Top Ten Books In The Dystopia Genre


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

First off, a small hello world post! I used to be ComaCalm's Corner but I took a short break from blogging a while ago and wanted to reboot my blog with a new name. I read all teen books and some sci-fi/fantasy books too.  I've just installed bloglovin and have an abysmal two followers on there so if you find your mouse hovering towards the button, please don't stop it... (I have no shame)

I chose Dystopia, because I am, quite frankly, obsessed with it. I've read nearly every dystopia I can get my hands on, my wishlist is full of more and my bookcase is bursting. Here's my favourites and what's unique about them:


Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott (Review)
This was actually the last book I read and I finished the whole thing in one sitting, stopping only to help my partner with something. I probably wasn't much help as I wanted to get back to the book! Fire and Flood seems to be set in modern day. Tell receives a mysterious invite to The Brimstone Bleed, a race across four ecosystems with a creature known as a Pandora, and the prize is a cure to any illness. It just so happens that Tella's brother is dying...

The Headhunters Race
I actually gave this book 3 stars due to it's stereotypical romantic elements (review coming soon), however the plot is unique and I enjoyed many of the Dystopian aspects. Like Fire and Flood, Avene has to race - however this is where it gets different. Because Avene lives in a futuristic world where she has been accused of the murder of her mother, and thrown into a prison known as the Dead Man's Pen. (Pen - Penitentiary geddit?) The only way out is run the race - across forest, desert and cannibals. Of course there's cannibals.

Uglies - Scott Westerfeld (Review)
When I first read this I loved it. It was unique. Tally is waiting to be made into a Pretty - supermodel gorgeous, partying all night and day. But her friend, Shay, knows something's is off this world and runs away. Soon after Tally questions it too and begins the fight against the government. This series involves elements we all know in modern Dystopia - oppressive government, treks across a desert, romance. However, this did it first, back in 2005 and I highly recommend it.

The Maze Runner - James Dashner (Review)
This is one of the most unique Dystopias I have read. Thomas wakes up in a box in the middle of the glade, a giant space in the middle of maze. The only thing he remembers is his name. Which is exactly what happened to the group of boys that greet him when he arrives. With their help (and a lot of stubbornness) he begins to try and crack the Maze, to find out a way out of there. Except at night the walls close, and hideous creatures known as Grievers lurk the corridors. Imagine like... slugs with metal attachments. And then make them bigger than you. And hungry. That's basically what I pictured.

Wither - Lauren Destefano (Review)
Wither has something a lack of teen books lack - beautiful writing. It sucked me in from the very first page. You've read this story right? You don't need the plot because you've read it at least ten times, yes? Here's some info: 'By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years.' Despite it's obvious flaws (a set lifespan really?), I enjoyed reading about Ellery's time in the house that became her prisoner. However I'm not going to lie and tell you the sequel was amazing because I thought it sucked.

The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa (Review)
It's a Dystopia with Vampires. I know it sounds terrible but this is Julie Kagawa people, she wrote like 6 books about fairies and she's still writing them and they're bestsellers. So if she can pull off fairies you bet she can write a world about Vampires and I will read that stuff. I loved it too, my only complaint being that there wasn't enough romance because the Potential Love Interest disappeared early on.
 
Blood Red Road - Moira Young (Review)
Let's trek across a desert again! So many deserts in YA, they get muddled after a while. However I remember this one well because it reads more like a fantasy than a Dystopia. It has girl on girl fighting, a kick as heroine, an extremely attractive love interest, you should read it. Really.

The Wind Singer - William Nicholson (Review)
This was the first Dystopia I read and one I recommend for younger readers who want to get into Dystopia. It's at a Middle Grade level. Kess's world  is strongly Dystopian, with residents divided into factions and given colour so they are easily distinguishable. However outside of the city, it has many Fantasy elements and from what I can remember more desert.

Matched - Ally Condie (Review is terrible, gosh)
Unique elements... erm... while I love this book, uniqueness is not it's strong point I'm afraid. I think I loved the main character a lot and that's what kept me reading.

Masque of the Red Death - Bethany Griffin (Review)
*waves arms* I love love love this book. It would be harder to pick out stereotypical elements than Dystopian in this Steampunk tale adapted from one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. I'd be lying if I said it didn't take some getting into and maybe I haven't read the sequel yet, but it's really good. I promise.

Leave your links below so I can stop by!

