My Real Life Book Club

On Saturday, I played host to my first ever real life book club.  And it couldn't have been more fun!  Over the years, I have participated in a number of online book clubs and even a blogger book club, but I always craved that in person fun of discussion and snacks!  So, after I returned from Super Bowl I began contacting friends that I thought might be interested and that brings us to Saturday!

Snagged the BBQ pulled chicken recipe from Amanda at The Lady Okie here.

Movie Time Snacks :)

Since I was serving as our first host, it was my responsibility to suggest a book.  I was interested in reading a book that had recently been released as a movie so that we could discuss and then enjoy a flick together as well!  I decided on The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

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.

Certain to be a thriller, right?  It kept me SO far on the edge of my seat that I not only read it, but also the other two books in the series AND the prequel book.  AMAZING series!!

These are my thoughts on each book and well as The Maze Runner movie:

The Maze Runner (book)

From the beginning, this book was a winner.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire book.  I loved the character development along with learning all about the inner workings of this new society known as The Glade.  It was brilliant that the author gave us a snapshot of the past with little bits and pieces of knowledge every now and then, but mostly just let the story play out.  I was certain that a number of Gladers would survive the maze and its grotesque Grievers, but I just couldn't wait to discover how it would all work out.  Needless to say, no one had to twist my arm to get started on The Scorch Trials!

The Maze Runner (movie)

The movie, per usual, got SO many things wrong.  It was actually quite disappointing after how much I had built it all up in my imagination. (Note: I didn't watch the movie until I had read the entire series.) There were several key parts of the book that either just didn't happen at all or were so much different that they simply weren't recognizable.  The overall plot and characters were there, but the character development was minimal and the story didn't seem as good.

The Scorch Trials

The second book places the remaining Gladers into a totally new and different simulation.  They encounter new people and truly must learn who to trust in order to make it out of the desert alive.  Once again, this book had me on the edge of my seat.  I was anxious to see who would survive and how the creators would manipulate and cause chaos in this much less predictable environment.  It was another page turner and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Death Cure

Given how much I enjoyed the first two books, I was sure this last one would really pull it all together and finish off the series well.  In the end, I wasn't super impressed.  The book was good, but it was as thrilling and exciting as the first two.  I also felt that the ending wasn't as concise and strong as I was imagining after all this time.  It did wrap things up, but not in a way that made it seem truly final.

The Kill Order

After the ending to the series, I was more curious that ever to discover how everything truly began in this prequel book.  Unfortunately, it was quite disappointing.  It did shed some light on how The Flare disease came into existence, but it did not adequately delve into the world of the Creators and specifically how Thomas and Theresa played such a major role in the organization.  This book introduced totally new characters.  Totally new.  I kept trying to make them be the earlier versions of characters in the other books, but it never quite matched up...and I ultimately discovered they were not in fact who I was trying to make them become.  I think this prequel had SO much more potential to be a really great way to explain how we got to the start of the maze experiment, but instead it just left so much to be desired.

Have you read The Maze Runner series?

Andrea :)