13 Dystopian Books Like The Hunger Games

Looking for books like Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins to feed your addiction to young adult dystopia books? This list of books to read if you liked The Hunger Games has got you covered.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an iconic young adult dystopia series and successful film franchise.

It’s set in a future, dystopian nation called Panem, located in North America. The country is divided into 12 districts controlled by the rich Capitol.

Each year, a boy and girl is chosen from each district to compete in the “Hunger Games”, a tournament to the death.

At the beginning of the series, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are chosen from district 12, the poorest district.

Katniss is used to fending for herself having taken care of her small family from a young age but Peeta is a baker’s son.

There’s the added complication that Peeta once threw Katniss a piece of bread so she wouldn’t starve and now she’s expected to see him off in the arena.

The pair are whisked away on a train to the Capitol where they get to experience luxury like they could never have imagined.

Then they’re pushed into an area with 22 other tributes and expected to fight until there’s only one tribute left standing. And all this, just for entertainment.

Now let’s find out what books to read after Hunger Games!

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Books Similar to The Hunger Games

Divergent by Veronica Roth

If you’re looking for a book series like Hunger Games then the Divergent series by Veronica Roth is usually the series that people are directed to first.

Divergent is set in a dystopian future and centres around Beatrice (Tris) Prior. Humanity was split into five different ‘factions’ grouping similar people together in order to prevent the outbreak of war.

There’s Erudite, for the clever; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Abnegation, for the selfless; and Dauntless, for the brave.

Children grow up in whatever faction they are born into, before undergoing an aptitude test at the age of 16.

This test reveals which faction they belong to and then at the Choosing Ceremony the next day, they must decide which path to embark on for the rest of their lives. Stressful stuff!

Tris is born in Abnegation but chooses to leave her family and join Dauntless.

However, she discovers a secret about herself during the test which changes her life forever. If she lets it slip, there could be dire consequences for her.

Like the Hunger Games, this is the story of a band of rebels fighting against the system and uncovering the truth about the strange, segregated world they live in.

Buy Divergent: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

READ MORE: Divergent Book Review | Divergent Film Review

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner is an obvious mention on a list of books similar to Hunger Games and Divergent. It’s another popular YA series that was further propelled to fame by a series of film adaptations by 20th Century fox.

Thomas arrived at the Glad in a box.

He has absolutely no memories at all about where he has come from or who he is. He finds himself surrounded by a small group of teenage boys (there are no adults and no girls in the Glade!) and is very confused.

The Glade is enclosed within enormous concrete walls and there is only one way out.

The Glade is surrounded by an enormous and dangerous maze. Each day, the walls open, allowing the Gladers to venture out into the Maze and try to find their way out.

However, the Maze is crawling with Grievers, violent and dangerous creatures.

The Gladers have been trapped for 2 years and have never successfully exited the Maze, but they have lost lots of young boys in their attempts.

The Maze Runner is similar to the Hunger Games in that a group of teenagers are trapped inside what seems like some sort of arena with little chance of survival. Who’s game?

Buy The Maze Runner: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

READ MORE: The Maze Runner Book Review

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

In Red Queen, your blood defines your status. The Reds are lowly commoners whilst the Silvers are the elite ruling class, each in possession of superpowers.

Mare Barrow is a 17-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts and has little hope that she’ll ever amount to anything. Then she finds herself working in the Silver Palace.

And it’s here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, that she discovers that she herself can wield deadly power. Even though she’s a Red. This secret threatens to upend society and destroy the balance of power.

When they discover that she is different and powerful, they decide to make her an icon, a puppet they can control, much like Katniss Everdeen after the first Hunger Games.

The Silvers think that the ball is in their court, but little do they know, Mare is secretly working with a resistance group to bring them down from the inside.

Buy Red Queen: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

READ MORE: Red Queen Book Review

#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil

#MurderTrending is less well-known than some of the other young adult books like The Hunger Games on this list. However, it’s also got one of the juiciest premises.

In this world, murderers are themselves killed after being imprisoned. And it’s filmed for the whole world to see. Watching killers get their comeuppance is the latest viral phenomenon and everyone is tweeting about it.

Dee Guerrera wakes up on Alcatraz 2.0 having been convicted of murdering her step-sister.

The thing is, she didn’t actually do it.

Determined not to die for a crime she didn’t commit, she forms the Death Row “Breakfast club” in a bid to survive. But the TV ratings are going up and up so will they be allowed to survive?

If you’re looking for a tense novel with a morbidly fascinating premise and a dash of romance then this one is for you.

Buy #MurderTrending: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu often crops up on lists of books like Divergent and Hunger Games and it’s easy to see why.

The story takes place in a dystopian America that is ruled by the military who fight to keep back the rebels.

Society is split into rich and poor and your place in it is determined by a test you sit as a child. If you are successful, you can continue your education and the best of the best end up in the military.

Children who fail the test are handed over to the state and end up in labour camps. The poor areas of society face plagues which they cannot afford cures for. Meanwhile, the rich are all vaccinated each year.

