The Mazerunner Series - James Dashner

James Dashner is from my neck of the woods, and I'm a big fan of supporting local authors.  My precocious oldest son, Beckett, had already read the first book and loved it, so with that recommendation I decided to give it a try.

Most of the books I read have a female protagonist, and so this was a very different point of view.  I never thought it would have made a difference, but it turns out that it was different enough that I had a difficult time getting into it at first. After some adjustment, I found the main character someone I could sympathize in, and the reading went quite a bit easier.

The gist of the story line is that there is a group of boys that are trapped in this walled little town of sorts, and every day they have to go outside the gates to find their way through the maze to escape.  None of the boys have any idea how they got into the little town, nor do they have any memories at all before the day they found themselves there.  The only thing they know is their way out is the maze, and if they don't find it before dark, then monsters are going to eat them.

I give this series a 3.5*.  It was good - not a "wow everyone must read this" kind of good, but definitely worth your time.  Two of the three books had "A must read for fans of the Hunger Games" written on their cover.  I'd agree that there's some common themes there, but they are not the same caliber of book.  I've read The Hunger Games 3x because I loved it so much.  I don't regret this read, but I'm unlikely to read it again.