Top 5 Best Dystopian Books

A dystopian book is one that has a society where people are often living in fear of a government, or ruler. Dystopia being the opposite of utopia. These societies are often placed in factions or classes of people based on different attributes. There are often social problems, war and poverty issues as well. You can imagine that there is a ton of chaos in the dystopian books. The following are some of the best books available in the dystopian and young adult categories, in no particular order.

Divergent is the first book in a trilogy written by acclaimed author Veronica Roth. In this dystopian series, the people are divided into five factions based on values they believe are the most important; knowledge, peace, selflessness, honesty and bravery. Every person is born into one faction and at a certain age has the choice to switch to a new faction or remain in the one they were born into. A test is administered to these teens to help them decide which faction they belong in. Very rarely has a youth chosen a faction other than the one they grew up in but the books main character, Beatrice Prior later known as Tris breaks the mold and makes the boldest decision of all. Not only does she choose to leave her faction but her only sibling does too, deeply upsetting her parents. This dystopian book gained a lot of attention, so much attention that a movie was released in 2014 based on the first book of the series.

The Program is another book in a series that was released in 2013. This book takes on an approach to a dystopian world like no other book has before. In this dystopian world, teen suicide is an epidemic and teens are sent to "the program" if they show any signs of having caught the suicide disease. The plot and ideas are definitely intriguing and very unusual when compared to all other dystopian novels. This novel also includes a classic YA love story that helps balance the tragedy of the dystopian worlds state. It has received just over a 4 star rating on the GoodReads website.

Uglies is a four book series that explores a world where everyone is equally ugly until their sixteenth birthday when they have an operation to become a "pretty". The program started after the "rusties" (which would be our generation) ruined the world with war, hatred and general mayhem such as burning too many trees. The futuristic world has a lot of amazing technology that's really interesting to most and the concept of everyone being ugly until a certain period in their life is unique in itself. This book is very popular among dystopian book lovers and is one of the pioneers of it's style, published in 2005 and written by Scott Westerfeld. Each book in the series delves deeper into the different types of people that are basically created by the futuristic worlds government. Subtle romantic and love story undertones keep it from being too dry or scientific and make it more readable by teens.

Matched is the first book in a series by Allie Condie. There is Matched, Crossed and Reached. Many agree that Matched, the first installment is the best of these books but all are wonderful reads. The story line is a bit more young adult than any of the other with a strong love story and teenage angst. In the Matched world, all teens are matched with a perfect pair who they are expected to marry and live happily ever after but for Cassia the matching process goes a little askew and it sends her on a journey to find out if she should trust the society's program or find her own love. This series is romantic and adventurous with amazing details that make the futuristic society come alive.

The Maze Runner is a unique series where the main character, Thomas, wakes up in a strange elevator that drops him out in the middle of a giant maze. He can't remember anything but his name and he soon finds out from the other boys living inside the maze that his life just got extremely complicated. None of the other boys have memories of before they were put in the maze, they don't know how or why they are there but they do know that they are in danger and need to find a way out in order to survive. The boys who live in the maze call themselves Gladers, and from their time in the maze they know that every thirty days a new Glader boy is brought into the maze, but things change after Thomas arrives. Unexpectedly, the day after Thomas arrives a girl is brought into the maze by the strange lift, the first ever. The Maze Runner series consists of five books in total, and each one is better than the last in most readers opinions. And get excited boys and girls, The Maze Runner move hits theaters in Fall 2014!