Crank Palace is everything my 12 year old self wanted back when I first read The Maze Runner series. Newt was always my favourite character and I always wanted to know what happened to him after he left the group. Although this was only a novella, it really tied up the loose ends of Newt’s story while adding in a new plot and new characters to help the story progress. While this novella is only less than 100 pages, I still found myself invested and ended up reading it in one sitting. I definitely recommend this novella to fans of The Maze Runner series.

Right off the bat, I'd just like to say that I adore Newt's character. He's one of my favorites from the trilogy. When I found out about this novella, I was very excited! Thank you so very much to the publishers that allowed me to get a copy of the ebook through Netgalley. I'm so glad that I finally read it!

Now, onto the true review!

This novella, as an extension to the original Maze Runner trilogy, stars Newt in his adventures separated from the main group of Gladers as the events of The Death Cure go on. And I thought it was really good! It definitely added to the trilogy on a whole, not only building upon the character arc that Dashner gave Newt fully in The Death Cure, but also fully illustrating and documenting events that were otherwise unknown and mysterious.

This novella did have a decent amount of action in it, though it was written in a way that made it not the focal point of the story. The center of the novella is very much Newt grappling with himself and the fact that he has the Flare virus, though his friends are immune. It was really interesting to see that effect on him and what the Flare in effect actually looked like as it took its victim down. Heartbreaking, but fascinating (which basically sums up my entire thoughts about this novella).

Of course, knowing Newt's story, this really tugged at the heartstrings. It involves a beautiful (if not short-lived) found-family dynamic which made it that much more heartwrenching to know what happens to Newt after the events of the novella. The writing for the pure emotion was really amazingly well done, and it definitely made me tear up a couple times (though not sob like the first time I experienced The Death Cure. That was fun), The relationship between Keisha, Newt, Dante, and Jackie was lovely to read about, and I can rest in peace knowing that Newt didn't die completely miserable.

However, Keisha's character felt-- strange, to say the least. Even though she was supposed to be this responsible mother-figure to both her children and Newt (which she was a little bit, to give credit where it's due), she felt a lot more like a teenager to me. Even now, Dashner isn't great at writing women.

I wish more exposition had been given about the new characters. It felt like a lot was missing, even despite the reasons they provided, and that was quite frustrating. However, seeing certain events that happened in The Death Cure from Newt's eyes was pretty cool, I must admit. And it helped fill in the blanks a bit.

Furthermore, while I thought the novella was good, I'm not super passionate about it. It didn't much feel like the author was, either. It felt like he was BS-ing some of the way through.[Like, the whole thing about Newt lying about his escape from the Berg? Felt a bit too convenient and dismissive for my liking, like the author couldn't think of a suitable explanation so just explained it away, for my taste.] For instance, a surprising amount of information contradicted the original trilogy. It almost even felt like at times the author was confusing book canon with movie canon (though the two are VASTLY different). That was a bit dumb.

In conclusion, reading this felt cozy. Slow. Newt's definitely one of my comfort characters, this novella just solidified that. Despite all of the terrible things that went on in the book, I still managed to love every bit of it. The emotions were high. I enjoyed all of that. The only thing I didn't like was the little things combined that, in the end, took away some of the enjoyment for me. Still, though, it was much fun! I'd still highly recommend it!

Unlike the Hunger Games prequel, Crank Palace is a story in between the the rest of the series and, unless you read them in order, it is hard to for this story to stand alone. That being said, the action is well paced.

3.4 stars ⭐️

It was so interesting going back into the world of maze runner. I love seeing things from newts point of view and this book definitely made me cry. I wish there was more though, the ending seemed a little rushed. Overall it’s a good addition to the series

This was so good! It was such a satisfying read as a fan of TMR. I definitely had a bit of trouble getting through it at first, but I later appreciated the pacing.

