Are you ready to enter the dystopia in Hunger Games once again? Explore the brilliance of this young adult series and discover the contrast of a society divided. May the odds be in your favor! Find similar books to The Hunger Games.
It may sound morbid, but I love dystopian novels. There is just something interesting about reading (or watching) a person or a group of people uniting against a common enemy. They do this while discovering the flaws in themselves and finding love along the way (maybe). But they explore all the things wrong (sometimes right) with our current society. Sure, the characters might make dumb decisions occasionally, but experience from hindsight can make a huge difference in our decisions. And no one will read about a perfect character so I’ll move on.
I don’t think we can explore dystopian literature in our modern era without talking about The Hunger Games. It has single-handedly redefined what it means to read, write, and watch young adult dystopia. Every book that I read after that story, has some elements derived from Suzanne Collins original trilogy. In all honesty, I don’t mind. It was a brilliant story.
The Dystopia society in The Hunger Games
Yes, The Hunger Games thrust young children and teenagers into a gladiator like arena to prevent future uprisings from the lowly districts. It takes the grittiness of typical dystopian literature, but places it in a world of glitter and gluttony (until the end). And who can forget the insane outfits? It’s an entire vibe.
One thing that dystopia literature does well is the contrast between those with elite status versus those from the bottom rungs of society. Collins could have picked a person from any district to fulfil the roll of Katniss. But it would have lost the meaning and contrast.
In many cases, the other districts had more than District Twelve. Districts eleven, ten, nine, and four had food. Districts eight and five had vital resources for survival. While one can argue coal is a vital resource, it is also dangerous to mine (hence the state of Katniss at the beginning of the story). The rest of the districts, while important, isn't necessary for survival: it's a bonus. So, choosing district twelve was a perfect match to contrast with the vast wealth of the capital. And it makes you think about your own life.
The Hunger Games Premise is Disturbing
At first, (like many) I was appalled at the premise of this story. I wasn’t interested in the movies or books. But once I understood the purpose of dystopia, I realized how important books, like The Hunger Games, were to our modern thinking. As a bonus, because it fits into the young adult audience, it wasn’t overly gory or spicy.
So I watched the movie and read the book with some friends at the behest of my husband. It was then I understood the brilliance of The Hunger Games. (Please don’t scream at me, I watched the first movie before reading the trilogy.)
Like all dystopian novels, The Hunger Games provokes thoughts and conversations related to the problems we see in our world. With the dystopia in The Hunger Games, you feel like you can’t trust anyone in charge. Even though Snow seems like the ultimate evil, Coin doesn’t always seem that great either. Everyone in between is a coin toss. Both sides war with each other, spinning propaganda about a girl who just wants to protect her sister. It begs the question of Katniss, who can she trust?
But that is the brilliance of The Hunger Games. And that is the brilliance of young adult dystopian novels in general: think and be very aware of what is going on around you.
The next installment of this brilliant series (technically a prequel) comes to us in theaters on November 17th. Are you ready to enter the arena again? I know I am.
Welcome to the tenth annual Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
May the odds ever be in your favor.
Here are some dystopian novels like The Hunger Games you might like…
Recruitment by K.A. Riley
In the Valta, no matter what month you were born, everyone is assigned the same birthday. November 1st. It's the anniversary of the day when the government declared war on the Eastern Order.
The day you turn seventeen, the Recruiters come to take you away. And no one ever hears from you again.
It's October 31st. Today, Kress is sixteen years old.
Tomorrow, she'll be taken.
The good news? So will her best friend Cardyn, and Brohn, the handsome, enigmatic boy she's avoided all her life.
The bad news?
Recruitment isn't what any of them expected.
Weeks of training await. Military and psychological tests, escape rooms, hand-to-hand combat. The Recruits are told they're the key to winning the war. But with each day that passes, things begin to make less sense.
If only Kress had been able to bring her trained raven, Render, with her.
If only none of them had ever had to come to this place.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price.
It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined - every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
The Cure by K.A. Riley
Before the Blight, becoming an adult was something teenagers looked forward to. But now, turning eighteen means certain death.
Unless you prove yourself worthy of the Cure.
On her seventeenth birthday, Ashen Spencer is blindfolded and escorted to the massive, mysterious building known as the Arc to begin her year of training and testing in hopes that she can earn the Cure—a powerful drug given only to those deemed worthy to survive beyond their eighteenth birthday.
Ashen has a chance to rise up from her former life of squalor and be granted a place in society, if the Panel—the mysterious group of powerful men and women in charge of the Arc—deems her year a success. She’s assigned to work for twelve months as a servant for a wealthy family whose son is the most alluring young man she’s ever met. At first, Ashen is grateful for the opportunity to earn her place in a society she’s always dreamed of inhabiting.
But as time passes and she begins to learn the truth about the people she admires so much and the home she left behind, she realizes she has a choice: Be part of the disease…Or be part of the Cure.
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.
To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.
One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.
Legends of the Rylari is a new dystopian fantasy series coming in 2024.
When a cataclysmic even occurs in the past, some are altered forever. The Rylari, as they are called, can control and create flame with the flick of their wrist, but not all are happy about this new development.
Join the Wright Newsletter and be the first to read the prequel short stories from this exciting new dystopian fantasy series.
Sara Wright is a science fantasy author who loves to add dash of sweet romance to her books.
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Time Crystal by Sara Wright
The Progenitor Chronicles
Synopsis:
Time Crystals are forbidden for a reason, but King Oren must use one to save a civilization.
King Oren’s only goal was to be a peaceful caretaker of the galaxy. But when a girl falls through a portal into his courtyard clutching a forbidden Time Crystal, his life changes.
With a cataclysmic event imminent, he must lead a group from his home system to the opposite side of the galaxy. Everyone looks to their seemingly immortal race for aid, but even with their elemental powers, they are far from perfect.
Armed with the Time Crystal, they seek to stop an exploding star from decimating an entire population. The problem is, he doesn’t know how to use the crystal. Even worse, he might die trying.
Will King Oren stop the star from exploding? Or will time unravel?
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