Dystopian Society

1984

George Orwell · Literary Fiction

"Big Brother is Watching You." In a world where truth is dictated by the Party, freedom is slavery, and war is peace, Winston Smith dares to think…

dystopian society · psychological thriller · political intrigue · survival

Sunrise on the Reaping

Suzanne Collins · Fantasy

**When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?** As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games,…

dystopian society · grimdark · survival · high stakes survival · coming of age

Red Rising

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future.

chosen one · dystopian society · high stakes survival · enemies to lovers · found family · revenge plot

Powerless

Lauren Roberts · Fantasy

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

forbidden romance · dystopian society · chosen one · enemies to lovers · slow burn

Daggermouth

H. M. Wolfe · Fantasy

He Is Her Ruin. She Is His Rebellion. The first thing you’ll learn in New Found Haven is mercy no longer exists. Showing mercy is a weakness, and…

dark romance · enemies to lovers · grimdark · dystopian society · trauma recovery · forced proximity

Broken Dove

Dani Francis · Romance

In the heart-pounding sequel to the Sunday Times bestselling dystopian romance Silver Elite, lines will be crossed, loyalties will be tested, and the…

dark romance · dystopian society · forbidden romance · high stakes survival · love triangle

To Cage a Wild Bird

Brooke Fast · Romance

Enter the brutal world of Endlock, a prison where the wealthy hunt the inmates for sport.

enemies to lovers · forbidden romance · found family · dystopian society · high stakes survival

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley · Literary Fiction

Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" presents a chilling vision of a dystopian future characterized by the pervasive influence of technology and state…

dystopian society · political intrigue

Shatter Me

Tahereh Mafi · Fantasy

Ostracized or incarcerated her whole life, seventeen-year-old Juliette is freed on the condition that she use her horrific abilities in support of…

slow burn · enemies to lovers · dystopian society · forbidden romance · trauma recovery · high stakes survival

Conform

Ariel Sullivan · Romance

THE MUST-READ FIRST NOVEL FROM JENNA BUSH HAGER’S NEW VENTURE, THOUSAND VOICES In the far future, one young woman finds herself torn between two…

love triangle · dystopian society · slow burn · forbidden romance

Silver Elite

Dani Francis · Romance

In the first book of a searing new dystopian trilogy, a young woman must conceal her psychic powers-and her attraction to her handsome, infuriating…

enemies to lovers · paranormal romance · forbidden romance · dystopian society

The Stand

Stephen King · Horror

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99…

post apocalyptic · grimdark · dystopian society · survival · high stakes survival

The Unworthy

Agustina Bazterrica · Horror

In a dystopian convent sheltering women from a climate-ravaged world, a narrator yearning to ascend within the Sacred Sisterhood confronts her…

dystopian society · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller

Neuromancer

William Gibson · Sci-Fi

Henry Dorsett Case was the sharpest data-thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system.

space opera · dystopian society · heist · cat and mouse

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler · Sci-Fi

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future.

dystopian society · coming of age · survival · road trip · trauma recovery

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro · Sci-Fi

Ishiguro explores what it means to have a soul and how art distinguishes man from other life forms.

dystopian society · gothic atmosphere · trauma recovery · multiple timelines

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood · Sci-Fi

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985.

dystopian society · survival · political intrigue · high stakes survival

Divergent

Veronica Roth · Sci-Fi

‘Divergent’ is the first in a trilogy of dystopian, YA novels by Veronica Roth.

chosen one · dystopian society · coming of age · forbidden romance · high stakes survival

Moon of the Crusted Snow

Waubgeshig Rice · Literary Fiction

"A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice.

dystopian society · coming of age · survival · post apocalyptic

The Infinite State

Richard Swan · Sci-Fi

In this blistering science fiction epic, international bestselling author Richard Swan presents a thrilling tale of survival and an eviscerating…

dystopian society · political intrigue · survival · psychological thriller

Chain-Gang All-Stars

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah · Sci-Fi

She felt their eyes, all those executioners… Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, the…

dystopian society · high stakes survival · political intrigue · revenge plot

Grave Empire

Richard Swan · Fantasy

From critically acclaimed author Richard Swan, Grave Empire begins the epic tale of an empire on the verge of industrial revolution, where sorcery…

grimdark · revenge plot · political intrigue · dystopian society

We Call Them Witches

India-Rose Bower · Horror

For fans of The Watchers and T. Kingfisher comes a queer, post-apocalyptic horror following one woman's journey across a merciless wasteland to save…

dark romance · forbidden romance · post apocalyptic · dystopian society · found family · survival

Iron Gold

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

The explosive new novel in the Red Rising series

space opera · dystopian society · revenge plot · chosen one

Dark Age

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

*He broke the chains. Then he broke the world….* A decade ago Darrow led a revolution, and laid the foundations for a new world. Now he’s an…

space opera · dystopian society · high stakes survival

Red Queen

Victoria Aveyard · Fantasy

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood--those with red and those with silver.

dystopian society · enemies to lovers · chosen one

The Dream Hotel

Laila Lalami · Sci-Fi

"From Laila Lalami-the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)-comes a riveting and utterly…

dystopian society · psychological thriller · survival · post apocalyptic

Gliff

Ali Smith · Literary Fiction

From a literary master, a moving and genre-bending story about our era-spanning search for meaning and knowingAn uncertain near-future.

dystopian society · magical realism · portal fantasy · political intrigue

The Maze Runner

James Dashner · Sci-Fi

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name.

chosen one · survival · dystopian society · post apocalyptic · amnesia · high stakes survival

Beneath

Ariel Sullivan · Romance

Hundreds of years before the Illum ruled supreme, humanity risked everything to rebuild after a devastating war in this explosive dystopian romance…

dark romance · slow burn · dystopian society · forbidden romance · trauma recovery

Morning Star

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords.

dystopian society · revenge plot · anti hero · high stakes survival

Sublimation

Isabel J. Kim · Sci-Fi

Doppelgangers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for…

dystopian society · psychological thriller · political intrigue · morally grey character

Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep

Paul Tremblay · Sci-Fi

Philip K. Dick meets the Coen Brothers in this genre-bending near-future tech nightmare that is as bitingly funny as it is horrifically believable…

dystopian society · psychological thriller · unreliable narrator

The Lathe Of Heaven

Ursula K. Le Guin · Sci-Fi

“The Lathe of Heaven” ; 1971 ( Ursula Le Guin received the 1973 Locus Award for this story) George Orr has a gift – he is an effective dreamer: his…

dystopian society · psychological thriller

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury · Sci-Fi

Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this timeless classic with a special edition featuring a new introduction by the author and a message that is…

dystopian society · survival

Altered Carbon

Richard K. Morgan · Sci-Fi

In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N.

space opera · cat and mouse · high stakes survival · dystopian society

The One

John Marrs · Sci-Fi

A simple DNA test is all it takes.

dystopian society · psychological thriller · twist ending

Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins · Sci-Fi

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games.

dystopian society · survival · revenge plot · high stakes survival

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline · Sci-Fi

In the year 2044. reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts *really* feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known…

quest · dystopian society · chosen one · heist

Childhood's End

Arthur C. Clarke · Sci-Fi

Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by British author Arthur C.

space opera · first contact · dystopian society · high stakes survival

The Testaments

Margaret Atwood · Literary Fiction

15 years after the sons of Jacob seized power in the USA and became Gilead.

dystopian society · political intrigue · revenge plot

Starship Troopers

Robert A. Heinlein · Sci-Fi

With Earth embroiled in a vast interplanetary war with the "Bugs," a young recruit in the Federal Reserves relates his experiences training in boot…

survival · dystopian society · coming of age

Born For Silk

Nicci Harris · Fantasy

AN AMAZON TOP 100 BESTSELLER A spicy Beauty and the Beast meets The Handmaid's Tale.

dark romance · forced proximity · dystopian society · slow burn

Shatter Me Series Box Set

Tahereh Mafi · Fantasy

My touch is power. The first three novels in Tahereh Mafi's New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series(Shatter Me, Unravel Me, and Ignite Me) are…

slow burn · forbidden romance · dystopian society · quest · chosen one

Local Heavens

K. M. Fajardo · Romance

A speculative romance reimagining of The Great Gatsby set in 2075 New York, in which Filipino American Nick Carraway has just moved to the heart of…

slow burn · forbidden romance · dystopian society · dark academia

The Delusions

Jenni Fagan · Literary Fiction

THE BOLD NEW NOVEL FROM THE PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE PANOPTICON, LUCKENBOOTH AND OOTLIN '1984 for the afterlife' Irvine Welsh 'Outstanding' Lemn…

psychological thriller · unreliable narrator · dystopian society · dark academia · twist ending

Awake in the Floating City

Susanna Kwan · Literary Fiction

For fans of Station Eleven or Birnam Wood a literary novel with a dystopian world as its setting and at its heart is a human story about compassion…

dystopian society · found family · trauma recovery

Winter

Marissa Meyer · Sci-Fi

Princess Winter is admired for her grace, kindness and beauty, despite the scars on her face.

space opera · dystopian society · chosen one · found family · twist ending

Intercepts

T. J. Payne · Sci-Fi

The word-of-mouth BookTok hit about a supervisor at a top-secret government facility running experiments on human beings.

psychological thriller · dystopian society · trauma recovery · revenge plot

Legend

Marie Lu · Sci-Fi

! What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family…

dystopian society · cat and mouse · coming of age · revenge plot

Wool

Hugh Howey · Sci-Fi

In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep.

dystopian society · survival · closed circle · post apocalyptic

The Merge

Grace Walker · Sci-Fi

'[A] clever and provocative debut ...

dystopian society · forbidden romance · psychological thriller

Green City Wars

Adrian Tchaikovsky · Sci-Fi

In a city of sunshine and secrets, the shadows belong to the animals.

dystopian society · survival · political intrigue

Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson · Sci-Fi

Within the Metaverse, Hiro is offered a datafile named Snow Crash by a man named Raven who hints that it is a form of narcotic.

space opera · heist · anti hero · morally grey character · dystopian society · high stakes survival

Us Dark Few

Alexis Patton · Sci-Fi

Khalani Kanes has never stood on the surface of the earth.

coming of age · dystopian society · survival · fish out of water

Where the Axe Is Buried

Ray Nayler · Sci-Fi

All systems fail. All societies crumble. All worlds end. In the authoritarian Federation, there is a plot to assassinate and replace the President, a…

dystopian society · psychological thriller · political intrigue · survival

Overgrowth

Mira Grant · Sci-Fi

Day of the Triffids meets Gretchen Felker-Martin's Cuckoo.

dystopian society · post apocalyptic · unreliable narrator

Severance

Ling Ma · Sci-Fi

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine.

dystopian society · psychological thriller · survival · trauma recovery

Defiance of the Fall 7

JF Brink · Sci-Fi

The Dimensional Seed is about to mature.

dystopian society · quest · survival

Voidverse

Damien Ober · Sci-Fi

AN ENDLESS VOID. A POWERFUL ANOMALY. A QUEST FOR REVENGE. When The Sinker was a child, her home was destroyed by The Construct, a floating machine…

revenge plot · dystopian society · survival · quest

Love Is an Algorithm

Laura Brooke Robson · Sci-Fi

Pattern is more than just a dating app—it’s your friendly relationship coach.

dystopian society · romantic comedy

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances

Glenn Dixon · Sci-Fi

In a near future, where even the smallest of appliances are sentient, a young Roomba vacuum sets out to save the humans of her house from a rising…

dystopian society · survival · post apocalyptic

This Safe Darkness

Alexis Maragold · Fantasy

The Hunt was intended to make us an example, not a threat.

dystopian society · grimdark · revenge plot · survival · morally grey character

Glint

Raven Kennedy · Fantasy

For ten years, I’ve lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas’s golden castle.

dark romance · grimdark · forbidden romance · possessive romance · dystopian society · high stakes survival · morally grey character

