Looking for an unforgettable collection of dystopian books you’ll devour if you loved Divergent by Veronica Roth? As an award-winning author and veteran blogger, I’ve spent over a decade analyzing and recommending the most thrilling dystopian novels that reveal the complexities of human relationships during times of extinction-level stress.
You’ll find detailed reviews of many of my favorites in the roundup below. Some are classics. Some are young adult novels you may have never seen. All of them have page-turning plots, compelling characters, and thought-provoking themes about humanity at the end of the world.
Coywood Creek by Khristina Chess
“Kent packed a flashlight and extra batteries. I packed an iPad and a troll doll.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from Coywood Creek
Don’t miss the sassiest apocalypse survivor since Tris Prior. If you’re looking for more books like Divergent by Veronica Roth, this hilariously smart YA novel will wreck you—in the best way possible!
At first, Zoey brushes off the blackout, the dead cell service, and the eerie northern lights in the southern sky. But as reality sets in, she knows one thing: she can’t stay in her parents’ condo alone with no power. So she packs her snacks and sets out for Coywood Creek with Kent, a teenage boy living in her building, hoping to find safety with her uncle and grandmother.
Zoey and Kent quickly realize this isn’t an ordinary power outage. After a harrowing journey, they arrive at Coywood Creek, a sanctuary with plenty of food, fresh water, and the natural protection of cliffs.
But it’s not safe here.
For readers drawn to the slow unraveling of society in dystopian fiction, Coywood Creek delivers a comical story about the end of the world. What makes this novel so engrossing is Zoey’s sharp, relatable, and often humorous response to navigating the collapse of civilization with her signature sarcasm (and a bag of OREO cookies). Her delicious banter with Kent made me laugh out loud, even as the novel’s deeper themes—resilience, uncertainty, and survival—kept me hooked.
But more than anything, Coywood Creek forces readers to ask: How fragile are we without our technology?
The Razorland Trilogy: Enclave, Outpost, Horde by Ann Aguirre
“Don’t let them see you weak.” ― Ann Aguirre, quote from Enclave
The Razorland Trilogy was one of the first dystopian YA books that I read, and from the very first pages, I was hooked! The novels are set in a dark future where the cities are ruined by plague, war, “tunnel monsters,” and ongoing skirmishes between the surviving gangs that roam in this world. In the first book, Enclave, we meet the heroine, a fifteen-year-old girl named Deuce who lives in the New York subway in a community called an enclave. Life is hard. It becomes even harder when she and another teenage Hunter are exiled from their enclave and must go to the surface to live.
The next two books, Outpost and Horde, follow Deuce in her new life above ground, and all three novels are fast-paced, engrossing reads that I couldn’t put down. Each book was as good as the last, very immersive, and Deuce is a well-drawn, fighting heroine that I rooted for every step of the way.
Check out these books, which are similar to the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. You will love them.
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
“There's different ways of doing things wrong, Lynn, and not all of it is choosing to hurt others. Sometimes it's the things you don't do that make you feel the worst.” ― Mindy McGinnis, quote from Not a Drop to Drink
Set in an apocalyptic future where drinking water is scarce and people fight for survival in a wild frontier, Lynn is a young woman in rural Ohio defending a pond and her homestead. Her mother raised her to distrust, to fight, and to live, and that's what she intends to do.
I enjoyed watching Lynn's fierce character evolve into a person who was willing to allow others into her life, to trust and even love. Despite her hardness, she had a kind heart. There were some interesting scenes in interactions with other people, like the stranger on the road, that tested her humanity.
Not a Drop to Drink was also a fast, thrilling YA book about survival, and its sequel, In a Handful of Dust, follows Lynn and her adopted daughter Lucy into the unknown after a mysterious plague drives them away from their home and community and into the wilderness.
If you’re looking for completely engrossing YA books like Divergent, give these two a try.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
“You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other.” ― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind
Unwind is Book #1 in a 5-part dystopian YA series in which teens may be sent to "Harvest Camps" to be chopped up for parts if their parents sign the papers. No part is wasted.
Some, like Connor, are signed over because of behavior problems. Others, like Risa, are wards of the state who simply don't make the cut in terms of protegee status. Lev begins as a religious tithe, a willing victim, but after being kidnapped and freed by Connor, he also changes.