This is an action-packed story led by two intelligent and fiercely loyal protagonists. There were a number of moments when I had my hand over my mouth and others where my heart ached alongside these characters.

At first, these two characters hate each other but as the secrets of their society are revealed, they begin to work with each other instead of against each other.

Of course, an enemies-to-lovers romance develops though this is definitely a case of instalove and I don’t think it adds much to the background action.

The world-building is not as strong in this one as it is in other YA dystopian series but it seems that book two may focus on this a little more so it’s worth picking up the series.

Plus it’s worth mentioning that this dystopian novel is written by a diverse author and contains racially diverse characters. Always a win!

Buy Legend: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

RELATED: 17 Best YA Dystopian Novels

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave is a sci-fi dystopian crossover and a great book series for young adults like Hunger Games. Little remains of the human race following four ‘waves’ of an alien invasion.

During the first wave, all electricity was cut.

During the second, a tsunami drowned most of the population.

During the third, a deadly disease wiped out most of who was left.

During the fourth, the survivors turned on each other.

No one has any idea just how many people are left on earth and no one knows who to trust. The aliens and the humans look just the same.

Cassie is separated from her younger brother, Sam, when soldiers come to the refugee camp they are hiding at with their father.

The soldiers take away all the children under 15 and end everyone. Cassie manages to survive, but her father is lost.

Alone and desperate, she hits the road and tries to find out where they took her brother. On her travels, she meets Evan. But can she trust him?

Cassie’s fierce protectiveness over her brother reminded me of Katniss’ protectiveness over her sister Prim and the pair both make for stormy teen heroines.

Buy The 5th Wave: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

READ MORE: The 5th Wave Book Review

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie is a really quick read with lots of classic YA dystopian themes making it perfect for fans of the Hunger Games.

It centres around the typical trope of a teenager living in a regimented society who then realises that there might be another way to live.

In this world, teens are “matched” by society, their careers are chosen by society, and their meals are prepped by society.

Everything is orderly and there is very little free will. It’s supposedly for the good of the people and so that things run smoothly. If there is less choice, there is less conflict, right?

On the day of Cassia’s matching, two strange things happen. The first is that she’s matched with her best friend, Xander, who she’s known since birth.

It’s incredibly rare that one’s match is from the same district and much less that they even know each other. She’s happy about this though and all the other teens are jealous of her.

Shortly after the official matching, Cassia opens her matching microcard, which should contain all she needs to know about Xander.

However, a glitch means she is shown another face, the face of Ky, another of her neighbours.

Ever since seeing Ky’s photo in the matchbox, she can’t stop thinking about him. What if society got it wrong and Xander wasn’t her match after all?

This small error leads Cassia to start to doubt everything about the regimented world she has grown up in and she begins her small rebellion.

Buy Matched: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

S.T.A.G.S. by M A Bennett

If you’re wondering what to read after Hunger Games but are tired of dystopia then S.T.A.G.S by M A Bennett is a good shout. S.T.A.G.S is set in the real world as we know it focuses on the next generation of English aristocrats.

S.T.A.G.S is an elite boarding school where the richest and most traditional of families send their children.

However, the story is told from the perspective of Greer Macdonald, the scholarship student with a perfectly ordinary background.

Greer has never fitted in and her snobby classmates never speak to her. That is until she receives an invite to spend half term at Longcross Hall, the country home of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular boy at school.

The invite says they’re in for a weekend of hunting and fishing but Greer and the other misfits have no idea that they’re the intended prey.

Stuck on a remote estate with no adults around (apart from the servants), S.T.A.G.S has a surprisingly Hunger Games feel for a story set in the real world.

If you love tales about survival and rebellion or stories about the despicable elite then this one is for you.

Buy S.T.A.G.S.: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

The 100 by Kass Morgan

If you’re looking for YA books like the Hunger Games then The 100 by Kass Morgan and the accompanying TV show are great options.

The 100 is set in a dystopian future where the Earth is completely inhabitable. A nuclear war left the entire planet seeping with radiation and the remainder of the human race now lives on a spaceship floating just above Earth.

However, resources are quickly running out on the ship and the governors need to find a way to return to Earth as soon as possible.

No one knows what state the Earth is in or whether it’s still dangerously radioactive. The Chancellor can’t risk the remainder of the human race by taking the whole shop down to Earth so instead, they send 100 teenage delinquents.

Each teenager is fitted with a monitoring bracelet which will send their health vitals back to the ship. If they survive, the ship will come back to Earth. If they die, the Chancellor knows they’ll need to stay in the spaceship a while longer.

During their crash landing on Earth, all communication with the ship is lost.

The teenagers are left to fend for themselves on land they’ve never seen before and they have no idea what threats are awaiting them after all these years.

Did anything survive the war? Is anyone left?

The 100 is a short read but it packs a punch and the ending will have you reaching for book two immediately.

Buy The 100: Amazon | Blackwells

READ MORE: The 100 Book Review

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Ugies by Scott Westerfeld is one of the OG young adult dystopian books and came years before either The Hunger Games or Divergent.

