Dystopias are interesting since they look at the future and ask how it could be worse for humanity. I first came across dystopian novels during my A-levels when I started reading The Handmaid’s Tale for my English class. It has also been made into a popular TV series. While The Handmaid’s Tale is probably the most recognisable, there are other dystopian novels, films, and TV series out there.
Dystopian Novels I have read
I have read a number of dystopian novels, both for fun and for my current course. If you want to discover more about my university course, you can find out more about it here. I am on the second unit of the second year, and like with the first unit, I decided to focus on writing a dystopian novel for my teen and young adult pathway.
The dystopian world I am writing about focuses on an oppressive government and the characters travelling around to escape. Therefore, reading books that focus on oppressive governments such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Divergent are useful. Writing a dystopian means I must read widely, and I want to include some of the dystopian novels I have read. I will be reviewing some of these books, and I will include the links below. For most of these books, the first book shares the same name as the series, so I will show whether I will look at the entire series or just the first book.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Divergent (with a focus on the entire series rather than just the first book)
The Selection (focusing on the whole series)
The Hunger Games (focusing on the whole series)
The Divide
Matched (book one only)
The Lone City
Silence Is Also A Lie
I have enjoyed dystopias since I read The Handmaid’s Tale, and while the genre is not restricted to the teen and young adult audience, it is most common here. A lot of the books I listed would appeal more to a teenage audience than an adult one.
Dystopias in Film and TV
Dystopias are popular within the teen and young adult genres, and some of the books I have read have been turned into either films or TV series, such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Handmaid’s Tale. I would like to compare some of these with the books, and will write separately about them compared to the books. When looking at ones like The Handmaid’s Tale, which goes beyond the source material, I will focus on the part that is similar to the book.
I have not seen many book adaptions to the screen, so I will only review those I am familiar with.
The Handmaid’s Tale (focusing on series one rather than the whole series)
Divergent (looking at the three films)
The Hunger Games (looking at the four films)
I decided to review all the films that are part of a franchise together so I do not have to write separate posts for each film.
Fanfiction about dystopias
You can easily find fanfiction about dystopian worlds on fanfiction.net, Wattpad, and A03, but I find fanfiction.net and A03 are easier to use. If you want to discover more about my fanfictions and what I think about each of these websites, you can find the blog post about it here. There is a wide range of authors that write fanfictions about dystopian worlds, and some of the ones I read set in the Divergent universe are interesting to read. I have read some about The Handmaid’s Tale, but because with how dark the show is, I do not often read fanfiction about it.
If you want to discover more about my special interests, you can find them here.