If You Liked... The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I'm 54 pages into The Maze Runner and I knew right from the first few sentences that I was going to like this book. It was so much like Variant by Robison E. Wells. The plot was very much the same. The trap, the secret. The death.

The Maze Runner Synopsis: He wakes up in the elevator with no memory of anything but his name. Thomas doesn't remember anything about his parents, his home, or where he got where he is. It's like his brain is empty. But he isn't the only one. The the doors open boys surround him and introduce him to the Glade, a large, open space surrounded by stone walls. They too don't remember anything more than Thomas does, except that every morning (as far as they know) the stone walls to the Maze that surrounds them opens. The doors also close every night, and know one wants to be in there after nightfall. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift, so they were expecting Thomas' arrival. The thing that they wren't expecting was an arrival the next day, a girl for the first time in history. And more surprising yet is the message she explains, the thought that maybe the Maze can't be resolved. But there's more. The girl's arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he might have some answers, if only he could take them out of the dungeons within his mind. "Everything is going to change..."

Variant Synopsis: When Benson Fisher was accepted to Maxfield Academy, he thought that it would be a good escape from his boring life. But he was wrong. Dead wrong. The gates are razor-wired, video camera's watch every single move of every student, and there are no adults. He has been trapped in a prison where kids split into tribes to survive. Where breaking rules is death. It gets even worse when Benson finds out what the school's real secret is, and knows that following the rules may create a fate worse than death. His only real hope for survival is escape, the nearly impossible mission. "Trust no one."

So if you liked The Maze Runner, be sure to check out Robison E. Well's Variant.

Have read these two books? Do you agree that they are similar? Comment below with your thoughts.

The Maze Runner synopsis based off of the back of the paperback edition of the book.
Variant synopsis based off of the description on Goodreads.