BOOK REVIEW: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)
Author: James Dashner
Publication: Chicken House, August 4th 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Survival
Pages: 371

Goodreads & Amazon

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Everything is going to change. 

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas can remember is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade, an encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible maze. 

Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there, or what's happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything to find out.

Admittedly, I actually picked up James Dashner's The Maze Runner after discovering the wonderful movie adaption a couple of weeks ago. I was honestly expecting to already know the storyline, the plot and the characters, that this book was only necessary to read to ensure I understood everything before continuing on to read the second book: The Scorch Trials. However, I was completely surprised with what I ended up reading: Dashner's The Maze Runner is completely different than the recent movie adaption. I could provide some examples of these differences, but I do not want to give any spoilers away to those who have not read the book.

The overall storyline is practically same as the movie. Thomas wakes up in 'the box' remember nothing but his own name. Whist focusing on Thomas as he attempts to navigate his way through his new life in the Glade, The Maze Runner introduces readers to the Maze: a mysterious and dangerous and terrifying entity that begins to take on a life of its own, becoming a main character of Dashner's book itself. Thomas begins aiding the other Gladers (a group of boys brought together to the Maze over a three year period) in their attempt to escape the clutches of the Maze and discover the secrets it hides.

I have really enjoyed the characters that Dashner has created -- they are vastly different than the movie adaption characters. Whilst Thomas, Minho and Chuck are somewhat similar to their movie adaptions (with some characteristics varying), Newt, Teresa, Gally and Alby are not. Instead, they are much more multifaceted and three-dimensional, with aspects of these characters seemingly forgotten in The Maze Runner movie. For example, Newt's limp is removed from the movie, which disappoints me as I feel as though this was an important element for his character.

The only reason that I did not rate this book five stars was because the beginning of The Maze Runner was a little slow. It took a while before any real action occurred, with the first few chapters dedicated to exposition. I wasn't looking for action from the beginning, but it could have been a little more exciting.

The Maze Runner has quickly become one of my new favourite series. I have not read many books from a male protagonist's perspective -- the only other one would have to be Harry Potter. I love reading about Thomas and his interactions with other Gladers.

Have you read The Maze Runner? What other books with male protagonists have you enjoyed?

Waiting on Wednesday: An Ember in the Ashes

I accidentally stumbled across an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) review of this little beauty a few days ago when I was 'blog hunting' and I have fallen instantly in love. I added it my Goodreads 'to-read' list immediately and have been patiently waiting for new reviews. This unique idea for An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir is honestly beyond brilliant and I can already tell that I will be completely obsessing over it once I have it in my hands.

Have you heard of An Ember in the Ashes and are you just as excited as me to read it?

Title: An Ember in the Ashes

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Expected Publication: April 28th, 2015

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.

THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.

IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW

AND I WILL DESTORY YOU.

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire's impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They've seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia's brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire's greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school's finest soldier -- and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he's being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realise that their destinies are intertwined -- and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

"Waiting on Wednesday" is hosted by Breaking the Spine. 

Top Ten Tuesday: ALL TIME Favourite Authors

(Click the image above to join in on the challenge.)

Hello everyone! *waves enthusiastically* This week, The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday weekly meme is dedicated to showcasing everyone's top ten ALL TIME favourite authors. At first this seemed like an easy challenge, but as I began compiling my list it was actually a lot more difficult than I thought. So it actually took me a while to come up with my ten favourite authors, so I am very, very excited to share with you my top ten favourite authors (for now, anyway, they change nearly all the time!)

George R.R. Martin - Game of Thrones

Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments

J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter

Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games

Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper

J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit

P. C. Cast and Kristen Cast - House of Night

Danae Ayusso - Wolves of Haven

James Dashner - The Maze Runner

Who are your favourite authors? Are any of them on my list?