While a great addition to the series, there are defiantly some spoilers if you read this one first. I would recommend reading the other first and then this one. It would give you a great insight to this book and understand Newt better.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Overall I think it was nice to read in the Maze Runner universe once again, and it was great to learn more about newt, who is a fan favorite. I think it was a great choice to introduce two new characters, but also bring back those who we know and love briefly. I personally do not strongly remember the events of the death cure but I believe that if I were to read this right after, it would make Newt’s death hit even harder.

Hello, and welcome to That Introvert Reader! I, Paris, am back and I've brought you another spoiler free review. In my last post (not really mine, though, was it?) my friend Lilah did a lovely review of The Maze Runner series by James Dashner- The Maze Runner: Spoiler Free Review by My Friend Lilah! Now that her review has you familiarised with the world, I'm going to review Crank Palace, which is a novella set during The Death Cure, with Newt as the main character.



First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for providing me with a free e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.

Now, onto the review.

The Maze Runner series is a pretty big franchise. And when I say pretty big, I mean The Hunger Games big. I mean these books have been big since the cringey 2012 reader tumblr era. They have a movie series, plus two prequels. Despite all this, when Crank Palace released, everyone was pretty quiet about it, which was very strange. I have no idea why, because if I'm honest, I thought this would've got the same type of hype as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Crank Palace is set during the second half of book three in the series- The Death Cure- and is from Newt's point of view. Personally, I was not particularly attached to Newt, but many many fans of these books have declared him their comfort character.

He made me laugh sometimes though, I'll give him that.

I can't completely explain what happened in this book without spoiling much of the plot points in this series, unfortunately, so let me tell you this: you thought The Death Cure hurt you, but this hurts you even more. We see the same event- and those leading up to it- from two different perspectives.

Another really great thing about this is that Dashner didn't drag out what we all knew was inevitable in this novella, and Newt accepted what was happening to him. That in itself was quite interesting, because that is a difficult thing to come to terms with, and Newt is only a teenager himself.

The reason that this novella received four stars instead of five was because I feel that this took a while to get back into action, whereas with The Maze Runner, we are thrown straight into action, seeing Thomas in the box straight away.

I think this novella was a good idea, and it was executed pretty well. The ending events didn't evoke as much emotion from me as when I read it in The Death Cure, but as far as scenes like that go, this one went pretty well.

All things considered, I really enjoyed this as a Maze Runner fan, and if you are two it's definitely worth it to look into one of the most impactful events. Obviously, I think you should read the original series, but I would say get it from the library as the author is said to be problematic.

Thank you for reading this blog post! I hope I've done a good job describing this to you without revealing too much about the series. Follow my tiktok @thatintrovertreader, and have a great day :)

- Paris

The Maze Runner.

Since the days of the 'boy wizard' books and films geared toward a young adult audience have flourished, but only a couple have had real success and one of those is James Dashner's "Maze Runner" series. I've only seen the first film and I've only read one of the books but when I saw there was a new story, a novella, in the series I was quite curious to check it out.

This is Newt's story. He does not want his friends to have to watch him suffer from the virus as he falls into a madness, so he leaves a note and before they return from a mission in Colorado, and heads out to the streets. But the streets have unique dangers. He has to avoid the infected as well as those trying to track down the infected. Ultimately he will find his way to Crank Palace - the home to those without hope. Is this the end of Newt's story?

This is a character-driven story (my favorite kind) and even though I'm not really familiar with Newt (not like the dedicated fans) I understood this character, his motivations, and his trials. You don't need to know the entire series to enjoy this particular story, though I greatly suspect that those who have more of an attachment to the series and the characters (and Newt in particular) may find this emotionally exhausting.

This definitely has me interested in going back to read the entire series.

Looking for a good book? You don't have to know the entire series to enjoy Crank Palace, a Maze Runner story by James Dashner.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I miss the Maze Runner world! This book brought me back and I'll probably be doing a reread of the series soon. If you've read The Death Cure, you know how Newt's story goes but I was happy to get into his head and see what he was going through.

