Scythe by Neal Shusterman is a book in a futuristic world where people can’t die. The only people who can take lives are scythes. These people’s jobs are to kill people to prevent the world from becoming overpopulated. The story follows Citra and Rowan, two kids chosen to be apprentices to Scythe Faraday. As they enter the Scythe world, Citra and Rowan start seeing the corruption and moral dilemmas.
Summary: Dark Age by Pierce Brown is the fifth book in the Red Rising series, continuing the story of Darrow, a lowborn revolutionary fighting against a tyrannical society ruled by a color-coded hierarchy. Set in a future where humanity has colonized the solar system, the story explores into themes of power, betrayal, and the consequences of war.
Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End is a Young Adult, LGBT novel that recounts the final hours of main characters Mateo and Rufus’ lives after being informed that they only have 24 hours to live. Confronted by this daunting news, both characters are forced to confront their fears and regrets as they set off together to fulfill their final wishes.
Summary: Want by Cindy Pon is a gripping cyberpunk thriller set in a future Taipei, where pollution and class disparity dominate society. The story follows Jason Zhou and his group of friends as they plot to take down Jin Corp, the company responsible for the environmental destruction and health disparities plaguing the city. To infiltrate the elite circles of Jin Corp, Zhou, and his friends undergo dangerous transformations and navigate a world of high-tech espionage and moral ambiguity.
The book Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a young adult dystopian novel which follows Juliette, a girl whose touch can kill. She’s locked away in prison and is suddenly needed by the Reestablishment who fear war. She doesn’t know how to control her power, or her curse, which is what she thinks. She doesn’t know who to trust either. Now Juliet must make her own choices, and make sure she makes the right ones.
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu is the second book in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. Set during an alien invasion, the book explores humanity's response to the Fermi Paradox, proposing the "Dark Forest" theory as a solution: the universe is a dark forest where every civilization is like a hunter hiding in the darkness, seeking to survive while avoiding detection by conflict.
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank is a post-apocalyptic novel set in the small town of Fort Repose, Florida, following a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The story revolves around Randy Bragg, a former army officer, and his community's struggle for survival in the aftermath of the devastation. As resources dwindle and societal structures collapse, Randy must navigate challenges of leadership, morality, and resilience while forming alliances and facing threats from both within and outside the town.
Following a second US civil war between the pro-choicers and the pro-lifers, the process of “unwinding” has been legalized, in which a child’s body parts are harvested for others to use. Parents may opt their child up for unwinding between the ages of 13 and 18, and because their body is fully used, they are considered not dead but alive in another form. Unwind follows three teens, Connor, Lev, and Risa, who are all put up for unwinding for different reasons. As they try to run away from choices they didn’t make, they find their paths to cross, uncross, and cross again.
Summary: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon is a compelling work of fiction set on a generational spaceship, the HSS Matilda, where society is divided by race and class, echoing the injustices of America. The story follows Aster, a dark-skinned healer who discovers secrets about the ship's past while navigating a hierarchy that mirrors the worst aspects of slavery.
Summary: 1984 follows Winston Smith, a party member living in the dystopian future of Oceania. Through Winston’s perspective, we learn the government has full control over everyone and everything. Led by Big Brother, the government not only controls what people experience, through government-made media and propaganda, but also controls the people themselves, through surveillance, language, and the absence of individuality.
