The Maze Runner is definitely a different kind of book. Yes, it's like The Hunger Games, there were similarities. But it's different with it's own version. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. There were parts that were very interesting but there were also parts that kind of bored me. 
 The story lacked of flow and everything happened very fast. It was kind of hard to follow. There were unexplained and illogical things that it far from justification like by a character vaguely saying, "It's the variables." or even the telepathetic thing that came out of nowhere. Dashner's writing style wasn't my favorite ever and some of the wording and descriptions and such felt weird to me. In fact, I think he's a better poet than a novelist. 
 The characters were likable, especially Newt and Minho (because they're my favorite characters) but also sort of generic. Their personalities won't stick out in my head at all. The ending was neat, but didn't entice me enough to make me want the next book right now. Don't get me wrong. I like the originality of the plot, but don't think it's one of the best books I've read by any means. 
 I appreciate the concept and core story, the uniqueness and the creativeness. But I don't like what Dashner's built around it. For me, the book's imagination ends at the concept. Everything in between was so random and frankly, a waste of my time. A cop-out to a more fully developed and completely thought-out idea.