Release Me

Tahereh Mafi · Fantasy

The searing second volume in a new series set in the #1 global bestselling Shatter Me universe ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment.

enemies to lovers · revenge plot · slow burn · dystopian society · morally grey character

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

Walter M. Miller Jr. · Sci-Fi

dystopian society · post apocalyptic · political intrigue

The Chrysalids

John Wyndham · Sci-Fi

This book is about a post apocalyptic world returned back to the times of the horse and carriage seen through the eyes of a young boy.

post apocalyptic · dystopian society · coming of age · survival

Nightfall

Daniel Barnett · Sci-Fi

"Tomorrow died on the last morning of May.

dystopian society · post apocalyptic · high stakes survival

Inverted World

Christopher Priest · Sci-Fi

The city is winched along tracks through a devastated land full of hostile tribes.

dystopian society · twist ending · psychological thriller

The Running Man

Stephen King · Sci-Fi

The Running Man is a dystopian thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a…

dystopian society · survival · high stakes survival

The Power

Naomi Alderman · Sci-Fi

ix, 340 pages : 20 cm

dystopian society · political intrigue · multiple timelines

Toothsucker

Kaden Love · Sci-Fi

In a cyberpunk future, an alarming disease strikes, dissolving the bones of those with cybernetic enhancements.

dystopian society · survival · paranormal romance

Silo 2

Hugh Howey · Sci-Fi

Dies ist Teil 2 von SILO: Hugh Howeys verstörende Zukunftsvision ist rasanter Thriller und Gesellschaftsroman in einem.

dystopian society · closed circle · survival · political intrigue

The Perfect Run

Maxime J. Durand · Sci-Fi

Ryan "Quicksave" Romano is an eccentric adventurer with a strange power: he can create a save-point in time and redo his life whenever he dies.

dystopian society · time travel · survival

American Rapture

CJ Leede · Sci-Fi

An Indie Next Pick! "Blood-soaked, heart-wrenching, grim and glorious.”—Rachel Harrison, national bestselling author of Black Sheep From CJ Leede,…

dystopian society · grimdark · post apocalyptic · high stakes survival

The Cure

K a Riley · Sci-Fi

Before the Blight, becoming an adult was something teenagers looked forward to.

dystopian society · coming of age · high stakes survival · survival

The Forest on the Edge of Time

Jasmin Kirkbride · Sci-Fi

The Future of Another Timeline meets The Bone Clocks in this dazzling piece of time-travel climate fiction.

time travel · multiple timelines · slow burn · quest · dystopian society

The Word for World is Forest

Ursula K. Le Guin · Sci-Fi

Centuries in the future, Terrans have established a logging colony & military base named “New Tahiti” on a tree-covered planet whose small,…

space opera · dystopian society · political intrigue · survival · grimdark

The Day of the Triffids

John Wyndham · Sci-Fi

John Wyndham's 1951 classic post-apocalypse novel introduced the world to triffids, walking man-eating plants, preying on humanity in a world struck…

post apocalyptic · survival · high stakes survival · dystopian society

The Man in the High Castle

Philip K. Dick · Sci-Fi

Slavery is back. America, 1962. Having lost a war, America finds itself under Nazi Germany and Japan occupation. A few Jews still live under assumed…

dystopian society · political intrigue · survival

Sky Full of Elephants

Cebo Campbell · Sci-Fi

In this “bold and imaginative” (Tananarive Due) “truly powerful and riveting story” (Booklist) set in a world where white people no longer exist,…

dystopian society · post apocalyptic · political intrigue

Juice

Tim Winton · Sci-Fi

One of The Guardian's best sci-fi books of 2024 An edge-of-your-seat post-apocalyptic thriller, perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Road, from…

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival · dystopian society · psychological thriller

Alpha

K. D. Marchesi · Sci-Fi

How many lives will be lost for the sake of a non-existent war?

dystopian society · survival · found family

The Lunar Chronicles

Marissa Meyer · Sci-Fi

Cinder Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.

space opera · dystopian society · chosen one · quest

The Dispossessed

Ursula K. Le Guin · Sci-Fi

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action.

dystopian society · political intrigue