An-chan's Reviews > The Maze Runner

This, unfortunately, goes in the pile of books I couldn't finish. I'm generally not terribly picky about my books, and I can forgive a lot as long as either the plot or the characters (or, in some cases, the writing) are great. Here, we have none of those things. The main character is wooden and uninteresting, and yet we're still supposed to believe he's some kind of special snowflake. Much of the supporting cast is, likewise, very flat, with some exceptions. The pacing is off, the writing stilted, and the exposition is almost painful at times -- if there ever was a book that fell into the "tell, not show" trap, this is it. The sheer amount of "As you know, Bob" -moments, sudden returning memories, and other clunky devices make it difficult to slog through the book without constantly facepalming.

But all of that I would have been willing to forgive, if only the plot was great and engaging. Alas, I've gotten through 3/4 of the book now, and everything is still ~*mysterious*~ and unexplained. It's clear that there will be no resolution whatsoever within the first book, and I've come to the conclusion that no plot is worth four books' worth of... this. And it's such a pity, too, because I genuinely wanted to like this book.

I'm sure there are people who can wholeheartedly enjoy this. I'm sure there are people who can like Thomas and Teresa and who are drawn in by the setting. I'm sure there's someone out there for whom this premise works.

I was not one of those people, and it's time to move on.