Thomas wakes up in a metal box, which brings him to a maze filled with boys his age and strange creatures called Grievers, which sting people. Thomas gets used to the maze and its doors closing at night, but doesn’t get used to the other things that happen in the maze, or the Glade. A boy who got stung by a Griever, Ben, attacks Thomas, saying that he was a bad person and should be killed. Other people who got stung say Thomas was bad too, but Thomas doesn’t remember anything. One day, the maze doors stop closing at night, because of the introduction of a girl, Teresa. Strange things start happening since then. The sun disappears, Thomas hears voices in his head, and the Grievers start taking people. Finally, Thomas and his friends stage an attack against the Grievers and their creators, and in the end, even though many people die, the Gladers finally get rescued by some mysterious people. Everything is safe… or is it? 
 
This book was really good, and I liked it better than James Dashner’s other series, The 13th Reality. There was a lot of blood and fighting, but there wasn’t a complicated love story or love triangle, which I liked. Instead, there was information about the Glade and its places, the government and jobs the boys set up, the random occurrences that happen, and detailed descriptions of creatures, like Grievers and beetle blades, little bugs that the creators use to spy on the boys. When a Griever stings a person, that person goes through a painful process called the Changing, and the details of that were cool. 
 
The characters were very descriptive, from an innocent 12-year old boy to a mean guy with the nose of a potato. Thomas, the main character, was smart and emotional, but I think the author put too much effort into his thoughts, not his actions and dialogue. His friends, Newt, Alby, and Minho, were nice enough. Their personalities weren’t as big as Thomas’, though, so they seemed slightly forgettable. I liked how there was diversity in the boys, as Minho was Asian and Alby African-American. The girl, Teresa, was also cool. She seemed a little crazy at first, but soon turned out to be a good asset. Only Thomas was interested in her, which broke the stereotype. 
 
The plot didn’t have any holes in it, and even though the maze is a depressing place, the boys still had their fair share of fun. Thomas had some really good ideas, like tying a friend who was stung by a Griever on the vines so he wouldn’t get hurt or taken away and mapping out the maze to get a special code. I was impressed that the boys managed to set up their own government well, and not falling apart. There were a lot of jobs, and their names were very obvious, which was nice and not confusing.  
 
In conclusion, I would recommend this book to teen readers who are okay with blood and gore. The next book in the series is The Scorch Trials. 

Check out The Maze Runner from the Newport Beach Public Library.