I could have titled this blog post the same as my last one, but this title seemed more appropriate. Today I need to vent about the Maze Runner by James Dashner…oy vey! I have literally never been so infuriated by a book before. After seeing a trailer for The Maze Runner movie, I knew I had to read the novel. Boy was I wrong. It was one of the worst books I have ever read, if not the worst. Here are several reasons:
1) The first thing that hits you is the poor and awkward writing style. He barely ever uses the word “and” in the whole book. This made the sentence structures choppy, slowed down the novel’s pace. (See, wasn’t that awful.) Plus, it’s so strange to read, especially when you’re reading it out loud.
2) The made up curse words. Um…why? So unnecessary and awkward. They aren’t consistent at all either. Shank could literally mean any curse word. If you’re going to be crazy and make up words, make them mean the same thing throughout the novel. What the klunk, you know?
3) There was no character development at all. You’d think you knew a character and they would completely change in a few pages. For example…Frypan is a full supporter of Thomas. He says he agrees with him and leaves food out for him when he misses meals. Sweet guy, really. But then Frypan loses his mind (I have to assume) and hates Thomas’ guts. He basically turns into another character…Winston. This leaves me to think that this is just a book about schizophrenic boys. Maybe it is. In that case, well done James Dashner.
4) The main character has major problems. And by major problems…I mean he has irritable bowel syndrome. Thomas’ reaction to everything is a hurt tummy. I get it…it’s a highly stressful place. But if your reaction to every little thing is a churning stomach, just take the time to go to the bathroom or something. You have a problem Thomas! You’re annoying. You need to take a klunk and get over yourself.
5) Really just no consistencies. Alby has been there for 2 years. There is one new boy a month. So 24 boys total, yes? Nope, absolutely not! Thomas says there are 50 or 60 boys. And in the last battle there’s 40 something (since some stayed back). So how are there so many? Dashner casually mentions near the end of the book that a bunch of boys were place there at the start. That would totally explain it if it wasn’t for a point at the beginning of the book…Alby has been there the longest. All the boys before him (or who came with him) are dead! Dead! Which means there should only be 24. What the heck James Dashner?! Get it together man! Another example of inconsistencies: At one point, Thomas is asking Newt what Track-hoes are. And Newt says they’re the ones that work in the Gardens and that Zart is the keeper. A few pages later, Thomas is in the Gardens working and asks Zart what the Track-hoes do. Umm…what? You’re in the Gardens you idiot, working as a Track-hoe…with Zart, the keeper! But no, it’s a valid question because Zart goes ahead and explains that the Track-hoes take care of the Garden while he and Thomas are literally weeding a garden. What is happening in this book? Who edited this disaster? You’re the worst!
6) It’s called The Maze Runner. Make the maze more interesting? Be in the maze more? Make him a runner for more than a few days? Just a few possibilities that may make the book more effective. Descriptions are terribly lacking. If you’re going to make a book center around a maze, make the maze freaking awesome, man!
7) Barely anything happens. Maybe this could have been an effective short story. Boy wakes up with no memory, feels like he’s been there, travels in a maze, some people get killed, exit maze. Voila! Yeah…I still wouldn’t read it. Even if the next two books in the series were a chapter long I wouldn’t waste my time reading them.
And the most infuriating part? I watched the trailer for the movie once I had finished the book and it still looked good! But I learned my lesson. Just because a movie looks good, I shouldn’t force myself to continue a novel that is a piece of klunk. I should have stopped after the first several pages and listened to my gut instead of waiting for it to magically be wonderful. If you’re wondering if I had my expectations too high because I thought the movie looked good, it’s not that. Yes, I expected it to be good, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s awful, boring, poorly written sludge. Anyway, I’m embarrassed to have it on my shelf. I’m probably done reading young adult novels. And young adults should stop reading them too…books like this make us dumb. I will never read another James Dashner book…I’d rather have irritable bowel syndrome myself. I will never read anything from Delacorte Press again, because clearly they have bad judgment. I hated it so much that it upsets me that other people like it. I just can’t figure out why people like this book.
Saxa Taylor 