Book Review: James Dashner – “The Maze Runner” Trilogy

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run. (Source: amazon.com)

It took me a hell of a long time until I finally decided to give the series a shot – mostly due to the fact that in a few days, the 1st movie is going to be released here in Germany and I was intrigued (which has absolutely nothing to due with Dylan O’Brien playing the lead role, of course not…), so I figured starting with the book first would be a good thing. However, I had heard and read very different opinions; people being disappointed of the 2nd and 3rd book, complaining about the main character’s attitude and the multiple deaths of characters they had grown close to. But after all, it was announced as something between “The Hunger Games”, “Divergent” & “Lord Of The Flies” – three of the things I love to pieces, so curiosity got the better of me and I finally started the series 6 days ago.

And hello, am I glad I did. This series is a GEM.

#1 The Maze Runner

As probably everybody who has read this book, I was into the story right away. Of course, the choice of words was weird at first, words I had never heard before, but I soon grew used to “shuckface”, “slinthead” and all the likes. After all, it was easy to imagine what the characters were saying. Plus, I clicked with Thomas right away, despite the fact that I’m female. His insecurity, yet his curiosity, and his will to find out the truth were very intriguing. Moreover, each of his characteristics made me like him the instant he showed up. He’s a character that people can identify with – I myself can imagine being taken completely aback if I’d ever been thrown in a situation that he’s been thrown in, with all my memories and past being wiped out. And also all the other characters were so well-written that you can’t help but feel with them – even with Gally.
The fact that the truth behind the “Maze” is only revealed in the last pages of this first book might be something that annoyed people – I, however, liked that way of approach done by James Dashner, because it somewhat reminded me of the series “Prison Break” and its 1st season. Everyone had a feeling they’d break out, and they had to wait until the very last episode of Season 1 to see it happen. And after it was clear that the “Maze” wouldn’t hold the kids’ future any longer, it was clear for me that they’d leave, and from that point on it was impossible for me to put the book away. The way it was written was highly entertaining and just the way I like my books to be.

#2 The Scorch Trials

The 2nd book thankfully picked up exactly where the 1st one left off – something I thought was a good move. With what the kids had to face, it would’ve been highly illogical to let time pass between the escape and the “new start”. For me, it was also very interesting as to how the characters would develop from now on. We have Thomas, who had regained some of his memories due to one very stupid deed in the 1st book, and who grew more and more confident of himself and the place he starts to take over in the small group of kids. The reader feels how he gets stronger, how he knows what he wants, despite the fact his past still is a mystery to him. And the reader also feels with him as his thoughts about who to trust and who to mistrust keep him in a constant inner agony. To some people (according to the reviews on amazon and from a friend of mine), that was somewhat annoying – the constant reminder of the horror Thomas had to go through at the end of the 1st book, and the whining over and over, his seeming inability to let things go, to move on; but I, personally, liked it. It made him very human to me, struggling with himself and the people he’s closest to – something I can very well relate to (although not in that exact way as he experienced it, of course).
But the character I grew the closest with, the character I started to like more than anyone else, about who’s life I was in constant fear – that was Minho. I utterly loved his development since the 1st book, I absolutely enjoyed the change James Dashner has put him through – willingly or not. The snippy comments, the “Dude!” outbursts, the constant sarcastic/wry remarks – it was the thing I mostly enjoyed about “The Scorch Trials” over everything else, over the story, the chills and the suspense. Had James Dashner only broached in very small glimpses what kind of boy Minho is, he played it out very well from the moment that he took over a bigger role in the whole story in this 2nd book. And I have nothing but praise for that.

#3 The Death Cure

All in all, that might be the weakest book of the three, up until a certain point closer to the end. I understand why people kept complaining about the “downfall” of the series with every book, and I have to admit, partly, it annoyed me, too, how the characters of Thomas and Teresa behaved. I understand a lot of the younger readers thought of them as maybe some kind of Katniss & Peeta from the “Hunger Games” series – what with them ending up happily ever after at the end of the series, – and that constant discussions and fights were nothing they wanted to have. The whining and moaning of Thomas didn’t stop in this book (I’m not gonna lie about that), and without bringing in more spoilers than I already have, they are increased with every new shock, terror and task that Thomas and his friends have to face. But let’s be honest: this is the last book of the series, and every reader who expects it to sugarcoat things, to go down easily just doesn’t understand book series like that. Because at the end, “The Death Cure” surely does everything else but sugarcoat, and somewhat even exaggerates with using brutality. The long journey of Thomas, Minho, Teresa, Newt and everyone else is finally coming to an end, and I, personally, wouldn’t have wanted it any other way than how it was done by James Dashner. It was the right way, and I loved it.

Resumé: Of course (especially in the 2nd and 3rd book) there have been turns in the destiny of Thomas and the other Gladers that were so numerous that they hovered at the edge of illogicality for me (the countless times they are able to escape certain captures or deaths are mostly to be named here). But in the end, when I think about it, they kept the story going, kept it flowing – just when the reader thinks “Now it’s over for them, definitely!”, they come out of it, almost unfazed, only to be thrown into the next mess when the same thoughts come back.
Of course there have been deaths throughout all three books that shook me hard – and I won’t be shy to admit I shed the one or other tear over the people dying; that’s how close I personally grew to the characters. But in the end, if I am honest, they were needed to put the characters through a development that was credible and entertaining (minus the whining), to keep them interesting enough that the reader wants to know how they deal with it. Especially the last death in the final book was hard – although part of me kind of knew what would happen, because I’m just that kind of a realist – and sometimes, things are just too good to be true.
Of course not everything in this series was perfect. There are barely perfect books out there.