Vickie x

Comments

  1. Great list - haven't read any of these before, but just added couple of these on my TBR pile. I've had Wither for like 2 years and I still haven't got around to reading it... Have a good day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved The Maze Runner, Uglies and The Immortal Rules! I agree that Matched isn't the most unique dystopian, but it was still an intriguing world. I'm SUPER excited for Fire & Flood! I was excited before and now I'm even more excited after seeing it on your list :) Masque of the Red Death sounds amaaaazing! I'll definitely have to move that one up my TBR list.
    Great list :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1:10 pm GMT

    I read and also really enjoyed Fire & Flood! Great pick! Did you read The Darkest Minds? I think that was one of my favorite dystopians last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't read that yet no! I think it's on my wishlist.

      Delete
  4. I have just added Masque of Red Death to my TBR list -- it sounds wonderful. Here's my Top 10

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:26 pm GMT

    Great selection for dystopian novels! Ugh, I need to get around to TMR before the movie comes out.

    Cheers,
    Joey via. thoughts and afterthoughts
    My TTT This Week.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've only read Uglies from this list! Adds a bunch of them to my TBR. Though I did pick up Maze Runner earlier this year and put it back down after a few pages, woops.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love Dystopian books too. The 5th Wave is really good if you haven't read it yet!! Loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't think I've read any dystopians yet. I should get around to that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous8:17 pm GMT

    We've picked the same genre! But very different books, that only one we share is Uglies. Did you read the fourth installment of the series?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dystopian fiction is a guilty pleasure of mine, but a couple of these I've not read before so I may have to investigate, add a couple to my growing tbr list. I agree with you about Matched as well. It's not the most unique novels, but the characters are so well crafted, and the story well written it's difficult to fault it for not being the most original premise in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great pick! I also chose Dystopian as I love it, but I am really behind on my dystopian series atm. Blood Red Road and Matched made my list too and I also read and loved Uglies. Quite a few of the others are currently on my TBR list and I hope to read them soon. Nice picks and thanks for checking out my list :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've only read one of these books, but heard of 6 of them. I love that you liked Blood Red Road, because I heard about that a long time ago when it first came out, and put it on my wishlist, but I never really heard more about it, so decided against buying it. I might go read it now, though. :-)
    Thanks for checking out my blog, by the way! I love new followers! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great list! I've read most of these, and I really like Blood Red Road and The Immortal Rules.
    Thanks for stopping by and following my blog! I'm a new bloglovin follower :)

    - Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider Silk

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Immortal Rules is so good! I am about to start The Forever Song tonight! I'm so excited about it! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for stopping by my TTT, Vickie! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Masque of the Red Death. I've been debating about whether to buy it on my Kindle, so it's good to know you liked it. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for stopping by my TTT. I haven't read any of the books on your list but then again, I am just recently loving the dystopia genre. I have heard about Masque of the Red Death, though... :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. ANOTHER DYSTOPIAN FAN. I am so in love with this genre, although, like I said on my TTT I judge it too harshly. ;) I keep borrowing out Red Blood Road and then running out of time to read it and having to send ti back. Grr. I want to try The Maze Runner and Wither too!! I wasn't such a fan of Matched for some weird reason. But Fire & Flood?!! I NEED TO READ THAT NOW. I'm saving up to buy it. XD

    ReplyDelete
  18. So many on your list I want to read or have on my shelf! Thanks so much for stopping by my TTT earlier!

    Kristalyn @ The Sarcastic Palmtree

    ReplyDelete
  19. I haven't read any of these books but I've been thinking about adding Fire and Flood to my tbr list. I love being able to finish a book in one sitting! They're almost always favorites =)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have about half of these on my TBR list! I only got into YA about a year ago, and I'm spreading my time between dystopian, contemporary, etc. so I'm behind! However, I do have one suggestion.... I just finished the Razorland series (Enclave, Outpost and Horde) by Ann Aguirre and I loved it. Kind of like a cross between The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead. Not sure if that's your cup of tea, but thought I'd mention it!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier - about to follow you and add you on Goodreads so you'll have a measly 3 followers! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  21. The only one I've read on your list is Matched. I really enjoyed it, but I hate how it ended. It progressively got worse for me. (I liked the main character as well.) The Immortal Rules is next on my list, I am really interested in seeing if I enjoy it as much as everyone else! :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I haven't read any of these but they all sound really good! It's not a genre I read much so I'll have to add a few of these to my list :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Maze Runner is hands down one of the best dystopians I've ever read, and a few others on your list deserve praise too. I've never heard of the Wind Singer, but I'm surprised it was the first dystopia that you read. I usually hear people mention a fairly popular book as their first in the YA genre (my first dystopia was The Giver). Anyway, I just thought it was really cool that you read a book I haven't heard of before. Great TTT, and thanks for stopping by my blog and following! :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love comments! Spam comments will be deleted.

Popular posts from this blog

Many Covers Monday - ALL THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

Many Covers Monday: 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Many Covers Monday: One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus