I'm going to break this one down into a few sub-categories.
Literary Post-apocalyptic/dystopian books
The Passage - Justin Cronin: I can barely go a post without mentioning this book, as it and its two sequels are some of my all-time favorite books. It starts out as a government conspiracy thriller, turns into a virus gone awry, and ends up a crazy dystopia with a unique spin on vampire/zombie types. But it's also incredibly well-written with amazing characters. (I actually didn't have to recommend this one to Becca last night, because she read all 3 (long!) books in the series already at my recommendation over the last few months which I think may have started her on this dystopian kick.)
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel: Another beautifully written book, this one going back and forth between before, during, and after a pandemic wipes out most of the population. The character development and the sometimes surprising connections between the characters in the different plots in the book were fantastic.
California - Eden Lepucki: Nothing too crazy seems to have happened in this book to make the world dystopian/post-apocalyptic, which makes it that much scarier in its realism - just a book about a not-so-distant future where the world has gradually gone bad, and the attempts of a husband and wife to get by in the world.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood: Written all the way back in 1985 but feels scarily plausible even today, about a creepy future dystopia ruled by a quasi-religious government where most women are infertile and other women are forced to be their "handmaids"and bear children for them. I read this back in high school and it really made an impression on me, and last year I was utterly wowed by the TV adaptation on Hulu. Planning to re-read it this year.
When She Woke - Hilary Jordan: Like a cross between "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Scarlet Letter," this book takes place in a dystopian future where anyone convicted of a crime serves the majority of their sentence not in jail but out in the world, but with their entire body dyed a particular color which indicates the nature of their crime. The protagonist had an abortion, which is outlawed in this particular dystopian future. Very thought-provoking.
Young Adult Dystopias
The following are all the first book in young adult dystopian series, and most of them start out good but end slightly disappointingly. Some of them are kind of trashy, but in a good way. These aren't even all of the series I've read, just some of the more entertaining ones.
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins: Presumably anyone looking to read some young adult dystopias has already read "The Hunger Games" and its two sequels - or at least seen the movies! Suffice it to say that despite a slightly draggy third book in the trilogy, this not only kicked off the public's appetite for this type of book, but is also probably the best in its genre. If you live under a rock and somehow missed this one, it's about a dystopian future world where 2 teenage tributes from each district of the country must compete each year in a televised fight to the death.
Enclave - Ann Aguirre: This book is about the survivors of some unspecified disaster who live underground in a very regimented dystopian society. The second and third books each take a different spin and so this is the rare series that actually does not drop off steeply in quality by the end. Or, I should say what I thought was the end, as I actually thought this was a trilogy, but turns out a 4th book came out last year as a follow up, so will have to read that one too!
What's Left of Me - Kat Zhang: This series certainly has a unique premise - set in a world not too dissimilar from our own, except where everyone is born with two souls/personalities, but during childhood one becomes dominant and the other disappears. The narrator, Eva, is still alive inside Addie's head, but no one knows but Addie, and if the government finds out, they'll come after them.
Divergent - Veronica Roth: This series was also adapted into movies, so you may be familiar with the premise - a future dystopian society where everyone is divided into 5 types of people depending on which personality trait is foremost for them (bravery, selflessness, kindness, intelligence, honesty). The premise is a little wacky, but it's definitely original, and books 1 and 2 of the series are great; unfortunately I found book 3 disappointing.
Matched - Ally Condie: The premise of this one is a dystopian world where the government controls everything from when you die to who you marry, aka who you are "matched" with. It's a little goofy of a series, but a fun read nonetheless.
Delirium - Lauren Oliver: First book in a series where the government has classified love as a disease, and everyone is given an operation on their 18th birthday which removes their ability to love. As the protagonist approaches her birthday, she of course begins to question the system.
Dystopia/Post-apocalyptic with more of a science fiction edge
Wool - Hugh Howrey: This book, first in a trilogy, is set in an unspecified future where a group of people live in an underground bunker due to some kind of disaster. This is a little more science-fiction-y than some of the books listed above, but also has a good mystery.
Red Rising - Pierce Brown: This book is set on a dystopian future Mars where people are divided into castes which literally have different colors - as in, the main character, who is in the lowest caste, literally has red skin. It has elements of "Hunger Games" and "Ender's Game" but is also an entertaining and original book in its own right, and quite a page turner. The third book to the trilogy wasn't as strong as the first two, but apparently the author is writing a follow-up trilogy in the same world with the next book coming out this month, and I'll definitely keep reading.
The Host - Stephenie Meyer: This book is set in a near-future world where aliens who live inside human bodies have taken over the Earth, with only a small amount of real humans remaining. This book is told from the perspective of one of the aliens, whose human host resists her taking over. And yes, this is the same Stephenie Meyer who wrote "Twilight," though in my opinion this book is much better even though fewer people read it.
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