The Maze Runner

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.

*May Contain Spoilers*

James Dashner creates a world where neither the characters nor the reader know for sure what's going on in his novel, The Maze Runner. In a post-apocalyptic world, a group of teenage boys find themselves in a constantly moving maze with only one motivation: survival. Dashner immediately pulls readers into this world where fear is a constant companion and the past has been mentally erased, giving them the same equipment the characters receive and daring them to live. 

Thomas is the main character of this novel, dare I say, the series. He is the final male to show up in the maze. And though readers will connect with him, it isn't the easiest of tasks due to the fact that he has no memory of who he was or where he came from before awakening in the maze entrance. Thomas is a do-er. He's motivated to escape and his focus is always on what he can do. Thomas is brave, courageous, and seems to have no fear at times. Readers will connect with him through the loyalty he shows his fellow Gladers (the ones that are nice, that is). Though he does hold back information from the rest of the group and this allows for readers to question his trustworthiness. I think readers will definitely connect with Thomas more and more as the series continues, but this first book seemed to only build and solidify a foundation for a future character-reader bond. 

The plot of The Maze Runner is quite simple - escape the maze. Though this is definitely a 'sounds easier than it is' story line and the maze offers up constant lethal surprises. After Thomas arrives at the maze, a girl arrives the following day with the message that this will be the last person sent to them. Not only that, but an ominous note that everything will change spooks the Gladers. They know that they're running out of time and they have to find a way out before the monsters kill every last one of them. The writing style of Dashner is unique and fits the story perfectly. He never gives the reader too much information, keeps the chapters short so we keep turning pages, and always appeals to our curious nature. I loved the odd language the characters share, the silly names, and the hot headed nature of the teenage boys. The novel seemed much more realistic with these enjoyable quirks. Oh and the twist at the end! I had to re-read the epilogue to make sure I understood. Tricky, tricky. Didn't see that coming, but book two is looking very entertaining. 

Rating: 2.5/5 Cups

Snatched

When Kara was ten, the shifters took her parents.

A year ago, they took her best friend Hunter.

And now, the night before her first military strike against those monsters on the surface, the shifters take the only person she has left: her little sister Lizzy.

The snatched don’t come back. That’s what Kara’s believed her entire life, but the first person she finds above ground is the best friend she thought lost forever. Turns out, the higher ups lied. Other colonies are out there, hell even folks who toughed it up above. If anyone knows how to get her sister back, these people would. However, unless she can rally these surfacers into an army, one girl with a shotgun won’t survive long against the very creatures that overturned her world.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Monsters roam the surface of the Earth, killing and capturing any humans they come across. With bodies that seem indestructible and the ability to teleport, they rule while the citizens of this planet hide underground. Katherine McIntyre shares this horrifying world with readers in her novel, Snatched. 

Kara, the main character, is an Orris girl - strong, sarcastic, and full of gumption. She's a seventeen year old military member who has just completed her first mission on the surface. Kara is an incredibly brave and serious soldier. Her focus is keeping her little sister safe. Especially since Lizzy is the only family she has left. Readers will connect with Kara through the book's point of view. Because everything focuses around Kara, readers will witness what Kara is fighting for. When Lizzy is snatched by the monster shifters, Kara is determined to do whatever it takes to get her little sister home safely. Her courage and loyalty play the biggest role in helping readers relate to Kara. 

The plot of the novel begins with Kara's first mission during which a shifter is spotted. Because of the sighting, another mission is immediately formed. Just before leaving for the mission, Lizzy is captured by the shifters. Kara keeps the news to herself and goes on the mission knowing that she'll find a way to track down, and save, her sister. Snatched is pretty fast-paced with the characters barely getting a moment of rest, though I felt like the timeline described in the novel didn't match up a few times. The writing style is horrifyingly detailed, especially the monster fighting sections, but became a bit repetitive. I felt like I was re-reading sentences every once in a while. Regardless, the book was absorbing. McIntyre does a good job creating a believable dystopian setting for the survive-and-rescue plot. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Reboot

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Amy Tintera presents readers with a new spin on the zombie genre in her novel, Reboot. Instead of brain eating, flesh-dripping monsters, there are Reboots. With a slight deathish twinge about them, Reboots are the same but with a little less emotion and maybe a mortal scar. 

At the Rosa facility, Wren 178 is feared. She has the highest number in the entire facility because she was officially deceased for the longest amount of time. Higher numbers are considered the more lethal members of the Reboot race. Readers get to see two sides of Wren in this novel. The first side is the Wren that follows orders. She understands that if she starts asking questions, disobeying, or messing up in any way then her life is over. Wren is a bit of a loner who believes what she's told. Readers will like Wren because of the way her character is written, but forming a connection with her doesn't start until Callum shows up. 

Callum was only dead for twenty-two minutes. Not a long time for his body to accept that it has moved on to the after-living party. He is a very likeable character - full of spunk, easy to laugh, and interested in the how and why. Callum immediately forms a weary friendship with Wren and she struggles to accept the fact that she likes him and his company. When his Reboot status is up for debate against a quick elimination, Wren chooses her friend over the rules. At this point, readers will truly connect with Wren, after her stone cold mask begins to crack. Her brief history as an alive human will garner sympathy while her focus on keeping Callum alive will solidify the bond between her and readers. 

