Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic

[Kellyflower]

Emily wrote: "I love dystopian lit, too - so glad our kids are digging into it. Is anyone else counting down the days until Mockingjay's release? "

Me! It seems like it's been for ever since I've read Catching Fire.

[Kellee]

Kellyflower wrote: "Emily wrote: "I love dystopian lit, too - so glad our kids are digging into it. Is anyone else counting down the days until Mockingjay's release? "

Me! It seems like it's been for ever since I've..."

9 days!!!!

[Trista]

It's safe to say that I have been very impatiently waiting for Mockingjay to come out ever since I first read Hunger Games and Catching Fire in December of last year! I've reread both of them once already and I'm planning on reading them again in the next few days to get ready for Mockingjay! So excited!

[Inoli]

Ashley wrote: "Has anyone else read How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff?


I finished it a little while ago, and I can't get over how much I liked it. It's the first book..."

I just finished it. Well, long enough ago to be able to walk and talk again. So powerful. I keep an eye on your comments and this isn't the first time you've moved a book up my list to read next. In this case I owe both you and AngelaSunshine. Great book.

[Inoli]

AngelaSunshine wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Has anyone else read How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff?


I finished it a little while ago, and I can't get over how much I liked it. It's..."

I think when you said you put it down and just sat there to process it all was the clincher for me after seeing how much Ashley liked it. This really affected me. And no, it wasn't wrong. Their relationship felt normal and right and good. I had no problem with it at all.

[Ashley]

Thanks Inoli! I'm glad you liked it, and really glad that I was able to push it higher up your pile!

[Angela Sunshine]

Me too. It's so nice to be able to push great books on people who WANT to hear about them. My sister is tired of my "strong recommendations", haha!!

[Kellee]

Ashley wrote: "City of Ember! I loved those books! Jeanne DuPrau has an impressive grasp on human nature. I think that was the best thing about reading the series- seeing how she takes aspects of human nature and..."

Just finished the 2nd book of the series and boy! it was intense and not as much fun as the first book. However, you are right- DuPrau does have a grasp on human nature. She is right on!

[Ashley]

Wait till you get to The Prophet of Yonwood Kellee... That one freaked me out.

[Kellee]

Ashley wrote: "Wait till you get to The Prophet of Yonwood Kellee... That one freaked me out."

That is the prequel, right?
I am going to skip and read #4 then go back to the prequel...

[Ashley]

Yes, it's the prequel. I read them in publication order, because I read them as they were published but I do recommend reading them that way. I didn't think the 4th was as intensely character/human driven as the other 3 (if that makes sense.) It's more about the story, although I really enjoyed that one as well.

I'm excited to hear what you think about them!

[Lydia]

I have a recommendation for those interested in dystopia: The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman. I read this book non-stop! It was absolutely fascinating. We have ruined the world from global warming. The story is told from the perspective of a 10 yr. old girl. I highly recommend this book.

[Ottilie]

I know I'm probably not suppose to advice majorially for my own books, but if you are looking for post-apocalptic book I wrote a Young Adult one. It is called . It isnt' usually a topic I read much, and dystopian books aren't usually high on my list of books, however any suggestions I know my friend is interested in both so I can pass the word

[Julie]

Wow, I just discovered this epic thread. I was glad to see some of my favorites and some ones that I have not had the joy of getting to yet.

Someone earlier used the word "creeptacular." I salute you. :)

[Ottilie]

I did not see the word "creeptacular" but that's pretty awsome!

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

This morning I finished listening to Little Brother. It was pretty intense. I had a harder time listing to this than I did reading the Hunger Games Trilogy. It's a scary look at what could happen in the US should the Dept of Homeland Security get too much power. I think the only reason I was able to finish it is because the main character, Marcus, is snarky and sarcastic, even in the face of some pretty horrible events.

[Ashley]

I've read two newer dystopian books lately, and I felt completely different about each of them-

I read The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher and I was really disappointed in it. It's a story about a world without enough water and government and private agencies that control the remaining supply. It's got a lot of conspiratorial elements and a lot of great potential, but I didn't feel like it lived up to much of it at all.

I felt that the characters, their relationships to/with each other were forced and underdeveloped, and I didn't feel like the main conflicts were explained very well. While it wasn't a horribly awful book, it wasn't terribly good either and I doubt I will seek out the sequels.

