I was an avid reader as a kid and teen and am getting back into it as a nearly-middle-aged adult but don’t know where to start.
My favorite YA books seem to be post-apocalyptic and/or dystopian future but I am not exclusively looking for things in this genre.
Liked:
-The Hunger Games series,
-Uglies series,
-The Host,
-Midnighters series,
-A Song of Ice and Fire series (though I would happily do without the torture),
-The Road,
-Imposters series,
-Harry Potter series,
-Call of the Wild,
-War of the Worlds,
-The Time Machine,
-Thunderhead,
-All the Pretty Horses.
I did NOT like:
-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,
-The Leftovers,
-Divergent series,
-Twilight series,
-Beloved,
-Whatever Cormac McCarthy book had that gross eyeball thing in it.
Usually I get “the ick”, as the kids say, and stop reading when some creepy part comes up about men doing something gross that’s portrayed as normal or okay (ex: checking out your daughter’s underage friend, sexual acts with farm animals, controlling/stalking/manhandling of women, to use the above books as examples).
I love long books or series that I can really live in for a while. Things that feel real and rooted in reality, even if there are fantastical elements.
by Ok-Medicine4684
3 Comments
My suggestions:
[Mockingbird](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/323172) by Walter Tevis
[Senlin Ascends](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35271523) by Josiah Bancroft
[The Passage](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6690798) by Justin Cronin
[The Circle](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18302455) by Dave Eggers
[The 5th Wave](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16101128) by Rick Yancey (YA, but sophisticated)
[The Fifth Season](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19161852) by N.K. Jemisin
Several of these are the first in a series.
* A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
* Never Let Me Go (more realistic) or Klara and the Sun (more sci fi) by Kazuo Ishiguro
* A Country of Ghosts by Margaret Killjoy
1. Check out “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler. It’s a dystopian novel that follows a young woman named Lauren Olamina as she struggles to survive in a world torn apart by climate change and economic collapse.
2. “The Broken Earth” trilogy by N.K. Jemisin is another great choice. It’s a fantasy series set in a world where the earth is constantly being reshaped by cataclysmic events. The story follows three characters who are trying to survive and find meaning in a world that’s falling apart.
3. “Tender is the Flesh” by Agustina Bazterrica. This dystopian novel explores the ethical implications of eating meat in a world where human flesh has become a delicacy. It’s a thought-provoking and unsettling read that will stay with you long after you finish it.