Book Genre Spotlight: Dystopian
Welcome back to another blog post! Today I’m continuing the book genre spotlight, and today’s focus is the dystopian genre.
The dystopian genre is defined as speculative fiction that typically takes place in the future, in a post-apolyclaptic or oppressed environment. Some common features of this genre include viruses, evil organizations, authoritarian governments, space, science, and a collapsing society. There aren’t many subgenres of dystopian compared to fantasy, due to the range of the genre.
One of the most popular young adult dystopian book series is The Hunger Games saga. This book follows Katniss Everdeen, as she participates in the dangerous event called The Hunger Games, run by the oppressive government of her country (what was once north America but is now Panem). Later on in the series, Katniss becomes the figurehead and leader of the rebellion to free the country of the government and their cruelty. This book shines a light on many important themes of society inequality, freedom and oppression, survival, and control.
Another popular young adult dystopian book series is the Divergent series and follows Beatrice “Tris” Prior. In Divergent, once you reach of age you must choose a faction of the country to reside in. Following the choice of her faction, Tris trains and learns things she never knew before, all while war is looming on the horizon. Some themes of this novel are identity, societal classes, and belonging.
The Maze Runner is another popular dystopian young adult novel. This follows a group of teenagers who attempt to escape a maze that they were placed in as an experiment, and the aftermath of their escape. Like the prior series’ discussions, it includes the “chosen one” and “evil government/organization” tropes. (I’m going to be so honest, this series was my #1 middle school obsession.)
There are many more amazing young adult dystopian novels to read, but these are some of the most popular. This post would have been much longer if there were subgenres to include. Anyways, thank you for reading and be on the lookout for the next genre spotlight post!
