Yet again, one of my favorite young adult books is being brought to life on the big screen. This month, it’s The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
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.
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.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.”
Jen’s Review
I read The Maze Runner forever ago, but even now, years later, I still remember how exciting, adventurous, and suspenseful it was. I also remember how I never stopped asking myself, “What the heck is going to happen next?”.
In a way, The Maze Runner reminds me of Lord of the Flies, except it has a maze, a girl, and oozing, creeping creatures that attack in the night! Oh, and there’s a tiny world-wide plague that gives people zombie-like symptoms, which makes things even more tense and crazy.
I will warn you: if you decide to read The Maze Runner, then you should prepare yourself to read its sequels, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. There are way too many unsolved mysteries at the end of book one to feel fully satisfied. But, that’s okay. As a whole (yes, I’ll admit, there are some ups and downs to all three books), this is an entertaining series that’s full of action and intrigue. And, in my opinion, they’re totally worth reading.
So what are you waiting for? Run out and read The Maze Runner before the movie hits theaters on September 19th!
Jen’s Rating
And for those of you who’d rather “see” the synopsis, here’s the trailer for The Maze Runner. Prepare to hold your breath for the next two minutes!
…Just remember: Read the book BEFORE you see the movie!
Related Articles
Get Your Heart Rate Up With The Official “Maze Runner” Trailer
THE MAZE RUNNER MOVIE IS COMING
Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Photo credits:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6186357-the-maze-runner?from_search=true
http://giphy.com/gifs/ColbXXtLhOz0k
http://mazerunner.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mazerunner_minhoquote.jpg
Last week, when I hit the “publish” button on my blog to post 
You’d think this fear would go away after years of sharing my work with others, but it hasn’t. I always experience a sickening sensation, followed by a silent chant of, “Oh God, oh God, oh God…”
When, in reality, I’m like this:
The only thing I can do to manage this particular fear is to explain to people my writing process. I like to tell them, “When I write, I’m not there. I’m pushed into a cage and locked up while my characters hijack the story. They’re the ones writing it, not me.”
I think I almost threw up when I posted 
Yeah, that one hurt. But it’s okay. One of the things I’ve learned from sharing my work is not everyone will be a fan. Even if I have pure gold on my hands, someone out there will think it stinks. The best thing I can do is move on and let it go.
If I don’t, how else will I discover my strengths and weaknesses? How else will I become the best writer I can be? There’s only so much I can learn on my own. Without constructive criticism from a variety of sources (friends, family, strangers, bloggers, other writers, etc.) I’ll never reach the next level.
One of the most important things in my life is my family. If anything happened to them…well, I’m not sure what I’d do. It’s one of those fears that haunts me on a daily basis, just as I’m sure it haunts many of you. To think of having everything you cherish taken away in the blink of an eye…
*shudder*
But, don’t worry. This story isn’t only about making you cry and sob and go through an entire box of tissues. It celebrates life and love, and offers hope when there is no hope to be found.
As hard as this story is to read, it’s worth it. For me, it made me consider what I’d do if this type of tragedy ever struck in my life. Would I give up? Or would I fight for life? To be honest, I’m still not sure. Like Mia, it’s a choice I can’t make until it I had to.
Okay, seriously, if you haven’t read a book by Rainbow Rowell yet…well. You better get on it! As of this month, she has four–FOUR–awesome books published. And her newest, Landline, is no exception. Just like her other novels, Landline had me hooked from page one. It was thoroughly engaging, filled with vivid, relatable characters, and so addicting, I didn’t want to put it down. I also enjoyed how it wasn’t completely adult fiction. There was plenty of YA moments, which made it all the more special.
That about sums things up 😉
Plus, the 
Okay, hold on. Let’s start off on a positive note…
Okay, so now for the not-so-good stuff.
How did this happen? I don’t know! The only thing I can figure is I accidentally saved/replaced the wrong file. *cue screams and tears*…So, yeah. That sorta killed my writing mojo on Wednesday. Once the horror of this erroneous event faded, I made a decision to simply outline those lost chapters, rather than rewrite them. This is a first draft, and these are middle chapters, so why bother rewriting them? As long as I know where the story’s going, it’s fine.
“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little manuscript, too!”
Hope your week was better than mine, and no tornados tried to sweep you off to the Land of Oz.
…That’s all I have to say about that.
Read more about Legend 
Have you ever read a book as slow as possible? Because you’re dreading the end? Because you know when you turn that last page, the story will be over and you’ll be sad for days and days? Well, that’s how I felt while reading The 5th Wave. Although I’m not a huge fan of stories revolving around aliens, this one is both awesome and terrifying. It actually made me stop and think, “Oh crap. What if this actually happened?”
“How rude. Many who have gazed upon me have compared it to gazing at the radiance of the sun.”
Overall, the freak out was worth it. Panic was entertaining, suspenseful, and ahh-ddicting. It was also scary. I don’t know how many times I was screaming at Heather, Nat, and Dodge to bow out of the 
Seriously, anything and everything snagged my attention and took it away from an important task I was working on (job, manuscript, blog, reading, etc.). It got to the point I literally had to turn off my internet just to get stuff done.
How was your week? Were you distracted like me? Or were you able to focus? What are your plans for the week–wait, no. Don’t tell me. As much as I wanna know, I can’t handle your “butterfly” responses. I must focus! How about you wait until Monday to tell me what you did this weekend? Yeah? Deal? Great! 😉
Jen's Pen Den 
