44 Young Adult Dystopian Novels For Teens

What Are The Best Young Adult Dystopian Novels?

Many young adults are drawn to dystopian novels because they offer a glimpse into a world that may be possible in the future.

While their content can cause anxiety for some readers, dystopian novels for young adults can also provide a kind of therapeutic benefit–a kind of practice–for visualizing and navigating an uncertain world. They also often center a younger person as a central character (compared to adults)–a teenager, for example, empowered to solve crucial challenges and overcome obstacles in order to persevere fantastically cataclysmic circumstances.

Below is a collection of some of the most popular young adult dystopian novels available today.

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44 Thrilling Dystopian Novels For Teen Readers

An Ember in the Ashes

An Ember In The Ashes (Book 1 of 4: An Ember In The Ashes series) by Sabaa Tahir

Battle Royale

Battle Royale: The Novel by Koushun Takami

Blindness

Blindness (Book 1 of 2: Blindness series) by Jose Saramago

Bluescreen

Bluescreen (Book 1 of 3: Mirador series) by Dan Wells

Brave New Girl

Brave New Girl (Book 1 of 2: Brave New Girl series) by Rachel Vincent

Cinderella is Dead

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Delirium

Delirium (Book 1 of 3: Delirium series) by Lauren Oliver

Divergent

Divergent (Book 1 of 3: Divergent series) by Veronica Roth

Diverse Energies

Diverse Energies by Paolo Bacigalupi, Ursula K. Le Guin & Malinda Lo

Dry

Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman

Enclave

Enclave (Book 1 of 4: The Razorland series) by Ann Aguirre

Flawed

Flawed (Book 1 of 2: Flawed series) by Cecelia Ahern

Internment

Internment by Samira Ahmed

Goddess in the Machine

Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson

Legend

Legend (Book 1 of 4: Legend series) by Marie Lu

Matched

Matched (Book 1 of 3: Matched series) by Ally Condie

Maze Runner

Maze Runner (Book 1 of 5: The Maze Runner series) by James Dashner

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Noughts and Crosses

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake (Book 1 of 3: MaddAddam Trilogy) by Margaret Atwood

Parable of the  Sower

Parable of the Sower (Book 1 of 2: Parable series) by Octavia Butler

Ready Player One

Ready Player One (Book 1 of 2: Ready Player One series) by Ernest Cline

Red Queen

Red Queen (Book 1 of 4: Red Queen series) by Victoria Aveyard

Sanctuary

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher

Scythe

Scythe (Book 1 of 3: Arc of a Scythe series) by Neal Shusterman

Shatter Me

Shatter Me (Book 1 of 6: Shatter Me series) by Tahereh Mafi

Skyward

Skyward (Book 1 of 3: The Skyward Series) by Brandon Sanderson

The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds (Book 1 of 4: The Darkest Minds series) by Alexandra Bracken

The Giver

The Giver (Book 1 of 4: The Giver quartet) by Lois Lowry

The Grace Year

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games (Book 1 of 4: The Hunger Games series) by Suzanne Collins

The Program

The Program (Book 1 of 6: The Program series) by Suzanne Young

The Resisters

The Resisters by Gish Jen

The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson

The Testing

The Testing (Book 1 of 3: The Testing trilogy) by Joelle Charbonneau

Kass Morgan

The 100 (Book 1 of 4: The 100 series) by Kass Morgan

The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave (Book 1 of 3: The 5th Wave series) by Rick Yancey

To Paradise

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

Uglies

Uglies (Book 1 of 4: The Uglies series) by Scott Westerfeld

Under the Never Sky

Under the Never Sky (Book 1 of 3: Under the Never Sky series) by Veronica Rossi

Unwind

Unwind (Book 1 of 4: The Unwind dystology) by Neal Shusterman

Want

Want (Book 1 of 2: Want series) by Cindy Pon

Way Down Dark

Way Down Dark (Book 1 of 3: The Australia trilogy) by James P. Smythe

We Set The Dark On Fire

We Set The Dark On Fire (Book 1 of 2: We Set the Dark on Fire series) by Tehlor Kay Meija

Life As We knew It (Book 1 of 4) trilogy) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

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