13 Dystopian Books Like The Hunger Games

If you loved The Hunger Games series and are not sure what to read next, these books capture the tension, themes, and emotional pull that made those books so unforgettable.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is one of my all-time favourite book series, and one I return to again and again, both in print and on screen.

No other book series balances brutal survival, societal commentary, political rebellion and deeply human characters as effectively as The Hunger Games series does, and because of that, the bar for comparison is incredibly high.

Like many readers, I’ve spent years trying to fill the Hunger Games hole.

I’ve read countless young adult dystopian novels in search of something that captures the same tension, moral complexity and emotional pull.

And while none of them quite match Collins’ world (it’s hard to!), a handful of other YA books come surprisingly close.

Every book on this list is one I’ve read myself and would genuinely recommend to fellow Hunger Games fans.

Some echo the high-stakes survival of the arena, others lean more heavily into rebellion, propaganda and authoritarian control, and a few capture that same fierce, reluctant-hero energy that made Katniss Everdeen such a compelling protagonist.

So, if you’re wondering what books to read after The Hunger Games, these books may not replace Suzanne Collins’ iconic series, but they do satisfy the YA dystopia itch.

In a rush? All of the books mentioned here are linked in my Amazon Storefront, with a separate Bookshop.org (UK) list available for indie bookshop lovers.

Books Similar to The Hunger Games

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Divergent series is often the first recommendation people make for fans of The Hunger Games, and while it doesn’t quite hit the same heights, it does capture a similar sense of danger, surveillance and social control.

What is this book about?

Divergent is set in a dystopian future and centres around 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.

Why read this?

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.

The central appeal here is the faction system – teenagers are tested, categorised and then forced to prove themselves through physically and psychologically demanding initiation trials.

If you enjoyed the training and early arena chapters of The Hunger Games, this will feel familiar.

Where Divergent differs is in its focus. It leans more heavily into identity and romance, and its moral stakes are less complex than Panem’s.

Still, it’s fast-paced, readable, and scratches that “tested by the system” itch very effectively.

READ MORE: Divergent Book Review | Divergent Film Review

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner is an obvious series to mention if you’re looking for books similar to the 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.

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

If what stayed with you most was the Hunger Games arena itself – the fear, isolation and constant threat – thenThe Maze Runner is one of the closest tonal matches on this list.

A group of teenage boys are trapped inside a sealed environment with no adult help, no memories of how they got there, and only one way out: a deadly maze that resets every day.

Survival depends on teamwork, sacrifice and quick thinking, and characters die when mistakes are made.

Unlike The Hunger Games, the danger here is generally environmental rather than interpersonal, but the tension is relentless, and the sense of being trapped is just as effective.

READ MORE: The Maze Runner Book Review

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

Red Queen taps into one of The Hunger Games’ most compelling ideas: how oppressive regimes turn individuals into symbols.

Mare Barrow is a low-born girl who discovers she possesses powers reserved for the ruling elite, and is immediately repackaged as a political tool.

Much like Katniss, she becomes a figurehead for a system she doesn’t believe in, while secretly working against it.

This series leans more into court politics, betrayal and shifting alliances than survival.

While it can feel more melodramatic at times, its exploration of power, propaganda and class makes it a strong follow-up read to The Hunger Games.

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.

What is this book about?

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?

Why read this?

In a world where convicted criminals are executed on live television, #MurderTrending interrogates society’s appetite for punishment-as-entertainment.

Dee wakes up on a prison island after being wrongly convicted and must survive long enough to prove her innocence – all while audiences cheer from behind their screens.

It’s darker, more satirical, and more overtly media-focused than The Hunger Games, but the parallels are clear.

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

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.

What is this book about?

Legend is set in a dystopian future America ruled by a powerful military regime that maintains control by dividing society along rigid class lines.

Children are tested at a young age, and the results determine their entire future.

Those who score well are rewarded with education and opportunity, while those who fail are handed over to the state and sent to labour camps.

The story follows two teenagers from opposite sides of this divide whose lives collide, forcing them to confront the realities of the world they’ve grown up in.

As secrets about their society are revealed, long-held beliefs (and personal loyalties) begin to unravel.

Meanwhile, poorer areas are ravaged by disease, while the elite are routinely vaccinated and protected.

Why read this?

Legend taps into many of the same themes that made Panem so compelling: a society engineered around inequality, a testing system that determines a child’s worth, and a government that relies on fear, propaganda and selective privilege to stay in power.

Like Katniss Everdeen, the protagonists are pushed into roles they never asked for and forced to decide whether survival within the system is possible — or whether rebellion is inevitable.

While the world-building isn’t as layered as The Hunger Games, the action is fast-paced, and the dual perspectives add momentum.

The romance develops quickly and leans towards insta-love, but it never completely derails the larger story.

It’s also worth noting that Legend is written by a diverse author and features racially diverse characters – something that still feels meaningful within the YA dystopian genre.

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.

What this book is about?

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?

Why read this?

While The 5th Wave leans more towards sci-fi than pure dystopia, its emotional core will feel familiar to fans of the Hunger Games.

Cassie’s story is driven by survival and sibling loyalty and her determination to find her younger brother reminded me of Katniss’ protectiveness of Prim.

The world is hostile, trust is dangerous, and every choice comes with consequences.

It’s bleaker and more chaotic than Panem, but that unpredictability is part of its appeal.

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.

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

Matched explores a quieter, more controlled kind of dystopia – one where rebellion begins with doubt rather than violence.

Instead of an arena, the threat here is absolute regulation: careers, partners and lives are decided for you. A single system error forces Cassia to question everything she’s been told, setting off a slow-burn rebellion.

This is gentler and more romantic than The Hunger Games, but it still examines free will, control and resistance in interesting ways.

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

If you’re looking for something to read after the Hunger Games, but are tired of dystopia, then S.T.A.G.S by M A Bennett is a good shout.

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

If what appealed to you most about the Hunger Games was the critique of privilege and cruelty, S.T.A.G.S. delivers that tension in a real-world setting.

The “game” here is social rather than televised, but the power dynamics, lack of adult intervention and escalating danger echo the psychological brutality of the Games.

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

The 100 by Kass Morgan

The 100 by Kass Morgan and the accompanying TV show are likely to appeal to Hunger Games fans.

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

The 100 strips survival down to its essentials: teenagers sent into danger and left to govern themselves.

As with Panem, leadership emerges under pressure, morality blurs, and survival often comes at a cost.

It’s propulsive and gripping, even if the writing is simpler than that in The Hunger Games.

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, Netflix has released a film adaptation of Uglies too.

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

Whilst this story is a bit of a slow burner, it’s a classic YA series about a resistance group fighting an authoritarian state and likely to appeal to fans of The Hunger Games.

The rebellion is quieter and more philosophical in this series, but if you’re interested in how societies manufacture compliance, it’s a fascinating companion read.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

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

What is this book about?

After climate change devastates the Earth, humanity is divided between those who live safely inside protected domes and those forced to survive outside in dangerous conditions.

Aria has grown up inside one of these sheltered bubbles, while Perry was raised on the outside. When Aria is expelled from her dome while searching for her mother, the two form an uneasy alliance despite their very different backgrounds.

The story follows their journey through a harsh, unpredictable landscape, with a strong focus on character development as both protagonists are forced to confront the realities of the world beyond what they’ve been taught.

There is a romantic thread running through the story, but it remains secondary to the action and survival narrative.

Why read this?

If you were drawn to the harsher survival elements of Panem, the constant danger, lack of safety, and characters being tested by their environment, Under the Never Sky captures a similar tension.

It’s more action-driven than romantic, with protagonists repeatedly forced to adapt, make difficult choices, and rely on each other in order to survive, making it a good choice for Hunger Games fans looking for their next immersive read.

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.

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this?

If what stayed with you from the Hunger Games was Katniss’ refusal to perform the role assigned to her, this book will resonate strongly.

It’s a political, feminist dystopia focused on class, gender and systemic control, with rebellion operating in quieter (and riskier) ways.

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

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

What is this book about?

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.

Why read this book?

Unwind shares The Hunger Games’ willingness to push readers into deeply uncomfortable moral territory.

It’s disturbing, thought-provoking and ethically complex, making it a powerful choice if you’re interested in dystopia that challenges rather than entertains.

For example, 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.

And what not to read?

The Selection by Kiera Cass

When looking for books like The Hunger Games, you’ll probably The Selection by Kiera Cass 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

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.

So there you have it! A list of 13 books to add to your wishlist if you’re a Hunger Games fan.

These are all YA books, but the themes in the Hunger Games are not really for ‘children’ or ‘young adults’.

So, 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
10 Books to Read if You Loved Throne of Glass
22 Teen Romance Books to Read
Lord of the Flies Book Review