If you're still craving the high that Hunger Gamesgave you as a kid, then this one's for you! With the recent resurgence of Hunger Games mania due to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesalongside upcoming Haymitch prequel, everyone's dystopian cravings only seem to grow with people looking for more and more reads to pick up. Since booktok is always my go-to place for the best book recs, I thought I'd round up the most popular Hunger Games-esque novels to fill the void while we wait for the HG prequel! Without further ado, here are my top ten favorite dystopian books!
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Hunger Games Seriesby Suzanne Collins
Obvi we have to start with the Booktok sensation and a fan-favorite for well over a decade. This series most likely started your obsession with dystopian when it came out in 2008. Well, now it's back in the spotlight with all the prequels, and we couldn't be happier!
In this post-apocalyptic nation, men, women, and children are chosen annually in a drawing to fight to the death in an arena for all their nation to watch. The story follows Katniss, the district 12 tribute, as she tries to fend for herself with little resources and a struggle to partake in the gruesome games her country started. With no care for the wealth or fame as a reward, she learns that it really comes down to: will she want to survive or die in the arena with her family watching
Binge this whole series if you haven't already — it's just as exciting as the movies and is guaranteed to kickstart your dystopian obsession!
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Battle Royaleby Koushun Takami
Fun fact: This book was actually rumored to be the inspiration for Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. It's a very similar fight-til-the-death concept, but just a lot more gruesome than the former — it's just as good, though!
In this dystopian universe, 42 9th graders are taken away to a deserted island where their authoritarian government has decided they will need to fight to survive. What they need to fight? Each other. They are ordered to kill each other one by one until there is only one left standing. No one is trustworthy in this gruesome, violent, and high-stakes dystopian!
I love this one, and think if you even remotely like dystopian books then you would love it!
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Divergent Seriesby Veronica Roth
I bring you yet another fantastic dystopian-action series! It actually became a movie starring the amazing Theo James and beautiful Shailene Woodley in 2014, so you can read the books and follow up with the movies. In this world, very similar to Hunger Games, society is divided into groups called Factions. Our main character, Tris must choose between the one she was born into, or transferring out and leaving her family behind. But what most people don't know is that she's hiding a secret that could end up changing everything. Will she meet more people like her? Or continue living in secret? Definitely pick this series up!
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Handmaid's Taleby Margaret Atwood
This Margaret Atwood masterpiece transformed people all over the world given its haunting and graphic details of the downfall of this society. It's been made into a popular TV show, but dare I say...the book is way better. It's a very eery story on the topic of enslaving women for their fertility (yikes). This novel makes for an incredible social commentary that gets even eerier when you realize that she wrote most of it based on true events that have happened in women's history (even bigger yikes). It's a must-read for those interested in women's rights, have watched the show, or simply can't stay away from another dystopian book!
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Ugliesby Scott Westerfeld
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Shatter Me Seriesby Tahereh Mafi
As someone who just binged this entire series in under a week, I need you to know how good it is! It's more of a fantasy-action-dystopian book, so it's action-packed and full of romance as well! It's about a young girl named Juliette who could accidentally kill someone by simply touching them — it's her power and her downfall. But The Reestablishment wants to use this power to their advantage, and it could change everything. Will they use her powers for good, or as a weapon? And what will happen when she's reunited with the one person who sees her for who she really is?
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Red Queenby Victoria Aveyard
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Legendby Marie Lu
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The Maze Runner Seriesby Jared Asher
This series is another super popular pick amongst Booktok readers that was also made into a movie in 2014! The story follows a dystopian universe where a young man, Thomas, wakes up one day surrounded by a bunch of other young men. The problem: all of their memories have been wiped. As they struggle to figure out where they are, why they are there, and how they arrived, another problem occurs. A girl, the first and only, arrives, and she has one message: Remember. Survive. Run.
Read this thrilling novel to see where the world will take you!
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The Immortal Rules Seriesby Julie Kagawa
The world? Run by vampires. The humans? The food. Allison lives outside of the wall to her city having to hide from the vampires. That all begins to change when, after a disastrous night, she becomes the thing she hates the most. Now coming to terms with her new identity, she leaves to find a cure. Read this thrilling book to see if Allison will accept who she is and find new sympathy for vampires, or realize that they might be as bad as she thought.
Looking for more book recs? Be sure to check out our storefront for all our fave reads!
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