The concept of this series and the plotting are great, and I'm interested to see where the rest of the books go. There were moments, though, where I thought the book fell short of greatness. For example:
If a parent is able to bring all the parts of their child back together again, can they recover their child?
Where do the souls of these children go?
There are some attempts at these questions, but I wanted the book to go deeper. The fact that I keep thinking about the unwinding process means that something important is being covered here.
You definitely want to add Unwind to your TBR pile of apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian books like Divergent.
Z for Zachariah by Robert O’Brien
“I am afraid. Someone is coming.” ― Robert C O’Brien, quote from Z for Zachariah
I remember reading this book in our school library in high school, and it was chilling. Now an adult, decades later, I bought a copy of it to see if it was really as good as I remembered.
Yes, yes it is!
Young adult fiction wasn't even "a thing" when this book was written, and yet, it's a thrilling, roller-coaster true YA novel about a 15-year-old girl (who turns 16 during the events) who believes she's the last person alive after a nuclear war. She's resilient, resourceful, wary, hopeful, and that mix of both childlike and wise that you would expect from a teen in this situation.
When a stranger arrives in the valley, a man, she is cautious, but as events unfold and he becomes sick, she lets her guard down to help him. This turns out to be a mistake.
The Hollywood movie version gets this book wrong: the female is older, and there are two men. If you love dystopian YA novels and haven't picked this one up, I highly recommend it!
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
“…we’ve learned that all we can do is look after our own. Reese and Byatt, they’re mine and I’m theirs.” ― Rory Power, quote from Wilder Girls
I wanted to read Wilder Girls for many years on the basis of its cover alone. It’s one of my top-10 YA favorite covers of all time. It’s so beautiful and intriguing, without even knowing what the story is about.
An all-girls school on an island is quarantined because of a mysterious plague that has killed a significant portion of both the student and faculty population, as well as animals, and the remaining people are infected. This disease does terrible things to them. Now, they’re waiting for a cure. It’s been promised. They just have to stay alive until it comes.
The pacing is fast, and I was drawn into the relationships between the girls. They are gritty heroines. I couldn’t wait to discover what was truly going on and how this situation would ultimately be resolved.
Wilder Girls definitely meets the criteria for the list of engrossing YA books like Divergent.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.” ― Cormac McCarthy, quote from The Road
Maybe you’re looking for something similar to Veronica Roth’s Divergent novels and don’t mind an adult protagonist. If so, pick up The Road. This dystopian, post-apocalyptic book is gripping from the very first page. A man and his son are on the road, and something truly awful has happened. What?
The story unfolds at a delicious crawl. You can feel the agony and terror of their situation. There are a couple of scenes that are truly chilling. The horror of them has remained with me forever.
There’s a reason this novel won a Pulitzer Prize. Read it. You won’t regret it.
The Stand by Stephen King
“Love didn't grow very well in a place where there was only fear, just as plants didn't grow very well in a place where it was always dark.” ― Stephen King, quote from The Stand
In addition to these young adult apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian novels, one adult book stands above the crowd: Stephen King’s The Stand. It’s my all-time favorite book. I’ve read it at least 7 times. I read it first in high school, so while it may not be a YA book in the strict definition of the category, teen readers can handle it. Trust me. I wrote my senior thesis about the themes in this book.
In this sweeping apocalyptic novel, a man-made virus named Captain Tripps kills almost everyone on earth. There are a handful of remaining viewpoint characters who become the focal point for this epic story. Their storylines run concurrently. At first they seem disconnect, but slowly they begin moving and coming together. There are some truly terrifying scenes, and a supernatural element pops up because—remember—it’s Stephen King. At the end of the world, the heroes must make a final stand against evil.
If you never read this book, check it out. I bet you’ll add it to your list of favorite post-apocalyptic books, too!
Against the Pack by Khristina Chess
“All I knew with absolute confidence was that I could move and she couldn’t. If I stayed, we might both die waiting. If I left, we might both die alone. If I left, she might die alone, but I might find help and live. Or I might find help in time, lead them to the shelter, and we might both live.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from Against the Pack
What if survival meant leaving the one person you love the most behind?
Ignore the cover. Trust the story. Against the Pack is a pulse-pounding story that tests a teenage girl’s self-reliance and resilience, similar to Divergent.
