The Maze Runner Trilogy By James Dashner

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Alby, author, book, book reviews, books, characters, Chuck, Death Cure, dystopian, fiction, Glade, literature, Maze Runner, Minho, Newt, novel, plot, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, Scorch Trials, shank, stories, story, Teresa, Thomas, write, writer, writing

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Thriller

Pages: 374

Point of View: Third (Thomas)

Released: October 6, 2009

Predictability: 1 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Library

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

My Summary:

Thomas wakes up in an elevator box with no memory other than his name. He’s greeted by other teenage boys in an area called the glade. The glade is surrounded by a massive maze that the boys are trying to solve to escape. Surprisingly for a group of kids they’ve established an organized society where everything works. I can’t really say anything more about the premise without spoiling things. The whole point of the book is to keep reading to figure out the why behind the maze.

My Review:

I would have liked more character development, so that I could get to know the characters better and care about what happens to them more. (Though this is the sort of book I don’t dare get attached to anyone going in.) I understand that it must have been hard for the writer to show characterization when none of the characters has a past. Yep, that’s right none of the characters can remember anything before the maze.

The Good:

The Maze Runner is a read in an entire day sort of book. It’s fast paced and never lets up. The continual questions kept me glued to the pages. What is going on here? My imagination ran wild with the possibilities and I was afraid that in the end I’d be disappointed, but surprisingly I wasn’t. The conclusion actually made sense and didn’t seem contrived just to explain the author’s cool concept.

The Maze Runner is a quick book. There are no slow spots with flowery descriptions here. Other than height, age, and shoe size all we know about the main character’s appearance is he has brown hair. I like a bit more than that, but that’s not the sort of book this is. Maze Runner’s also light on romance, which is odd for a young adult book, but it worked. There wasn’t time for romance. (Though there is more romance in the Scorch Trials.)

The Bad:

The Maze Runner is almost an eight star book, but fell just short of great for me. I can’t explain without minor spoilers, so skip the rest of this paragraph if you don’t want spoilers of any sort. (It’s not really a spoiler that characters die in a book like this, but I know how some people are about spoilers of any kind.) I have no problem with characters dying, but I didn’t like the way a certain character died. It didn’t feel necessary and it was too brutal for me. (Though it was tame compared to a death in the Death Cure. I just know I’m going to have nightmares about that.)

The rest of the trilogy: (spoiler free)

I haven’t been so disappointed in an author in a long time. These books had such potential! Most of the story is good, but the Scorch Trials and The Death Cure had some serious flaws. (In my opinion) They were too gruesome, (scary doesn’t have to be gross) there was too much pointless action, (it got a bit much after a while) certain parts made no sense, (and I didn’t like them) and the main character kept acting stupid. (After the Maze Runner I expected more out of him, he is supposed to be a genius after all.)

So my recommendation is you should read the Maze Runner, it’s a good, unique book, but skip the the Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. (Though I doubt I’d be able to follow my own advice. I just have a need to find out what happens.)

The Maze Runner: 7/10 Stars

The Scorch Trials: 5/10 Stars

The Death Cure: 4/10 Stars

What is your opinion on character’s deaths, should they come quick and unexpected or do you like to see it coming?

I like to be prepared before a character dies, (I’ve been known to peek ahead…) but I don’t mind deaths as long as they serve a point for the story.

Next week’s review: The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer. Cinder, Scarlet, & Cress.

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Book Review ~ Angelbound By Christina Bauer

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Angelbound, Angels, author, book, book reviews, books, characters, Christina Bauer, demon hunter, Demons, fantasy, fiction, ghouls, literature, mortal instruments, Myla, novel, plot, prophecy, purgatory, quasi, read, reader, review, romance, stories, story, tails, world building, write, writer, writing, YA, young adult

(I included the back cover too, because the artwork is so awesome!)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Demons & Angels

Pages: 532

Point of View: First (Myla)

Released: December 17, 2013

Predictability: 5 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Funny story, I saw this book on sale for .99, but when I went to buy it, it wasn’t on sale anymore. I contacted the website, not because I really wanted the book, but because I thought they should know Amazon messed up. Well turns out it was my mistake and it had been on sale yesterday. The publisher Ink Monster sent me a free copy of the book anyway! (Which of course didn’t affect my judgement of this book at all.)

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Age Rating: Older YA, due to one make out session. (Not sex, but parts are named.)

My Summary: [Sorry my summaries used to be a little longer winded]

Myla is a quasi demon (meaning part human) living in purgatory. Around twenty years ago demons invaded purgatory and left ghouls running things. Myla’s mom is super over-protective and won’t say anything about her life before the war with the demons or even about Myla’s father.

Myla spends most of her time at school, but every so often she’s called to duty. When a soul enters purgatory they can choose trial by combat. Since she was twelve Myla’s been required to fight to the death in the arena against theses souls. As the best fighter they save the nastiest ones for her, but she’s not your typical almost eighteen year-old. She enjoys her battles in the arena, particularly when it’s against a demon and she keeps extensive notebooks on how to beat the various demon races.

Myla’s best friend Cissy (who has the tail of a golden retriever, yes it does wag when she’s happy. Okay, enough about tails…) has a huge crush on a boy at school, so when said boy invites Myla and a guest to his party she can’t say no. At the party, abandoned by her friend, Myla meets the frustrating prince Lincoln. He’s a demon hunter who thinks all quasis are evil, but Myla can’t stop thinking about him and not just about punching him. Well, that too.

My Review:

I don’t know what it is about me and tail fascination. I’ve just always wanted one. So naturally the reason Angelbound caught my eye is the main character has a tail. (The author actually uses her tail to show emotion and humor too.)

The Good:

Angelbound is told in a fun voice with plenty of humor and I liked the strong sassy heroine, Myla. It might just be me, (because I couldn’t pry the book out of my fingers to go to bed.) but this book was a quick read.

Romance is a strong part of this book and it’s well done. Though the conversation where they got to really know each other is only told about afterwards.

Angelbound has interesting characters and good world building. The author takes her time to really make us care about the characters and to establish the world.

The Bad:

There are a few slow spots towards the beginning, but I’m glad I kept reading, because it quickly picks up. (This is the author’s first novel so she makes a few mistakes like repeating things that didn’t need to be repeated.)

I did notice several errors, but I’m very nit picky about that sort of thing and often find such in books. There weren’t many and they didn’t take away from the book.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. Will I read the next one? For sure! [And since I posted this I have.]

Sorry for not posting last week. We had some major storms here in Michigan and I didn’t have power for a few days. The good news is with not much else to do I read the entire Maze Runner Trilogy and since I had so much fun writing this review, I’ve decided to review that too.

Have you read any good books lately?