But all in all, to me, James Dashner came VERY close to “perfect” with his “Maze Runner” series.

Well done.

 

Book Review: Lori Nelson Spielman – “The Life List”

Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision—her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places. (Source: amazon.com)

I actually can’t believe it took me so long to give this book a shot; the last time I cried while reading a book was when I was finishing “Paper Towns” by John Green, back at the end of April 2014. And this book…man, it is definitely a Must-Read.

I admit, when I read about the subject in it, I thought: “No.” Because hands down, I can’t think of anything less appropriate for me to read than a daughter bonding even more with her mother after her death, considering I don’t really have – or want – a relationship with my own mother. Plus, working down a list of goals a girl of fourteen years has written down is something you may find in more than one bad romantic movie (and we all know how much I dislike romantic stuff, don’t we?) In the end, I let myself being convinced to start on it yesterday due to the good reviews I read online. And may I say, they are all more than justified.

1. Have a baby, maybe two.
2. Get a dog
3. Stay friends with Carrie Newsome forever!
4. Help poor people
5. Have a really cool house
6. Buy a horse
7. Fall in love
8. Perform live, on a super big stage
9. Have a good relationship with my dad
10. Be an awesome teacher!

I admit, reading this list that Brett, the main character, was given, was like reading the script to a bad teenager movie. And considering a mother who had just died had put these task onto her grieving daughter’s shoulders seems somewhat outrageous; it seems like Mrs. Bohlinger has never really known her daughter after she got out of her teenage years. But if the reader looks closer, and maybe even inbetween the lines, they can see the determination behind these life goals, even the love she must have felt for her. How much she wants her loved one to be happy. And yes, I can totally identify with the horror and shock Brett felt when she is presented with this list that is the only way to get her inheritance; just as her, simply the thought of getting on a big stage infront of loads of people make my skin pour over with sweat. I guess than when you’re thirty-four years old, the dreams you had as a fourteen-year old seem somewhat ridiculous and small, and nowadays, totally unreachable – people change, and so do their hopes and dreams for the future.

Surprisingly, the list Mrs. Bohlinger gives Brett leads her on a journey to find herself instead of just giving her directions to deserve her inheritance. And I love this message. They say that you should never look back on what’s been past, but in this case, I guess it’s what keeps Brett going, and what could even get other people going. In some way, the reader learns that you need to prove yourself that you can do certain things, no matter what, and that you believe in yourself, even if there will be throwbacks, like a break-up or losing your job. You just have to get going.

The love story that Spielman has put into this book can be somewhat annoying; the numerous men Brett gets to know and seems to fall in love with is ridiculous – as a person who doesn’t think life is as it is in movies or books, and who will never believe that can happen to herself, – and just as the reader gets comfortable with one of her “relationships”, things are changed completely and they’re back at square one. I caught myself twice, thinking “Oh, come on!” because I desperately wanted Brett to finally find “The One”, and to be honest, all men in this book (except for Andrew, who’s probably one of the least likeable people I have ever read about; even Draco Malfoy in “Harry Potter” grew to me at some point!) were beyond adorable and lovely. And that is a nice move of Spielman; having you on the hook in some kind of way, keeping you reading because after every “failure”, your hope that there will be a Happy End just grows – at least that’s what happened to me while reading.

And that exact kind of hope is what made me cry more than once. When Brett finally finds and meets her father – I had the picture of the moment so clearly in my head as if it was real. When she finds her former best friend, Carrie, again – man, who doesn’t want that kind of friendship that doesn’t seem to have changed even after over 18 years? The moment she chooses a dog when visiting the animal shelter together with Brad, her mother’s lawyer, and the entire bonding with one of her students, Sanquita, up until the moment she holds her own child in her arms was more than crying material for someone who so seemingly despises anything emotional and romantic when it comes to books or movies.

The only thing that bugged me a bit was that – at least to me, – it was kind of obvious who Garrett Taylor is. Maybe I’m overly perceptive, but from the moment it’s clear that he and Brett will probably never meet, because it’s just Spielman’s kind of way to play with the reader, I wanted to rush through the book to finally see my suspicions being confirmed. And maybe that’s the reason I don’t like love stories – they are way too predictable for my taste; mostly, you already know at the beginning how the book/movie is going to end. But nonetheless, not even that could keep me from not being able to put this book away, and maybe it even put my expectations higher and my emotions on the edge of overflowing when the moment of truth was revealed – because I definitely cried like a baby. And that is an ability that not many authors have these days.

I think it’s safe to say that “The Life List” has surprised me in a way that I never thought would be possible, and it just has manifested the thought in my head that maybe I should give books like this more chances to win my heart over.

Because Lori Nelson Spielman DEFINITELY won my heart over with this piece of gold.