Books Like The Hunger Games to Keep the Odds Ever In Your Favor

Long haunted by extraordinarily vivid visions of pasts she cannot remember, visions that wrench her violently from the present, Alex Wayfare wants nothing more than a normal life. 

When she discovers that she is actually a Descender, someone capable of traveling back through her past lives, she is suddenly intoxicated with her new knowledge and skill. Unfortunately, those who know of Alex’s power will stop at nothing to keep her from meddling in the past.

This dystopian YA novel from Sarah Tarkoff offers a twisted world where morality is reflected with physical beauty. “Good” people are pretty, and those who stray are disfigured or even killed. 

Grace Luther was raised to believe in this society, but her blind faith doesn't last forever. What happens when Grace starts to question the powers that be… even if that means defying her own cleric parents?

There is a world parallel to our own, where the souls of the of the damned are tormented in cages guarded by the Furies. 

When a cage inexplicably opens, terror is released onto our world. To save the world, the Furies send their only son, Alek, an untested warrior, to return the souls. When Alek encounters a mysterious woman named Eva, the two are thrust together in a deadly life-or-death struggle to save two worlds as everything crumbles around them.

Eva is all set for the life of a Maiden in the Aerie – embroidery, curtsies, and a respected marriage. However, when her brother, Eamon, falls to his death, Eva makes the decision to take his place in the Testing – a grueling training program for Testors who search the frozen wastes for ancient artifact. 

When Eva eventually discovers a dangerous relic, she finds herself at the center of a extraordinary threat that could destroy the entire Aerie. 

Set against the backdrop of Jo Clayton’s Diadem universe, A Bait of Dreams centers around three unlikely heroes on a perilous quest to save their home from a deadly plague. Gleia is a skilled embroiderer who has bought her freedom from servitude in the hopes of bringing an end to the drug-like scourge that tore her life apart. 

Her path crosses with Shounach and Deel, performers whose own lives were shattered in much the same way as Gleia's. Together, the three set off to end the suffering that has torn through their home-world. 

As workers – or more accurately prisoners – in the Jonesbridge Industrial Complex, Myron and Sindra see little hope in their dreary, oppressive, and often brutal surroundings. 

Their only chance is escape, but death awaits them should they fail in the attempt. When a guard is found murdered and Myron is blamed for the crime, they are left with no other choice but to flee into the unknown underground beneath Jonesbridge and a world they could never have imagined. 

If you enjoyed the post-apocalyptic battle royale that Suzanne Collins featured in her story, than try this precursor by a master of science fiction. Robert Sheckley takes readers to the island of Esmerelda in the 2092. In this time and place, murder isn't just legal, it's profitable… for those able to survive the competition and earn the Big Payoff. Harold Erdman has nothing to lose in this savagely humorous and hugely imaginative work.

On the outskirts of a dystopian Los Angeles, Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the last safe neighborhoods within her father’s walled enclave. 

When a fire destroys the compound and leaves her family dead, Lauren and a handful of other refugees are forced to navigate a dangerous world on their own. 

As she makes the evermore perilous trip towards the hope of safety in the north, Lauren – a hyperempath who keenly feels the pain of others – begins to form a revolutionary idea that may prove to be humanity's salvation. 

The Pandoravirus has ravaged America, triggering deadly rages in the infected. Scientist Emma Miller, the first infected, has banded the afflicted together into a dangerous, marauding community. Emma’s twin sister Isobel frantically searches for a cure as the world crumbles into chaos around her. 

Her only hope may lie with her sister and a tenuous alliance. But will the infected and uninfected find a way to coexist and find a cure, before civilization is destroyed forever?

If you remember going to midnight showings of the films or preordering the next sequel, Anna Day's The Fandom is perfect for you. The story is a perfect meta commentary of a fan's relationship with a story. It follows Violet as she arrives at Comic Con, eager to celebrate mega franchise The Gallows Dance. When a freak accident teleports Violet into the narrative, however, her choices end up killing the heroine in about five minutes. But someone still needs to save the day…

Wren Connolly became a Reboot and returned from the dead 178 minutes after she died. Five years later she is among the deadliest Reboots, and a ruthless soldier. 

But her latest trainee is not what she expected. Callum is brash and charming – with a big heart that makes him little more than a liability. Against all odds, Wren is falling for the hopeful recruit. When she is suddenly ordered to kill it, everything falls apart and Wren must risk it all to save the man she has come to love. 

Gray, a seventeen year old boy in the town of Claysoot, knows what will happen on his eighteenth birthday – he’s seen it happen to countless others. When he turns eighteen, Gray will be Heisted away, and never seen again. 

The only way to escape the fate that claimed his older brother and so many others is to climb the walls that surround Claysoot, a feat no one has survived. Gray, however, has no choice. Unfortunately, it may be something other than safety that awaits him on the other side. 

Living on a planet that’s been under attack for decades, young Spensa wants nothing more than to become a pilot and take the fight to the invaders. 

Unfortunately, she is saddled with the legacy of her father, a pilot who was killed after deserting his team. Flight School is a long shot, but it’s a shot Spensa must take — and an unexpected discovery in a forgotten cave may be her ticket to the skies and the life she so desperately craves. 

On the planet Brink, the government declares calcium currency due to its scarcity and ability to keep power and control in the hands of a few. Taryn Dare is a collections agent tasked by Brink’s Commerce Board to find more calcium for the board to recycle and distribute.

But Tayrn has a secret aspiration: to save up enough money for a one-way ticket out of Brink. But when a job recovering a corpse reveals a systemic conspiracy, the investigation threatens Taryn’s life and the entire society as she knows it.

In the year 3414 AD, the rise of the New Era on Earth has led to overpopulation. The population is controlled through a system where each person “lives” one day per week and is “stoned" for the other six days.

Jeff Caird is what they call an “immer,” one of the rebels working to infiltrate the government and loosen its control over citizens. Jeff is also a “daybreaker," and is conscious all seven days of the week.

However, when the pressure of juggling all seven separate lives gets to him, Jeff must run from both his fellow rebels and the government to survive.

We all know that Katniss volunteered as tribute for her little sister. New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons starts his work (which Hugh Howey called “The Wizard of Oz meets Star Wars”) in a similar way. Annie McCoy throws herself in front of a school bus to save her little brother Nate. 

Annie expected to die to her family, but to her welcome surprise, she wakes up in a world in desperate need of a hero. She only ever thought of herself as a normal person, but in this strange new reality, she just might be the Chosen One.

When an epidemic of “white blindness” takes over and shows no mercy, everyone infected is confined into an empty mental hospital where chaos reigns.

One eyewitness is left to lead seven strangers, including a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, and a mysterious dog, through empty streets in an attempt to find safety and to survive.

In a post-nuclear dystopian civilization, two societies exist divided by walls stronger than stone. Women’s Country is what is left from past civilization, nurtured by women and a few nonviolent men. The other society is where warrior men live — the lost brothers, sons, and lovers of Women’s Country.

Stavia grows from a young, dreamy 10-year-old to a mature doctor, mother, and member of the Marthatown Women’s Council. Through her eyes, the rigid social systems and experiences of these societies are explored.