I used to really enjoy YA books when I was younger but now I struggle to sit through angsty YA tropes, but I still enjoy the types of gimmicky plot devices that are so common in YA books.
Looking for similar stories aimed for a more mature audience.
by mikefass
8 Comments
The House of Doors by Brian Lumley is a bit like Maze Runner mixed with I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream.
It’s about a group of people trapped in a artificially constructed labyrinthian prison that can change environments.
It’s very late 80’s and heavily British though as Lumley tends to be, but I have a soft spot for his work.
The Long Walk by Richard Bachmann (Stephen King)
– A bunch of kids volunteer for a forced march. Last one waking wins a big prize. As you’d imagine, it’s not that easy.
The Running Man by Richard Bachmann (Stephen King)
– An early ideation of what reality TV could become. A poor man in need of money for medicine for his kid volunteers to be hunted across the country as part of a game show in exchange for his family getting money based on how long he survives. (Absolutely nothing like the Schwarzenegger movie)
FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven
– A bunch of employees of a Disney World-like park are stranded in the park due to a hurricane and Lord of the Flies like insanity ensues.
Battle Royale
– Japanese book that predates the Hunger Games. The reason for the game is different, but the last person standing premise is the same. Much more adult take on the concept even though it’s still kids playing.
Gideon the Ninth
Not sure “gimmicky” is how I would describe it, but have you read The Handmaid’s Tale?
Listen… you asked, I’m just providing. Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Wild Massive by Scotto Moore is a trippy meta sci-fi story set in a multiverse contained in the floors of a giant office building where at least half the floors/worlds are controlled by the in-world equivalent to the Disney corporation. Some of them are truly insane theme parks, others are whole alternate Earths, some are other things entirely.
*The Green Bone* saga by Fonda Lee (first book is *Jade City*) is exactly that. It’s an adult urban fantasy and while having rich worldbuilding, magic and distinct characters it also focuses on interpesonal relationships between characters, politics inside the family, politics between other clans, battle for influence and money etc. It’s defnitely not juvenile and touches upon adult themes, but it scratches that itch for YA fantasy perfectly.
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix. Horror/Satire set in an Ikea and the book itself is delightfully gimmicky