Newt is a great character, he's a leader and was essential in getting the Gladers out of the maze. Newt is very smart and he keeps his true feelings and pain wrapped up and hidden away. Seeing how much he was going through while having the Flare was sad and broke my heart. Why did it have to be Newt that got sick? Of course he doesn't let it stop him and still dedicated his last days of sanity to helping others because that's the kind of person he is. The ending was like being gutted all over again, but it did have a bit of peace to it and I'm glad Newt had some reassurance.

This novella is a major spoiler for the series, so make sure to read it after the other books!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I quite enjoyed the Maze Runner series by James Dashner and looked forward to reading the novella, Crank Palace. The story opens as Newt, suffering from flare, worries that, if he stays with his friends, he might hurt them. He decides to turn himself into one of the containment centres known as the Crank Palace. On the way, he meets Keisha, a young woman with her son, Dante, who tries to convince him that, as bad as flare is, the Crank Palace is even worse. But, as they talk, they are picked up by the soldiers and interred in the Palace. As Newt succumbs to the flare, Keisha helps him deal with it and he even finds a place for himself inside the camp...that is, until his new friends devise an escape plan.

I enjoyed Crank Palace but I felt like the story should have been longer. It just seemed that too much of the story was taken up by Newt's crank episodes, not that this was a bad thing as it let us see what the disease was like from a sufferer's point of view but I would have liked more about his relationship with Keisha and Dante as well the other people in the camp. Still, if you are a fan of the series, it was nice to get more of the story from Newt's perspective.

<Thanks to Netgalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

Before I start about Crank Palace, I have to say if you haven't read the previous installments of James Dashner's The Maze Runner series, then you have to get on that right now! This is essential to getting the full glory of Crank Palace.

Crank Palace tells the previously unknown story of Newt, a member of the group known as the "Gladers" who has decided to leave his friends because he knows his time on Earth is coming to and end. He doesn't want his friends, with whom he's been through so much, to see his final days. He has decided he wants to die alone while attempting to leave something worth remembering behind for someone to eventually/hopefully find. One small problem: he meets Keisha and her son Dante and immediately decides he's not ready to die just yet.

This novella is everything fans of The Maze Runner can ask for. We see what life is like for one of our favorite Gladers as he succumbs to the hell brought upon him. The fact that you pretty much know how Newt's story ends makes his final days all the more meaningful.

The last thing I will say is to make sure you read James Dashner's author's note. It is timely and relevant given that we are living in a global pandemic. Also- all proceeds from this publication will go to charity. Thank you to Riverdale Avenue Books for granting me an ARC!

Life can honestly get so busy sometimes that you forget to put up a review for a book that left you emotionally heartbroken (like, until a month later - or two *cough*). Oh, Newt. It was as emotionally charged as I'd thought it would be, but still, I decided to read it...eventually.

You see, its been about 4 or 5 years since I've read The Maze Runner series and I'd worried how much I remembered from the series. (My favorite characters were Newt and Minho, in case anyone was wondering, and no, I did not watch the movies. I don't know why people base their favorite characters off of their looks.)

But anyways, I eventually decided to read it without rereading the Maze Runner series because my tbr was too long and I was keeping my ARC (Netgalley provided) waiting too long. So I read it. And got emotional. A bit. Turns out I didn't need to reread the series.

The story follows Newt's perspective in the 3rd book when his friends left him behind to save the world. (Sorry, had to say it) Completely alone, he sets off and soon finds a new friend/accomplice, Keisha, and her young son Dante. They're soon caught and taken to Crank Palace (home to all of the Cranks the government catches). While Newt's inital goal was to become a resident of Crank Palace, it is during that time and the rest of the book, he realizes what it means to live a meaningful life and what sacrifice truly is.

A Maze Runner novella. After leaving his friends behind, Newt meets Keisha and her son, and together they end up in the Crank Palace; a place for all the infected to live out the rest of their lives.

