This is just GREAT!

God, I hate cliffhangers!

So, in the previous chapters Thomas sees a Runner(probably) going through the East Door. This Runner is Asian and muscular, he goes in panting and falls onto the ground. Thomas ran to him and checked on him. He was okay, just tired. He didn't know who Thomas was because he spent all his hours in the Maze. The boy's name is Minho and Thomas can't decide whether to trust him or not. At the end of the conversation, Thomas decides he likes him. Alby comes and they both start arguing about what happened. He had found a dead Griever.

        Thomas learns more about the Griever, it has moist skin, metal spikes coming out from its body and it weighs about half a ton. Thomas got into the the woods of the Glade and Chuck interrupted his silence. He told Thomas that Ben isn't dead.

         He said that Ben will be Banished from the Glade and instead of being sad, Chuck smiled. Everyone was reunited at the East Door and the Keepers(leaders) reunited to bring Ben close to the exit. Every Keeper held out a long stick that had an empty circle at the top. It was a collar. The Keepers got a hold of Ben as he cried for help. They pushed him back and back, then let go. The Door closed and Ben was forever gone.
          Thomas started a new day as Newy waked him up later than usual and Thomas was introduced to Zart and agriculture. Newt reveals that once he was a Runner until a traumatic event restrained him from doing so. Thomas spent most of his day picking up weeds and planting new ones. Then he started asking questions. Zart explained the different jobs: Sloppers, Baggers, Cooks, Map-makers, Track-hoes, Blood Housers, and the Runners. Thomas was interested in a Slopper, but then felt guilt as he learned that job was for the boys who couldn't do anything. Like Chuck.
        In the afternoon, Thomas saw that Newt was uncomfortable. Newt explained that Alby and Minho, who went in search for the dead Griever, should have returned hours ago. Thomas offered a search party, but that was against the rules. After a while, Newt and Thomas gave up, just before Thomas could spot Minho and Alby. Thomas was dumbfounded. He wondered if he stood where he was or go for them. The Door was about to close. Thomas didn't think twice: he sprinted toward the Door and got in just in time.
         Thomas went after Minho, which was mad because he left the Glade for them. Alby looked like he'd been stung and he looked like a demon with scars all over his body. The dead Griever was a trap. A loud boom, metal crackling against a wall, echoed through the maze. They both split up and ran. Thomas tried carrying Alby, resulting in a failure, so he just left him to the entrance of the Glade. He thought of a plan, climbing the wall, even though Minho said it was useless. Thomas tried many things to get Alby and him to the top. Thomas tied Alby and pushed him upward. Little by little the idea worked, but there was more than on Griever. Thomas spotted a beetle blade, a silver lizard-like creature used to watch the Gladers. He thought he saw it before, and now it was confirmed. The beetle read WICKED. But then something startled Thomas, a Griever.
          He watched the horrifying thing, like a slug covered in slime and hair. It had many mechanical arms for different purposes and each was deadly. Thomas was perfectly still, the Griever running up the wall where he and Alby stood. Thomas started down; it was his only option. The Griever ignored Alby and sprinted toward Thomas, who was dropping down from the wall.  The Griever wounded Thomas' back and Thomas tried to go down as much as possible. He touched the ground and sprinted, without turning back. Then, on a turn, he saw not one. Not two. Three Grievers charging at him.
           Thomas ran at his original pursuer and dodged it's attacks. Then, after running a long time, a pair of hands, belonging to Minho, grabbed Thomas. He followed Minho and Minho said that he had an idea. Thomas followed meekly and saw not a wall, but blackness. The end of the Maze.
           Dawn started and they continued non-stop. The four Grievers behind them. Minho and Thomas stood before the Cliff. They knew what they had to do. When the Grievers came. Thomas and Minho dodged them to the sides and each one fell off. Thomas went to Minho, with tears running down his face.

                       "And then he turned and ran, disappearing in seconds, swallowed by the Maze and darkness." (Dashner, 118)

    This happens after Minho tells Thomas that they should split up. Thomas was disconcerted and didn't know what to do. He saved Alby by leaving him in the vines, but what really happened to Alby? Is he still in the vines? I loved this quote because it gave me a sense of courage and fear. The whole chapter I was at the edge of my seat, trying to swallow every last bit of information I could get. I loved the action in this chapter and this quote overwhelmed me.