The plot of the book is deliciously adventurous. Wren works at a facility as a sort of Reboot Criminal Officer. Basically, she and others are sent out to capture the criminal or ill humans to protect the rest of the human population. Wren is incredibly good at her job. Some would say she's the best. Then Callum shows up for training and changes everything. Her eyes open and Wren starts to see her world as it really is: a prison full of secret testing, threats, and elimination. To save Callum's life, Wren knows he can't stay at the Rosa facility and decides to do whatever it takes to escape. Readers who enjoy love stories, zombies, and adventure will certainly devour this book. 

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

Fever

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Lauren DeStefano continues The Chemical Garden series with book two, Fever. The stakes, and temperatures, are high as Gabriel and Rhine travel from Florida to Manhattan. The fever comes in waves of hallucinations, nightmares, and lost time. Rhine struggles to hold herself together, determined to make it back to her brother, Rowan. 

After the end of the first book, readers had a pretty strong connection with Rhine. In a world full of fear and misery, experiments and death, it's hard to find someone worth trusting. To the readers, Rhine and Gabriel are the only characters that can be trusted. In the first half of Fever, the connection with Rhine begins to slip. When she's captured by a paranoid elderly woman who forces young girls into prostitution, Rhine becomes darker. She begins to lose herself to the smoke and mirrors, therefore causing readers to distance themselves from her. Though after the escape, the bond will slowly be rebuilt. Through Gabriel's sickness and the unexpected adoption of a seven-year-old girl, Rhine shows her loyalty and caring nature once again. 

The plot of the Fever follows Gabriel and Rhine after they've successfully navigated the boat to South Carolina. Unsure where to go, they stumble upon a carnival which turns out to be a prostitution ring. Held prisoner by guns, drugs, and electric fences Gabriel and Rhine attempt to create a plan. Eventually they do escape, but with a few mishaps. After stealing money, they purchase bus tickets and make their way to Manhattan where everything seems to fall apart, or fall into its correct place. Whichever way you would like to look at it. 

The first half of the book wasn't very enjoyable to me. But perhaps that was the point? I wanted Rhine and Gabriel to get out of there as soon as possible. My skin was crawling from the descriptions. The second half of the book was surprising. Information was discovered that was both creepy and heartbreaking. But even in the darkest place, there is a ray of hope. And that single beam of light will keep me reading into the third one. As quickly as possible. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Review of Book One in The Chemical Garden Series

Impervious

The residents of Impervious are the remnant—the survivors of the War of Annihilation. And though the city is chockfull of pleasures to tantalize and entertain, a beast lurks in the corners, haunting the residents with its presence.

The Beast—a mysterious and terminal illness killed off most of Generations One, Two, and Three. And as Gen-Four prepares to take the stage, a provocative, yet questionable, new method to avoid an untimely death incites a cultural rage.

But Fran lives counter-culture, off the grid in true rebel fashion. With a life far from opulent, she scurries through dark tunnels, searching for hot meals with Pete while ditching the holographic security team. To her, it’s a healthy trade-off. Unaccountability means The Council can’t steal her sliver of hope―a belief that she’ll see The Epoch arrive before The Beast can pull her into its fetid embrace.

After losing her mother and then her Rebel mentor, Fran stumbles upon a miraculous discovery that may save the residents of Impervious. That is, if she can outrun The Beast…

*May Contain Spoilers*

Heather Letto leaps into the post-apocalyptic future with her novel, Impervious. Now that the world is uninhabitable, everyone must live underground. Though, after four generations people are still dying from a mysterious illness. Fran, an unaccountable rebel, thinks information is being kept from the citizens and she's determined to find out what it is, at all costs.

Fran is the main character of this new world. She's unaccountable - which means that she's off the government grid, rebellious, truth-seeking, and wants to live her life outside of the compound's rules. With her intelligence and bravery, Fran discovers that there may be a way to escape the compound and formulates a makeshift plan. Even though, the outside world is rumored to be deadly, Fran takes the risk and reveals the truth behind the chairmen's lies: the outside world has healed itself. Fran, being the caring, curious, fighter that she is, returns to the compound to help spread the truth but it may be too late as the rebels are tricked into a fight they aren't prepared for. 

Readers will enjoy Fran's rebellious attitude and her loyalty. She's a giving person fighting for truth in a world full of liars. A bond will definitely form between Fran and readers in this installment, setting up a deeper connection in the future books. But not all of her actions seem true to character. After she leaves the compound, Fran finds that her parents are still alive but in less than twenty-four hours she leaves them to re-enter the compound. This seems like a flaw in her motivation. She had never met her father and thought her mother was dead. If that was me, there'd be no way I'd leave without a goodbye. Maybe she's just much braver than I am.

The plot of Impervious is incredibly creative and believable. The world that Letto writes about is a possibility. The human population definitely has the means to build an underground shelter. And it does seem believable that rooms and protection would go to the highest bidder. The way that Letto describes this new underground world thoroughly and completely, shows the reader that it's possible and helps them to believe in the authenticity of the novel, creating a credible back story before adding corruption and rebels. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups