The Maze Runner Review

The Maze Runner Review

             This week I decided to continue with the same book as last week, The Maze Runner. I was astonished at how gripping the book was, and I just couldn't put it down. This novel is filled with several twists and turns, and everything is unexpected. There is so much drama and the author makes you feel as if you are there with the characters. As a reader, I felt desperate for Thomas, hoping he would find a way out of the maze.
              Thomas is still in The Glade, trapped. He is slowly getting used to the feeling of having no way out, but his persistence only grows. He is anxious to find a way out of The Maze, and he wants answers, quick. Ever since he was brought into The Glade, things had changed. Disease started spreading, The Maze started changing, and there were many more fatalities and injuries. People start becoming very accusing towards Thomas; they believe that he is the reason for all of the trouble in The Maze.
             Several problems are introduced in this part of the book. Every month, a terrified boy arrives into The Glade through the mysterious elevator. However, after Thomas arrived, it had only been a couple weeks until there was another one dropped into The Glade. It was a girl. This had been the first girl to arrive in The Glade, and when she arrived, the was clutching a note that informed the rest of the boys that she would be the last person to be sent into The Glade, ever. This meant that nobody would have any resources and no way to survive, because every time a person was sent into The Glade, supplies were sent with it. This made everyone feel frantic- they needed to find a way out of The Maze, and fast, otherwise they would be left to die.
          I really have been enjoying the book so far, The Maze is very intriguing, as it seems to change its course every night. I enjoy how perplexed everyone is; the reader knows how they feel clueless and as the boys learn more about The Maze, the reader learns with them. It's interesting to see this new society, how they survive and work together.
         What I didn't like about this book was the fact that nobody would tell Thomas anything. They kept restricting him from vital information. He deserved to know about The Maze, or how their society worked together. He shouldn't be considered an outcast, because they all need to be working together to find their way out of The Maze. Being deprived of that knowledge made me feel slightly confused as to what was occurring.
        All in all, I am enjoying this novel quite a bit. It has kept me on edge and I would definitely recommend this book :)



The Maze Runner Review

The Maze Runner Review

         This week I decided to pick up a new book. For the past few weeks I have been reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, however this week, I decided to put that down for a week. I started reading The Maze Runner instead. I started reading it because the movie just came out and I wanted to read the book. 

         The main character of this novel, Thomas, shows up in an unknown territory, completely clueless. He arrives in The Glades, without the knowledge of who he is, where he came from, or how he got to be where he is. I really liked the beginning of the book, I haven't read too much yet, but Thomas seems to be a very interesting character. He arrives in The Glades, welcomed by several other boys. They had all arrived the same exact way he did.

           Throughout the portion of the novel I have read so far, Thomas starts gaining back his memory in pieces, and he isn't sure what's real and what's a dream. He is slowly welcomed by the others into their society in the maze. He sees that he is trapped in the maze with no way out. He is forced to live with complete strangers unless they find a way out of the maze that is constantly changing.

            I am really interested so far, and I believe there is going to be a lot of drama and sudden twists in the book. I haven't yet gotten too far into the book just yet, however I am looking forward to doing so. :)

I really appreciated this image that I found online, as it really puts the whole idea of a maze into perspective.



City of Bones Review

                               City of Bones Review

     In the past week, I have continued my independent reading novel, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Last week I had mentioned how the book truly was very interesting. I still follow through with that statement, the book is amazing! There is a lot to learn about the new world that Clary has just been introduced to, and it is starting to be uncovered. There still are many questions raised throughout my reading however.

    Last week I had talked about how Clary saw Jace and his friends at Pandemonium. This week I read about how Clary crosses paths with Jace yet again. He is asked to take Clary, whether she was willing or not, to go to a mysterious place called The Institute. Jace is explaining this all to her, when she gets several missed calls from her mother. Her mother tells her that she is in danger and she should go to her friends home, and that she shouldn't go home. Feeling worried, Clary rushes home only to find her apartment in ruins. She walks into a room to find a demonic creature that seemed to be a mix between a dog and a lizard, who readily attacks her. She somehow manages to kill her, however she was injured badly.

     Clary wakes up a few days later in the infirmary of The Institute. She is informed of what had happened to her. Many of my questions throughout the story were answered here, as the author explained who and what Jace was and why he killed someone in Pandemonium. It turns out that it wasn't a someone that Jace killed- it was a creature, similar to a vampire. In this part of the story, there is a lot of science fictional characters introduced, and it is very gripping. I am still enjoying the novel vigorously and I would definitely recommend reading it. So far, I'm unable to put the book down :)



City of Bones Synopsis and Quick Review

City of Bones Synopsis and Quick Review

Sanjana Nath

            This week I began to read the novel City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I'm not very far into the book just yet, as I have only just started it. So far, I have read five chapters, and they were all extremely well-written, and left me wanting to read more. I didn't want to put the book down, and the story only just began. 

           The main character is a young teenager named Clary Fray, and she and her best friend Simon, decide to go to an all-ages club called Pandemonium one night. While at Pandemonium, Clary saw a group of teenagers who seemed extremely odd. She saw one of them holding a knife, following a young boy into a storage closet. Feeling worried, she followed them and spied on the group of teens and stood hiding behind a shelf, watching as one of the boys spoke strangely, then killed the other boy. The group of teens discovered Clary spying and started to explain that what they killed was a shapeshifter, not an actual human being. This was the beginning of Clary's life spiraling out of control. She figures out that nobody else is able to see the teenagers except for her, they're practically invisible. A few days later, Clary's mother goes missing and Clary is sent to a place called The Institution by one of the teenagers from Pandemonium; Jace.

          So far the book has been gripping and I have only wanted to read more. I hope to be able to read more, and I only expect the book to get better from here. I wonder what is going to happen in the book, and I'm looking forward to finding out! So far the book is very enjoyable, however I do have a lot of unanswered questions. However, I haven't read too much just yet so I expect a lot of my questions to get answer somewhere later on in the book. I think it will be a great read and so far I am recommending it :)



Summer Reading Project

         One theme that can be found in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, is that technology is powerful. For example, when Clay was able to solve the Founder's Puzzle, he used the technology of his laptop to aid him in his research. He created a program for the bookstore and was able to solve the puzzle just by creating this program. The Founder's Puzzle has taken most people many years filled with endless decoding and reading, however Clay was able to solve it in a matter of a few days with the help of his computer. Without his computer, Clay may never have even figured out what the Founder's Puzzle was, so his laptop was definitely an essential component towards the plot of the story.

         I really enjoyed the humor throughout the novel. The book was very peculiar and unexpected and that was very enjoyable to me. There were a lot of random twists and turns, new barriers and conflicts that must be solved throughout the story. It was like an obstacle course, a new problem arising every time you solve one. I liked how the book was on a topic that's very unique. I have never read another book that had a similar plot to that of this one. This involved an old bookstore combining with the latest technologies of Google itself. I also enjoyed how the author was able to make me laugh at a characters silly remarks throughout the story.

        However, there were a few negative qualities about the story. Some of the time, the book felt like there was no purpose. Every time a conflict was discovered, the solution would be very simple and not too exciting. I was reading and the author would mention a secret organization of bibliophiles, however that didn't seem very significant. These book lovers were searching for the key to immortality, however the main character, Clay Jannon, says that he knows there really isn't any chance of immortality. It was slightly contradicting and when the conflict was finally solved, the solution was very minor. It was something simple, and led the reader to believe that there was going to be a grand finale or major solution in the end. It was not really as exciting as it could've been.

My article is a book review and summary of the novel Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. It describes the book thoroughly without giving away any spoilers. I would say it is very well-written.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Article

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