   

                     "His mind couldn't process the thought of where the Cliff led to or what happened to the terrible creatures." (Dashner, 138)

    This quote talks about Thomas and his first impression of the Cliff. The Cliff is a border of the Maze, which looks like it is floating because of the mist around it. Minho and Thomas devised a plan to ensnare and get rid of the Grievers. Thomas thought deeply about what happened after the Cliff and where it led to. Did the creatures die? I say they did, but not everything is as it seems.

                                     More action PLEASE!

         The chapters were just beautiful, in their own way. I liked Thomas' development and how Dashner portrays his character. We still need to learn about Alby because maybe the Grievers got him and killed him, which is unlikely. But in the Maze, everything is unlikely. This book is captivating me more and more, raising more questions at every page. It's just amazing.

                            

          

          

Remembering Nothing

                                    OK! A new book!

After having to deal with Tris, we move on to the adventures of Thomas in The Maze Runner. Everything starts when Thomas wakes up with the crackling sound of metal; he is enclosed in a metallic box with almost no space. All he remembers is that his name is Thomas. Of course, he remembers the basic things in life like talking, reading, how to survive, cities, people(but he can't remember what they looked like), etc. Thomas waits and after the cage opens and he sees a bunch of kids gathered around it. He sees a person stand next to him and say, "Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade". As Thomas walks out he sees the place they call "The Glade".
                                           
A perfect square surrounded by walls of thousands of feet high. He notices openings on each side of the wall. He starts looking around and sees barns, animals, people working, buildings, among others. He overhears someone criticizing him, his name is Gally. Thomas meets Alby, which apparently was defending Thomas. Thomas thinks Alby is their leader and that he will take Thomas on a "Tour" the next day. In the Gladers' words he notices some kind of slang which is different from what he would say. He heard the words shank, klunk, shuck. He also heard people calling him Greenbean, which stands for newbie. Minutes later, he meets Chuck, the previous Greenbean, and tells Thomas that he is his guide for the day. Chuck tries to explain as much as he can but still holds some secrets. Chuck tells Thomas that there is a maze outside the Glade and that it changes every night. Thomas hears screams and follows them into a wooden house and finds Gally. He beckons him and tells him to go in, but Chuck warns him not to. In the wooden house he sees Alby with another boy, Newt, treating another boy that looked soulless, his name was Ben. They immediately took him outside and Thomas learns about the Changing. The Changing is a process after you get stung by a Griever, evil spider-like monsters the size of a cow. The next day Thomas starts working and learning his way through the Glade. He senses that he should be a Runner, people who go out of the Glade to figure a way out of the Glade. These Runners have a time limit before the doors surrounding the Glade close.
              A siren pumps through the air and everyone gathers around the Box and sees a girl, unconscious, in it. In the Box there was a note, it read: She's the last one. Ever. She wakes up and says that everything will change, then she passes out. Thomas starts feeling drawn to her and like he knows her. The med-jacks, doctors, pick her up and take her to a clinic.
            Thomas starts working his way in the Glade and begins to feel like he is a Glader, he even uses the Glade slang. That night he is attacked by Ben, the boy that went through the Changing, and Alby killed him. Thomas had nightmares and begun his second day. He goes to Winston, an acne-covered kid that liked his job as a Slicer. Thomas begun his work as he slaughtered animals and retrieved chicken eggs. That place was called The Blood House. He also meets Bark, a dog which has always been there. After a while he sees a Runner, sweating and tired. He watches him for a while, then the Runner collapsed onto the ground.

                             "He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air." (Dashner, 1)

The opening sentence of our book. This quote frightened me and brought me joy as we learn that our character, Thomas, had a previous life, from which we don't know about. The beginning of the sentence sounds like he is being transported, not knowing what happened, into nowhere. This quote can create suspense and definitely captivated me.

                            "Thomas stepped forward, eager to meet him and ask questions. But before he could form a sentence, the boy collapsed to the ground." (Dashner, 79)

 Thomas was just working with Winston when he noticed someone enter through the East Door. An Asian kid that was very muscular. Probably a Runner. After this, he stopped and fell to the ground. This sentence brought a lot of questions to my head like: Who is he? Why did he collapse? Is he a Runner? Why hasn't Thomas ever seen him? There are just too many. We'll have to wait and find out.

                                         Conclusions       

              We are left in such a cliffhanger! I can't wait to see what happens next. The book's introduction was just amazing and captivating, and I want to see what happens to this first girl. Obviously, some strange things have happened since Thomas entered the Glade. Many questions have sprouted in my head and I NEED ANSWERS! Can't wait to read more and will have to!