the movie this year anyway, I want to see if it's better :)

(Good thing with bad books: I spend time trying to understand where the problem is, it's interesting and add value to the time used for the book)

Yeah, I'm with Zaz. The problem is the horribly written 2 dimensional characters that are impossible to relate to. I didn't care if any of them died in the book, including the stupid main character

Now we know why somebody threw them all in the Maze: they were too much annoying :D

I saw the book (reprint for the movie) in a shop today, the cover was soooo lovely. I wasn't sure it was the right book as the french title is only "The Maze" (the summary started with "Thomas", end of the question).


Don't choose this one for its cover, dooooon't :D

This book is a very rare case when the movie is better than the book.
I'm with Zaz on this. The book... argh this book, well i liked the general idea of it, but it is a very particular case when i almost wish that everyone just die (except by one or two characters).

I don't like the main character, not like the female character. But the story, in general, is good. It is a super crazy plot that changes everytime (and the second book has even more twists. Plot twists everywhere).

So it's up to me to defend the book, hum?

I do think the book was better than the movie, and one of the main reasons is that I felt the characters inconsistency more in the movie (although the books has some as well).

In the end I liked the book, it is not a masterpiece but nervertheless it is very entertaining. (Don't ask me about the other two, especially the third one).

How can the characters be more inconsistent? :O

I don't know about the next books, maybe if I'm bored or if the ending of this one is really good (I don't think they all die, so the author already spoiled the end :p), I'll read them.

I agree about the entertaining part, even if The Giver or Ender's Game are a lot more entertaining and have stronger stories and characters.

Luisa > who do you want to save? :)

Zaz, i want to Minho and Newt live. Just them. My two favorites babies <3

I didn't read the third book yet, but i really hope they live happily ever after. :3

And you? Any favorite?

I haven't read The Giver but Ender's Game is in another level. (funny enough they are very simliar in the quality of their sequels).

You're right in that inconsistency isn't the best word. The truth is that I related better with the characters in the book.
Without spoilers, I really felt some situations in the book, and it felt real in exactly what you said "Here I've the same feeling than when I'm in a train and a group of male teenagers is near me: they say stupid things, insult themselves, etc.".
They don't know each other and they are in an impossible situation, but I don't see a bunch of male teens, especially in the absence of the opposite sex, to behave much differently. They'll create some sort of order and then the day-to-day relations will be a little like it is written.

I'll let you watch the movie and then tell you what I think it's wrong with it. ;)

Luisa, I agree with you about Newt. His personnality made him a sweet character and he's close to what I think a friend must be. I'm not really fan of Minho, but he seems a deep character, so it's interesting to follow him.

Bruno, the Ender's game sequels are really not sequels. They are more philosophical essays, so when you're looking for action, you're a little lost. Anyway, they are a solid read on the colonization topic and I thought a lot about how people react when I read them. Maybe 'bad' sequels, but good standalones!

I believe the lack of depth in character development could be justified by the fact that the characters lost their memories, are exposed to the unknown of a place and have had to mature to live on their own. I really like the series and its concept.
I know, Thomas isn't the greatest main character out there, but the action scenes, I believe those were really well written, it kept me on edge and allowed me to keep reading.
Also, maybe a reason for not making better dialogue is because of how the story unfolds, and maybe it's a series where you should read through the whole trilogy to comprehend the characters.
I.E.
1. Characters in the book are also unaware of how they should act
2. Although lacking in character's depth, the plot is a really good one in my opinion :)

I guess I might like the series more as I am a teen? Haha it really differs between readers :)

Zaz, I get where you're coming from with the Ender's Game sequels. And I can agree with you regarding the second one. After that it's just too much things in the mix. So, in my opinion, Ender's Game is one of the best books I've read. The second is ok, tying some loose ends and giving an interesting view of the way humanity and society evolved, I can't recomend any of the books that follow them.

Some people will enter the maze for their trilogy. I hope they won't be disappointed by the first story...

I continued slowly the book, so I'm near the end. I run on a passage where the author explains a little why the boys are in the maze, I found it pretty interesting but to summarize: it was not enough!
I don't know if he will add more information on the last 10%, but if not, I will have to read the other books because I'm currently frustrated by this part of the story (or in fact by the absence of this part of the story).

Richard > Maybe being a teen help a little as it's a YA book and some really fit in this category.
I agree, the lost of memories is an important part for the character development, but their personalities appear quickly so it's not really a limitation for me.
The first action scene in the labyrinth was good, but the following action scenes are too short for me, a little more development could be nice as the rest of the book is more about talking (as they never say something interesting, it's frightening :p).

I have this book set as my book to read for this week, but there are so many people also waiting for this book at my library that it will be many more weeks until I can get my hands on this book. I can't wait to read it's been recommended to me by a friend and I have heard great things about it.

I just finished this book last night and I have to say though it did provide some mild entertainment it was definitely far from spectacular. I could see why it would be a good movie. (haven't watched it yet though.)

I feel like this book was Lord of the Flies in a new and updated setting. The only difference is we don't visit them right from the beginning of their journey.

\\SPOILERS AND STUFF PAST HERE//

Ultimately in both cases there's a group of boys stranded somewhere. The boys in this book are older, so it makes sense that their community is a little more together than the boys in Lord of the Flies.

There's characters that are more outright and power hungry. Gally to Jack.

There's the character that's not really good for much and is kind of just there, much to everyone's annoyance EXCEPT the main character's. Chuck to Piggy.

There's characters that place high value on order. Newt to Ralph.

There is a character that's concerned for the well-being of others and has his secret place in the woods. Thomas to Simon.

And even at the very end there's a rescue of sorts. All through this book I couldn't help but make these comparisons. Yes there's events that make these books different, but holy smokes, I just kept getting pulled from the story as my mind clicked on to these things.

\\END SPOILERY SECTION//

Ultimately I will probably read the second book to see where the author takes it but it certainly isn't near the top of my TBR pile. I would recommend this book to a younger reader, they would probably get a little more wound up in it.