It starts with a bang. While walking on a rural road, Melender and her mom are attacked by a pack of dogs—forced over a near-vertical hillside into a ravine. They’re trapped. Wounded. Stranded on a narrow ledge with no food, no water, no shelter. No phone. No way out.
No one knows where they are.
No one even knows they’re missing.
The only thing Melender has is her will to survive.
She doesn’t want to abandon her critically injured mom, but if she doesn’t find help soon, neither of them will make it.
Melender is gritty, determined, and unforgettable. What makes Against the Pack so special is that her fight isn’t just physical—it’s psychological and deeply personal. As the hours stretch into days, the novel doesn’t just test her endurance but also unravels complicated truths about her relationship with her mother.
If you liked Tris Prior’s fight for survival in Divergent, Against the Pack will keep you on edge until the very last page.
I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall
“To survive you need to learn to hold contradictory things in your head at the same time. I am going to die; I am going to live. There is nothing to fear; be wary of everything.” ― Kate Alice Marshall, quote from I Am Still Alive
What an amazing page-turner! From the beginning this book grabbed me and didn't let go. It's the kind of story that had me staying up late to read, sitting outside in the shade to read, read, read, reading to finish because I couldn't put this novel down. It starts with a BANG--literally, when strangers kill Jess's father, leaving her stranded in the wilderness of Canada with his dog, Bo. She's still recovering from a car accident that killed her mother, so she doesn't walk well, and she's a city girl so she's not great at hunting and fishing. How will she handle a Canadian winter alone without shelter or food?
She is alive. And she is tenacious.
I loved this girl's grit, and I wanted to see her survive. I wanted to know the answer to the mystery about who the men killed her father.
And after reading this one, I binged on everything that Kate Alice Marshall has written and added her to my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she’s amazing! She’s near the top of my list of the best YA book recommendations and authors of all time.
If you’re looking for a gripping YA book about survival similar to Divergent, check out I Am Still Alive.
1984 by George Orwell
A dystopian classic, 1984 is a harrowing story of a man's resistance to "Big Brother," capture, torture, and re-education to return to society.
In modern times, this novel is eerily disturbing and relevant. Sometimes the story is dense and difficult to read, but it’s worth the time if you liked Sunrise on the Reaping. The rat scene is particularly disturbing. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a very good one overall. I definitely recommend reading it.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
This is another classic totalitarian dystopian with a society similar to the one in Divergent. For me, Brave New World was assigned reading in college, and I found it so compelling! It’s a fast read and much shorter than some of the other lengthy offerings in this list. The basic story is about how genetic engineering and pharmaceuticals suppress dissent in a futuristic society that values consumerism and technology above all else.
The ideas about humanity in this book are important. When considering some of the technology advances in our current times, the dystopian future of this novel don’t seem so farfetched. Scary, huh?
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
A group of creators go on strike against society--causing global economic collapse.
As a young person, I read Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and We the Living and was so enamored with Ayn Rand’s work, philosophy, and political ideas.
As an adult, when I reread Atlas Shrugged, I found the story to be must slower and more dense to go through, but I’m still including it as an important, classic book that explores good and evil during a dystopian future. The plot is that the world is falling apart, and in rejection of the social and governmental causes of this, people begin disappearing. I don’t want to give too much away. If you loved the deeper societal questions in Divergent, then you want to read Atlas Shrugged.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I should assume that if you’ve come to a list of books like Divergent, you’ve already read all the books in The Hunger Games. In case you haven’t, add them to your reading list, and if you have, re-read them.
There’s a reason that The Hunger Games always appears at the top of lists for apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian YA science fiction books. This series has everything: a relatable and flawed heroine in Katniss, a love triangle, life-and-death adventure, good and evil, a stark world of intense poverty contrasted against ridiculous gluttony, and deeper themes about society at large.
This series is amazing. I could read it multiple times and still find new things to love. I have seen the movies multiple times, but there are things in the books that are just wonderful.
Don’t miss these lovely books.
Other Books You’ll Devour If You Liked Divergent by Veronica Roth
If you are looking for other books like Divergent, you might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of binge-worthy book reviews.
About the Author: Khristina Chess
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of more than a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Her novel about eating disorders, Hollow Beauty, was named a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, dystopian, and adventure.
