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If you’re looking for some escapism, what’s better than a dystopian thriller to get lost in? From sci-fi tales to social commentary that doesn’t seem too far from reality, dystopian fiction will thrill you in the most unique ways. Whether you’ve binged The Hunger Games or The Handmaid’s Tale, here are some dystopian books that you do not want to miss out on!
Love in the Age of Dragons by Fatima R. Henson
When a wormhole opened two years ago, ferocious dragons entered the world and burned Earth’s cities. Since then, Ayanna Grace has been living in an abandoned subway system as part of a large underground community. Medicine runs short, diseases run rampant, and the water supply is low. Rebellions rise and dragon attacks are inevitable. To make things worse, her mentor, and the only doctor in the community, is dying. Can Ayanna save him before it’s too late?
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
Cee knows and remembers nothing except that she’s been on an abandoned island for three years, somewhere beyond she has a sister named Kay, and her only goal is to leave this place and find her. In another world, Kacey is a STEM prodigy who lives in an eco-city designed for people who protected the environment, although they now need protection from it. Kacey likes the lifestyle, but her sister Celia hated it. No one expected Celia to get on a boat and never return. It’s been three months and Kacey has lost hope, but decides to retrace Celia’s steps anyway. Her sister was full of secrets, but Kacey has hers as well.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
A rift across the Earth’s single continent spews ash that blocks out the sun. A son is murdered and a daughter is missing. Betrayal is inevitable and buried hatchets reappear. This is the Stillness, a land that knows what catastrophe is. With the end of the world looming near, a woman is on the hunt for her missing daughter while trying to keep her secret power hidden before it gets her killed.
Want by Cindy Pon
Jason Zhou lives in a society where the elite can purchase longer lives by purchasing special suits that protect them from pollution and viruses while others suffer illnesses and early deaths. After losing his mother as a result of the corruption and divide in his society, he’s determined to change things. He infiltrates the lives of the elite, including Jin Corporation. Jin Corp makes the special suits, and Zhou finds out they might be creating the deadly pollution as well. But as he spends more time in this world of wealth, Zhou finds his plans getting muddled and compromised.
Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin
In a small, isolated town in the mountains, mothers often vanish—disappearing into the clouds. This happened to Vera’s mother when Vera was a small girl. Now, as an adult, Vera and her peers begin to approach motherhood and are left one with burning question of wondering if they will be able to stay on land and continue their paths to motherhood or if fate will cause them to disappear.
Don’t miss these thrillers in a small town with big secrets>>
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
On the same night that Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, died of a heart attack on state, a flu pandemic hit the city and wiped out most of civilization within weeks. Now, twenty years later, Kirsten Raymonde travels with The Traveling Symphony; a small group of musicians and actors whose mission is to keep art and alive. Upon their arrival in St. Deborah by the Water, the group is forced to face a violent prophet who could wipe them from whatever is left of the world.
The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson
The Violence is a strange epidemic that causes those who are infected to have bouts of pure rage, leaving them with no memory in the aftereffects. For Chelse Martin, The Violence is a way out. Her husband is controlling and manipulative, her mother is a narcissist, and her daughter has a boyfriend with a dark side. Using The Violence as her escape, Chelsea realizes that this could be what saves her and her daughters.
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
The girls of Garner County believe their skin has a powerful aphrodisiac that can seduce men and make grown women jealous. For every girl in this county, they are banished on their 16th year to release their magic into the wild so they can return pure. Tierney is approaching her grace year and has realized the dangers of the wilderness aren’t the only things these girls have to fear. There are poachers in the woods who are abducting girls to sell on the black market—and not only that, but in the fight for survival, it’s the other girls in the wild you have to worry about.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
The world as we know it is unrecognizable. Across the world, teenage girls now have the ability to cause severe pain and even death. Soon, a rich Nigerian boy, a foster child with religious parents, an American politician, and a girl in London will have their lives intersect.
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