I just finished Enclave by Ann Aguirre, and I loved it! I would say that it's more post-apocalyptic than straight dystopian, because although there are problems within the government of their underground community, specifically with information sharing and the ways they maintain control, I couldn't really find it within myself to all the way blame the elders. Their lives were at risk every second of every day. I believe it's fairly well known that when every single day is a continuous fight for survival, you don't worry a lot about politics beyond knowing that the leaders will make sure you don't starve.

But, I thought that the writing was captivating and gripping, and oh boy, am I anxious to see where this one goes in a sequel!! :)

[Ashley]

I totally forgot to mention XVI by Julia Karr. It's a story about a world where girls become 'sexually available' to all boys once they turn 16. The number is tattooed on their wrists, basically broadcasting to all males that they are ready to have sex. They aren't given much choice in the matter either- Guys frequently get away with rape, because the girl was 16, so who cares.

I thought that the book was handled quite well, given it's subject matter, but I thought the execution of the book, overall, could have been much smoother. I thought that Karr tried to add a few too many issues to this book, and it ended up overwhelming the story. I'm excited to see where the sequels take the story though. Hopefully her writing will tighten up a bit.

[Kellyflower]

Ashley - Ann Aguirre also writes as Ava Gray.
http://www.avagray.com/
I really like her Skin Series.

I'm actually on page 75 of XVI. It reminds me a little bit of the world Robin Wasserman writes about in her "Skinned" series.

[Ashley]

Kellyflower wrote: "Ashley - Ann Aguirre also writes as Ava Gray.
http://www.avagray.com/
I really like her Skin Series.

I'm actually on page 75 of XVI. It reminds me a little bit of the world Robin Wa..."

Interesting! Good to know Kelly, thanks! You should post your thoughts on XVI when you finish. I'd love to hear what you think!

[Kellee]

Another thread was made for this topic. I have closed it now and directed people here, but if you want to read it, check out http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

[Kellee]

My blog, Teach Mentor Texts, currently has a Saturday feature (running through March) about Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic. Check out http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/... which is the initial post and it has links to the other posts at the bottom. At the end of the month we'll have a dystopian/post-apocalyptic blog hop :)

[Karis]

I hate posting negative reviews (especially when it's a debut author), so I actually didn't review this one on the blog. I know it wouldn't have been published if Feiwel & Friends didn't think it was good enough to find audience, but I really didn't like this book... I just read After the Snow by S.D. Crockett. It had such an awesome premise and I had high hopes. It's about how the scientific community was mistaken- the earth didn't warm, but was in fact, plunged into a modern Ice Age. The older generations remember "before" but the children know nothing but constant winter... Did it meet my expectations? Absolutely not. While the premise was great, I couldn't get past the writing. I couldn't get past the local dialect/slang. It was like reading a book written entirely in a combination of eubonics, country hillbilly, bayou-speak, and Fargo, Minnesota. It seemed like the author took every stereotypical US (which annoyed me because she's British and the story takes place overseas) negatively seen accent/dialect and jumbled it up to make this kid's manner of speech. It was much like my experience reading Blood Red Road, I hated it because I can't stomach books that I have to continuously go back and re-read passages to understand what the protagonist is saying. There was also a strange side element where Willo, the protagonist, would converse with his inner-dog (he wears a dog skull as a hat, and in order to survive his harsh situation, tries to think like a dog). Again, I might have enjoyed this if not for the manner of speech, but I couldn't get past it. All this being true, I ended up LOVING Blood Red Road when I listened to the audio, so if this book were to be released in audio format, I would definitely give it another chance because I think it was good Dystopia, with too much standing in the way of my getting to the actual story.

[Kellee]

If you have a blog, come and participate in our dystopian vs. post-apocalyptic blog hop on Saturday. Write your own post on the topic and then come share your link.

http://www.teachmentortexts.com

[Renee]

Karis, I wish more people would be honest on books. I come to the groups to learn of what is good.

I will never forget reading a review here. The person told about the book never really saying how it was. I bought the book. It was nasty. I made a comment that I hated the book. The person that wrote the review agreed with everything I said. I private messaged her. She said that she never posted negative reviews because she was afraid of offending. Isn't the purpose of reviews to rate books?

To this day if I say I think I would like somethimg she messages me what she really thinks. Its funny she and I have devoloped a friendship over this. So I guess that nasty book wasn't a complete loss