My Writing Process: Slowing Down

I really wish that I could be writing you guys a nice long post about my writing progress this week. But this past week has been incredibly busy. My university workload (i.e. assignments, lectures and meetings) has increased, along with my work hours, leaving me feeling stressed, tired and overworked. Unfortunately, this has drastically affected my writing time. When I come home, I don't feel like writing -- I feel like going to bed. Whilst last week I wrote 22,428 words, I have barely written five thousand this week. At first I was feeling discouraged, but then I realised something.

My creative juices have not died.

This time my lack of writing was not due to a sudden onset of writer's block, but rather due to a lack of time. What this has taught me, though, is that it is okay for your writing progress to slow down. It doesn't matter if you take time off, or that you don't write as many words as you did the previous week. Instead, what matters is that you don't give up and that you simply pick yourself up the following week.

My Writing Goal for This Week is: write between 10,000 - 15,000 words.

What is your writing goal for this week?

BOOK REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publication: Scholastic Print, 2008

Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult

Page Count: 454

Goodreads & Amazon

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death - televised for all of Panem to see. 

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love. 

WINNING WILL MAKE YOU FAMOUS. LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.

This was my third -- or perhaps fourth, I honestly cannot remember -- re-read of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, as I was not disappointed. I love returning to my old favourites and once again engaging with wonderful characters that I have not seen since last closing the book and placing it back on the shelf. The Hunger Games is, without a doubt, one of the best young adult fiction books that I have ever read. Why? Because it follows a strong and powerful heroine: sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games is from Katniss' perspective as she navigates her way throughout the trials of a frightening post-apocalyptic America: from the controlling and cruel Capitol, to their most outrageous, brutal and animalistic creation: The Hunger Games, which is a televised and celebrated event to keep the twelve separated districts in check.

Whilst there are various elements of The Hunger Games that I thoroughly enjoy -- from the wonderful array of characters to the heart-stopping action to the twists and turns -- it is the perfectly structured dystopian world that Suzanne Collins has created that captures my attention. There is an obvious distance between Katniss' poverty-stricken District 12 and the fabulous (and just as glamorous) Capitol. The way that Collins describes her settings throughout her use of a first-person narrative is probably one of The Hunger Games' greatest strengths. She captures every slight detail of the poverty of District 12 with such detail, which is as equally applied to her descriptions of the Capitol's wealth and power.

To be honest with you, at times Katniss can be a slightly annoying character. Though, perhaps this can be attributed to the first person narrative that readers are privileged to. Personally, I did not like her initial observations and feelings for Peeta Mellark. However, as The Hunger Games develops so does Katniss. There is a definite growth with Katniss' character, but it definitely takes about two-thirds of the way to get there. After she does, though, she becomes a wonderful, engaging and rememberable character.

There are probably a number of people that question whether or not they should read The Hunger Games after watching the wonderful movie adaption. Honestly, I would tell them that they definitely should. Suzanne Collins offers readers a much different perspective if you sit down and take the time to read it. This is because her novel is entirely in the first-person. Readers will definitely gain a much better and clearer understanding of Katniss' feelings, emotions and motives throughout the novel -- especially her relationships with her mother, sister, Gale and Peeta.

The Hunger Games may seem like a brutal, maybe even violent novel about the murder of teenagers. However, if you take the time to read this novel you will discover that the violence is not overly detailed and the novel focuses more on Katniss and the all-embracing control of the Capitol.

Have you read The Hunger Games? What did you think?

Top Five Wednesday: Most Frustrating Characters

I am very excited to share with you another Top 5 Wednesday, this time dedicated to my top five most frustrating characters. Strangely, I found this to be an extremely tough topic, but I managed to find five (or so) characters that just get on my nerves.

1. Catelyn Stark from Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: I feel a little bad publicly announcing my frustration with Catelyn Stark (especially since, at certain times, I am capable of understanding the motivations behind her actions). But there are numerous events throughout the entire Game of Thrones series that left me with a growing distrust and frustration, i.e. her hatred for Jon Snow, leaving her younger children (one that is horribly injured, by the way) to help fight her eldest son's war and kidnapping Tyrion -- just to name a few examples. Does any other Game of Thrones fan feel this way? Or is it just me?