Sadly since the release of these other, more popular YA series, this one is spoken about less and less but I thought it still deserved a mention on my list of books related to Hunger Games since it did come first!

What’s more, Joey King of The Kissing Booth fame will be producing and starring in a film adaptation coming soon.

The protagonist Tally lives in a world where there are Uglies and Pretties. Everyone is born an Ugly, but at the age of sixteen, all teenagers undergo surgery to turn them into a Pretty. And Tally can’t wait.

She’s spent her whole life waiting to be a Pretty and has even spied on those in Prettyville to see what amazing parties lie in wait for her.

But after her best (and only) friend Peris leaves for Prettyville, she strikes up a friendship with Shay. Shay is a rebellious teenager and opens Tally’s eyes to a world beyond being Pretty.

There are rumours of a resistance tribe who escape before the operation at 16, remain Ugly and live freely in their own Ugly community. And Shay’s determined to find them.

Tally isn’t keen but her connection to Shay means she has drawn the attention of the authorities. And they refuse to make her Pretty until she finds and reveals the location of the rebels.

Whilst this story is a bit of a slow burner, once the series gets going, this becomes a classic YA series about a resistance group fighting an authoritarian state.

Buy Uglies: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky is a book like The 100 (already mentioned). It is perhaps a little closer to sci-fi than dystopia but it has many similar themes to the other books on this list.

Climate change has ravaged the Earth and now humans either live inside bubbles as the sheltered or on the outside as savages. Aria has always lived in one of these sheltered domes, whilst Perry grew up on the outside.

The two become an unlikely pair of allies when Aria finds herself thrust out of her dome in the search for her mother. There’s strong character building in this book with two complex protagonists, each grappling with their own set of issues.

There is, of course, an element of romance but whilst the love story here is strong and you’ll be rooting for Aria and Perry, it’s definitely more about the action.

Buy Under the Never Sky: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

If you’re looking for a feminist, YA dystopia that is less closely aligned with the Hunger Games storyline that has been trodden many times before, then We Set the Dark on Fire is for you.

The underlying themes here of class, privilege and political revolution are still present in this book but this diverse young adult book is a breath of fresh air.

Daniela is a student at Medio School for Girls where young women are trained for one of two roles in society: the mistress of a household or a child bearer.

Daniela is top of her class but she’s carrying a secret that could bring the life her parents have carefully crafted for her tumbling down.

Her pedigree is a lie.

Her parents forged her ID papers so that she could have a better life.

On graduation night, Daniela finds herself with a choice she didn’t expect: continue on her path, marry a good match and have a privileged life or spy for a resistance group fighting for equality in Medio.

She’s a reluctant heroine but if you liked Katniss, you’ll love Daniela.

Buy We Set the Dark on Fire: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

If you liked the Hunger Games then you’re also going to love Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

Unwind is an incredibly thought-provoking and frankly quite disturbing young adult book.

After the second civil war, new laws are enacted that protect human life from conception until the age of 13.

That means abortions are outlawed, however, parents can opt to have their children “unwound” between the ages of 13 and 18.

This means every single part of their being will be cut up and given to someone else in need. No part can be wasted so every hand, every eye, every organ is donated. The idea is that no one ever truly dies as their parts live on in others. Pretty grim.

We follow the stories of Connor, Risa and Lev, three “unwinds” on the loose.

They were each destined for harvest camp but fate throws all three together and they grab their opportunity to escape a horrible fate.

You won’t recognise them by the end of book 1.

Unwind raises very interesting questions about the right to abortion and also the increasing commodification of, well, everything in the 21st century. Could we use humans in this way for the “greater good”?

Abortion was made legal in the UK in 1968 and yet around the world, the pro-choice/pro-life debate rages on.

It became a topic of conversation once again recently as Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

It’s astounding that fundamental rights such as this are still up for debate but that just emphasises how close to dystopia our reality can be.

Some parts of Unwind made me feel deeply uncomfortable but I’d highly recommend it to fans of the Handmaid’s Tale and Never Let Me Go.

Buy Unwind: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

And what not to read?

The Selection by Kiera Class

If you’re looking for Hunger Games-type books then you may see The Selection by Kiera Class crop up. It’s often described as a mix of the Hunger Games and Gossip Girl. Sounds amazing, right?

Wrong!

This series is much more juvenile than any of the other options listed here, it lacks depth and the plot moves incredibly slowly.

There’s nothing of the drama, thrill or excitement of The Hunger Games, nor any of the kickass characters. I

‘m afraid this series really didn’t do it for me and I’m always surprised to see it recommended to Hunger Games fans.

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So there you have it! A list of 13 books for Hunger Games fans. If you have any recommendations for books like Hunger Games for adults then please do leave me a comment below as I’d love to hear your suggestions!

If you liked this post, check out these:
The Hunger Games Book Review
Catching Fire Book Review
Mockingjay Book Review
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Lord of the Flies Book Review