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YA Dystopian Books

Why I love them with the passion of a thousand fiery burning suns.

By Sydnie BeaupréPublished 7 years ago 4 min read
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Some fantastic examples of books that I love! I don't own the rights to any of the covers!

So, I love to read. I'm probably the biggest book nerd I've ever met, and I've met a lot of people - meaning, hot damn do I ever have an addiction. I'll read anything I can get my hands on, mostly teen fiction mind you, because let's face it, YA is a fantastic genre! And, lovely readers, do you know what types of books I love the most when it comes to YA? The Dystopian books! Especially the ones that cross over into Science-Fiction.

These types of books give me a chance to escape the world that I live in, and to immerse myself in something where I don't have to be me (don't we all want to not be ourselves, even for a moment?), and when it comes to Dystopian/Sci-Fi, I can usually escape into a world that is like a version of the one we already live in, but much, much, more bleak.

See, these books serve as a sort of social commentary on the world we live in. Human rights are constantly being breached, even though there are laws against such things happening. There are already whole countries under totalitarian regimes *cough* North Korea, for example *cough*, and the current President of the United States isn't exactly a winner these days, is he? I mean, people still have to fight to love each other in this day and age, just because they're the same sex, or they don't identify with the gender binary. Women still don't get equal treatment in many places. Racism is rampant.

It's a mess.

I know there are movements for equality, but we've still got a long way to go. So, it's no wonder that authors like myself will sit down, and write "what if" stories based off of where they might think we're headed, or may one day head. And it's not confusing to see why people like me would also love to read these stories. We have a lot we already want to escape. So, in a world that's already pretty messed up, why on earth would we want to read about one that's way worse? Well, think about it. It makes ours look good in comparison, and it also has the potential to plant the seeds needed to grow into glorious ideas about how we can change the world we live in before it becomes just as awful, if not worse.

So, when it comes to The Hunger Games, we hope that our world doesn't end up like Katniss and Peta's. Reality TV is already pretty messed up, but imagine having to watch kids kill each other and finding pleasure in that? I mean, ew. Talk about hell to the no thank you! Not to mention the fact that people live in poor conditions in this novel, except of course for the ridiculously wealthy idiots in the Capitol, and the only way to gain a one-up is to either put in your name for more drawings so you can have more grain to eat, or to have your name called thanks to said extra rations, and kill or be killed. And, oh by the way, you can only get the extra grain rations if you're the correct age. Bummer for the old folks!

And look at the Matched series by Ally Condie. It takes matchmaking to a whole new level! Forget Match.com or Plenty of Fish; your life partner is chosen for you, and if you don't like him? Well too bad. If you love somebody else? Well, you'd better find a way to shove that so deep inside of you that it lives in the land of forgotten imaginary friends from childhood. In this society, there is no leader, and nobody goes without food and water. It all looks really wonderful. I mean, nobody knows how to write by hand, and new art and music is forbidden, and maybe they'll send you off to die if you don't fit their societal qualifications, but yeah, totally awesome! Stifled creativity and forced marriage have never caused any strife for anybody...

At least, in these books, there are usually happy endings for the characters (I'M STILL SALTY ABOUT TRIS FROM DIVERGENT THOUGH, HOW DARE YOU VERONICA ROTH, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS REALISTIC AND FANTASTICALLY WRITTEN!!!???) and that's something that we can all get behind at the end of the day. That's something we want for ourselves, too.

So, we read these books, and what do we take away? For me, it's "God, I don't want our world to end up like this! I have to take a stand." I'm a proud intersectional feminist, a member of the LGBTQ2IA, I will march for Black Lives Matter and will shout my support from the rooftops, I donate proceeds from my children's book to Food Banks Canada, I volunteer with the homeless whenever I can, I'm #NoDAPL all the way and I support the Native community however I can.

There's more, but the focus isn't on me. It's on what these books have inspired in me, and I'm sure many other people. I owe much of the above to the YA Dystopian books I've read. They've helped me develop a better understanding of the human condition.

And, holy crap, am I ever thankful.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not finished reading my third re-read of Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi, and I really must get going!

science fictionbook review
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About the Creator

Sydnie Beaupré

Sydnie Beaupré lives in their own imagination; a post-apocalyptic, zombie-inhabited world, where magical creatures and supernatural occurrences are simply the mundane.

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