The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas wakes up in an open metal box remembering nothing but his own name. And he’s not alone. Boys have arrived in the same manner every thirty days for the past two years, finding themselves in the Glade, a large expanse surrounded by massive stone walls that protect the boys from the maze beyond and the Grievers—half machine, half slug—who live there. When the first girl is delivered to the Glade shortly after Thomas’ arrival, things begin to rapidly devolve. James Dashner’s novel is fast-paced dystopian fiction along the lines of Hunger Games and Divergent. Thomas is a likeable and believable main character, as are the supporting cast of stranded boys. Theresa, the only girl in the Glade, is forgettable and relatively one-dimensional. However, being the first book in a series, she may come into her own in later books. The novel takes place almost exclusively in the contained environment of the Glade, but the setting never gets redundant as new details are slowly revealed throughout the book—a true testament to Dashner’s superior story telling abilities. My only disappointment was that I didn’t have the second book to immediately start reading when I finished this one.