Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is a dystopian novel. Mare lives in a world which is separated
by blood. The Silvers have powers and are rulers and royals, while the Reds are villagers. Mare
starts working in the Silver Palace and she discovers that even if she’s red-blooded, she holds a
deadly power. The Silvers fear Mare, so they disguise her as a long lost Silver princess. Knowing
she will die if the silvers find out, Mare secretly starts working with a group named the Red
Scythe by Neil Shusterman is the story of Citra and Rowan, who live in a world without disease,
hunger, injury, or death. In order to prevent overpopulation, Scythes end the lives of random
citizens. Citra and Rowan are chosen as apprentices to a scythe and must learn the ways of
scythes. Neither wants to be a scythe, as scythes are feared by many. In order to survive, the
two must take on the dreaded responsibility of killing others. This book was absolutely brilliant.
In the destroyed city of Chicago, a teen girl named Tris discovers that she is divergent,
or someone who doesn’t fit in to a single faction, in a society where you survival depends on
you ability to fit in. Through trials and danger Tris goes on a journey to discover what her
divergence means for her and for her world, while an unknown danger lurks under her feet. This
is a great book, especially for those looking to get into more complicated reading at a young age
or for those looking to kickback and enjoy a easy but engaging read for older audiences. 4/5
The Giver is a dystopian fiction novel written by Lois Lowry. The book is about a society
free of crime and sadness. In this society everything is chosen from your parents to your
partner. The main character is Jonas and he wants to live in a society that is free of emotions
because all peoples' races and emotions are the same. Then, the story continues as he
becomes the memory keeper as all the 12 year olds get jobs. Next, he has to take in all the
Lena Haloway lives in a world where love is acknowledged like a disease. If you fall in
love with someone, then that means you’re sick, diseased, infected. Because of this, people
have to take a cure for love when they turn eighteen, which basically turns off your emotions in a
way. Lena’s mother was infected with love, and seeing as to how much love had changed her
mother, Lena decides that she doesn’t ever want to fall in love, and that she wants to be happy
by taking the cure. However, when Lena meets a boy named Alex, her whole opinion changes
Divergent is about a girl named Betrice Prior who lives in a society made up of 5
groups that will determine which group she will be apart of for the rest of her life.
Beatrice learns she is classified as Divergent, but she cannot tell anyone. She joins a
group but only the top 10 can stay. Tris (later on changing her name as well) realizes
there are many challenges to face, and that she must obey to keep herself alive.
Unleashed, by Sophie Jordan, is a novel about a girl named Davy Hamilton, who is
diagnosed with HTS, Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. Everyone ghosts her; her family,
boyfriend, and even her best friend. Davy is unsure of who she is anymore even when
she is shipped off to a place with teens just like her. She and her friends, Sean, Sabine,
and Gil, attempt to escape to find a better life. But then she gets separated from them
In the book called Rated, by Melissa Grey, it is set in a dystopian society where people
survive based off of their ratings. This rating system keeps people in order and it ranks the
society for value. The higher score you have the more value you keep to the society and lower
you have will mean less value and harder work you have to do to then increase rating. At a
school called Maplethorpe Academy, EVERYTHING the people do counts to their ratings.
The Giver is a story held in the future where things have changed drastically. At certain ages, you get new things. You have no power over what you do, for your spouse, house, and more. At 12 you get a desired job. In the story, there are no emotions such as love and no memories either. Jonas, the main character, attends the ceremony to get his job. But instead he gets the role of the receiver.
I love dystopian books. There’s something about them that never fail to pique my interest. Whether it be the cruel antagonists projecting their control over the world or brave protagonists fighting to change the status quo, I’m always interested in a good dystopian story. And yet, I was still skeptical going into Anthem. Maybe it was because of the length of the book (52 pages), or maybe it was because of how old the book was (published in 1938).
