Thomas wakes up in a moving metal box and sits in the disorienting dark for nearly half an hour before the door open to the outside. He finds himself in the Glade, a place populated by teenage boys who have a rigid order for survival, but who refuse to answer any questions. He can't remember anything beyond is name, and neither can anyone else. Beyond the relative safety of the Glade lies a maze with horrifying creatures that attack anyone daring enough to enter. The day after his arrival a girl turns up in the metal box with a horrible message that everything will change.
I'm really mad at this book. I spent most of it wondering what the heck was going on and hoped that by the end I'd have a solid idea of what the Maze was and why the boys were trapped there. Guess what? There will be two more books in this series, so the author decided to hold off on answering any of those pesky questions until later. The last pages wrap up with a few teasers which lead to more questions. This is a 2011-2012 Truman Nominee and has gotten a really good response from the teens at Republic. One of the girls told me "just keep reading... and when you're done read the next one!" I put it on hold, so we'll see how it goes.
I liked the cliffhanger ending, probably because I'd read your review and knew there would be two more books, so it didn't come as a surprise.
ReplyDeleteI WAS surprised to see that the author is from Georgia. With all those "Good that" comments in the story, I assumed he was Australian!
I'll read the next one but I have to say, "Dude, what is up with all these books with teenagers dying horrible deaths?!" Suzanne Collins, thou knowest not what thou hath wrought!"