Dystopian novels are my absolute favorite genre of books. It’s so important to read them because they all depict a destructive future for us if we don’t make changes in society. It’s even more interesting if the novel focuses on climate change and how its effects could change our future because climate change is such an impacting issue in today’s society that we need to know the future risks of. These are a few of my favorite dystopian novels that you might be interested in reading:
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
“The Darkest Minds” begins with a whole generation of children and teens sitting around in concentration camps due to holding one of five powers: increased intelligence, telekinesis, electricity, fire and telepathy. The government is scared and gathered all the children to forcefully get rid of their powers. The more powerful children have disappeared and the ones remaining are terrified for their lives. The story begins with powerful 16-year-old Ruby as she ploys to escape her camp. As the story develops, she meets a group of kids and learns of the terrible state the world is in. Children all over begin to rebel against the government as they strive to escape and find their families again. Unlike other novels that depict romance and devastation in dramatic light, this novel shows a more realistic response in society. The characters are very emotional and life-like as they develop into the people they know they can become.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The first novel “The Maze Runner” was very fascinating and the story slowly became dark and incredible. The characters really grow with character development and you develop an emotional connection with them. The story begins with 16-year-old Tomas awaking in a box elevator with no knowledge other than his name. He finds himself in a community of teenage males surrounded by a deathly maze. None of the men know anything about themselves, just like him. Every 30 days, the box arrives with a new boy. The only problem is, after his arrival, the box didn’t come back until one day, the box arrives with an unexpecting character who strikes off the story with an ominous statement. This novel is a mystery that you try to understand, just like the characters in the story. As the series goes on, we discover a dystopian world and a climate change-induced disease. Each of the five books is a new stage of information and horror into the life they’re leading and the life they’re heading into.
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
This novel is a dystopian romance centered around human development in technology and how we’re separating ourselves from the real world. It was darker than a lot of the other books I read because of its humanistic quality and you really connect with the characters. Aria lives in the protected dome of Reverie where she focuses and lives her life through technology as a Dweller. She wonders about the dangerous and deathly outside world, known as The Death Shop, especially the dangerous Outsider savages. One night, her friends break into the agriculture dome and start a fire. Aria thinks she’s going to die as the fire spreads and envelopes the agriculture dome until a young man she doesn’t recognize places her out of harm’s way. Soon after, her mother disappears and she decides to make her way across her banishment in The Death Shop and find her mother to bring her back home safely, when she meets Perry, the man who saved her from the fire and who’s looking for someone too. They finally agree to help one another and make their way across The Death Shop while Perry shows Aria the truth about the Dwellers and all the possibilities she has outside of her sheltered life.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury is such an incredible dystopian and sci-fi author of the 1950s era. His stories inspired both young and old generations alike and gave them insight into our possible futures. This novel has a little over 200 pages of short stories describing different people and their journeys to Mars to escape a crumbling Earth. Each chapter is a new story describing the many Mars missions after Earth is torn apart by climate change and war between 1999 to 2026. Though Mars is filled with Martians who aren’t ready to let their planet go.
“Shatter Me” by Tahereh Mafi is by far my favorite dystopian novel I’ve read. It begins with an incredible trilogy and continues with an even better sequel trilogy. The book begins with a 17-year-old girl sitting alone in her room in an asylum. She’s locked up because she did something bad that she shouldn’t have been able to do and she’s never felt the human touch because of it. She’s been in the asylum for 264 days and her story begins when she gets a roommate. Her roommate is someone she remembers from her past, and she is uprooted from her silence. The novels are filled with unbelievable power and unexpected romance as she navigates the twists and turns of freedom and you begin to fall in love with the story and the characters. Their dystopian world is caused by political totalitarianism and abuse of our environment. If you’re going to read one dystopian series, I recommend this novel because it will take your mind, heart and soul on an emotional journey that you will never forget.
The Cure (The Cure Chronicles) by K.A. Riley
Every person on their 17th birthday is given the opportunity to be given the cure and a place in society to move on from a squalor to the elite. On Ashen Spencer’s birthday, she is blindfolded and taken to the Arc, away from her younger brother, her barely alive mother and her only friend Rhys to begin a year of training to earn the cure to the disease known as The Blight. She is set to work as a servant to a wealthy family, whose handsome young son begins to fall for her. As she navigates society and learns more about the Arc, she realizes she has a choice: “Be part of the disease…Or be part of the Cure.” This story was addictive and had a beautiful romance that is enjoyable to read.