2. Bella Swan from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: This may become a common answer throughout the top five most frustrating characters, but I could not stop myself from adding Bella Swan to my list. Bella was incredibly needy, insufferable and possessed cliched teenage protagonist characteristics, such as insecure and clumsy. Her feelings towards Edward Cullen grew tiresome and annoying. This was especially true during New Moon (I still feel sorry for Jacob, to be honest), but my frustration for Bella began to develop during the first Twilight book.

3. Tessa Gray from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare: In the beginning of Cassandra Clare's new Shadowhunter series, Tessa Gray did not annoy me. I actually really enjoyed her character, especially since we shared the same love for books. But as the love triangle between the three main characters developed, Tessa's indecisiveness really began to get on my nerves -- probably because that quality in someone annoys me greatly. 

4. The Dursleys from Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling: Isn't this one pretty self-explanatory? All Harry Potter fans will understand where I am coming from here.

5. Daisy from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Throughout The Great Gatsby, Daisy was an incredibly annoying character. I found it hard to believe that she was truly in love with Gatsby during their affair, and instead I believe that she was simply bored of her marriage. There was no way to sympathise with her either, even when her husband was cheating on her -- she only continued to make me annoyed and I did not enjoy the scenes she was in. 

Want to join in on the Top 5 Wednesday fun? Click the button above!

Top Ten Tuesday: Inspiring Quotes From Books

This is my very first time participating in the popular weekly feature: Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. For this week, the challenge is to feature your top ten inspiring quotes from books, and I am very excited to show you all of my favourites quotes -- many of which are from my favourite books: Game of Thrones, City of Bones, Harry Potter and The Hungers Games, for example. A number of them have also made an incredible impact on me.

Now, if you want to check out this week's Top Ten Tuesday over at "The Broke and the Bookish",  all you have to do is click the image below:

1. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin:
I remember exactly where I was when I was reading this quote from Tyrion Lannister: in my bedroom, alone after a hard day. I felt like it had slapped me in the place. It was exactly what I needed. This is my favourite quote of all time -- and I always re-read it when I am not feeling my best.

"Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."

2. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare:
I think that any avid book reader will understand my absolute love for this quote. Because it is, without a doubt, incredibly true. Words are capable of changing us, allowing us a new perspective and Cassandra Clare reminded us of this power through this quote.

"One must always be careful of books", said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us."

3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling:
I was quite young when I read this quote, but I have always carried it with me, close to my heart. I think that this is a valuable lesson for anyone, no matter what your age.

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:
I recently re-read The Hunger Games and this quote really stood out for me this time round. I am probably taking it a little out of context, but just saying this quote over and over again is really inspiring and personally motivating.

"I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun."

5. The Pact by Jodi Picoult:
This might be the saddest quote that I have on the list and you are probably wondering why I find it inspiring. To be honest, I find it to be more of a reminder of how we should treat others.

"You know, the mind is a remarkable thing. Just because you can't see the wound doesn't mean it isn't hurting. It scars all the time, but it heals."

6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling:
I love this quote because it really hits the mark. There are many times where we are blind to other people's actions, especially those that are in a higher position than us (i.e. celebrities, bosses, teachers, etc.). But, if we open our eyes, we may see them for who they truly are.

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

7. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare:
This is definitely a quote that many people need to remember.

"Not everything that's true needs to be said."

8. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult:
This is a fantastic reminder to never leave a single stone unturned, and to never let an opportunity slip through your fingertips.

"Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look."

9. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin:
How many times have you been ashamed of being afraid? This is such a beautiful quote, reminding people that how they face fear is more important. We can either cower in fear, or accept it, grow and move on.

"There's no shame in fear, my father told me, what matters is how we face it."

10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
The moment that I first read this quote I stared at the page for a long time. I definitely think that this is one of those quotes that makes you reconsider how you treat everyone around you.

"Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead."

 What do you think of these quotes? What are your favourite inspiring quotes from books?