As a huge Maze Runner fan, I was excited to find out about this novella.
The story picks up when Newt decides to leave his friends to spare them the trauma of seeing him succumb to the Flare.
I really like Newt's relationship with Keisha, but I found that it wasn't explored fully. Instead, the author decided to send Newt on one last adventure, that in my opinion, was unnecessary, far-fetched, implausible, and most importantly very rushed.
Unfortunately, I can't give it more than 2 stars, which on my scale constitutes an average read.

I love Newt, he’s my favorite character in this series. However, this story just didn’t hit me the way I thought it would. I will say, the epilogue was so intriguing! I definitely think there’s more to this story and I’m so excited.

Newt was one of my favorite characters from the original trilogy, so I was super excited that we were getting a book that was just about him. I think all of us wanted to get a look into his brain, and to get to know him better as a character. I know that that's what I wanted, which this book didn't deliver on.

When we open this book, Newt has been struck with the Flare, and is entering the Crank Palace. We all know that the Flare is driving him crazy, but I feel like this could've been done a bit better. I wish we could've gotten a glimpse into his thoughts, which I feel was lacking. Somehow, even though this was 200 pages, I feel like I didn't learn anything about Newt. His character feels the same as it did in the first three, which isn't how it should be.

Like other reviewers have said, i think this book really would've benefited from including a flashback or two. The thing I loved about the original trilogy was the friendship between Thomas, Newt, and Minho. I was really looking forward to seeing them together and seeing how Newt thought of them. Sadly, we only got to see them once, and it wasn't a scene I cared about. I think a flashback wouldve showcased how much Newt changed, and helped me connect with him.

Although I didn't love this, it was an entertaining book! Its been a while since I reread the Maze Runner series, and this book put me in the mood to reread it. If you're a fan if this series, I'd recommend reading this!

Thanks to James Dashner and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Let me start off by saying that I did not think this short novella comprising of 83 pages would make me so emotional.

Newt is obviously my favorite character (and Thomas Brodie-Sangster from the movies will forever be my celebrity crush) so of course I grabbed at the chance to read more of his story.

I don’t usually read novellas, though I have been reviewing a few as of late, but I’m so glad I got the chance to read this one. I expected cranks and Newt having a tough time surviving. Instead, I got a heartfelt yet sad story of a young man spiraling into madness while still trying to help his friends.

I didn’t expect to get so emotional in some parts, especially with the book being so short.

We meet a new character, Keisha, and her son. I suppose you could see them as the last tether Newt has to sanity. It was heartwarming to read their journey together and how they try to stay alive, while it was so heartbreaking to read as the Flare starts to take hold of them.

I never expected The Maze Runner to become half a reflection of our world. Thankfully Covid is nowhere as wild as the Flare, but if this novella has shown me anything, it’s that in these hard times, we need to remember to be kind to everyone we meet.

Everyone’s fighting their own unseen battles and everyone could use a bit of love.

I definitely think this novella is worth a read.

*I received a free arc from Netgalley in exchange for a free review.

This was a sad revisit into the world of the famous 'the maze runner' series, though I must say that I did very much like it. It's been a while since I read the books but I was able to be sucked back into the world quickly. The characters were great and had a lot of depth to it. I liked how we were able to get Newt's POV into all of this because I missed that in the original books. Overall, a great addition to the original series but not really necessary for the already existing books. 4/5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for my opinion.

Crank Palace, the novella we all needed!!

I am all about anything maze runner. I had no idea this was even coming out, so that was a nice surprise!

This novella is what happens to Newt when he finds out he is not immune and is indeed infected by the flair. This is his journey to 'crank palace' and the people he meets along the way. It heartbreaking, cruel, full of love, and makes you angry for him.

Crank Palace

Well I have to say this book was not like the others! I honestly didn’t care for it all just seemed like it could have been so much better!! Just left so much unsaid and characters just disappearing!
2 stars