The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

First of all, my kids loved this whole series and are vying for the prequel. So sometimes I feel bad ragging on a book that is not written for my age group, because the age group it WAS written for clearly likes it.
I have read a couple of Dashner's novels in the 13th Reality series and clearly his strength is in original storytelling. He is probably the most novel YA novelist I've read. Too bad his writing style gets in the way. He has no sense of pacing, and his descriptions can be as confusing as they are revealing. I was more patient with him in the 13th Reality series, but in this one I went past the suspense of what the maze is and how it is solved, to almost not caring, to be completely dissappointed in the grand reveal. I felt little to nothing about the characters--I was not scared for their survival, nor saddened when any of them died, nor even shocked when they turned out to be something different from what they seemed.
However, I am curious about what Dashner can dream up next. I'll just have my kids read it and tell me about it...it might be less painful that way.

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