,

Smart Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction

Thinking of those books in these genres that are thoughtful, avoidant of cliche, speak to our humanity and examine who we become when the world is wrong. (Please no more books with rating inflated review schemes. If you bought or bartered for positive reviews for your book then I'm talking about you.)
1

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4.20 avg rating — 5,280,937 ratings
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2

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4.15 avg rating — 2,346,740 ratings
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3

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3.97 avg rating — 2,745,529 ratings
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4

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,009,555 ratings
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5

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3.88 avg rating — 1,260,340 ratings
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6

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3.70 avg rating — 3,136,137 ratings
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7

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4.01 avg rating — 4,400,785 ratings
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8

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4.09 avg rating — 499,722 ratings
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9

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 757,253 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 283,230 ratings
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11

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4.29 avg rating — 1,584,210 ratings
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12

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4.07 avg rating — 595,774 ratings
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13

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3.85 avg rating — 823,663 ratings
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14

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4.35 avg rating — 819,005 ratings
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15

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4.12 avg rating — 2,749,681 ratings
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16

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4.05 avg rating — 148,784 ratings
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17

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3.99 avg rating — 117,317 ratings
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18

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4.23 avg rating — 1,274,572 ratings
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19

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4.07 avg rating — 131,483 ratings
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20

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4.02 avg rating — 559,111 ratings
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21

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4.18 avg rating — 328,152 ratings
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22

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4.15 avg rating — 430,469 ratings
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23

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3.83 avg rating — 342,812 ratings
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24

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3.99 avg rating — 876,546 ratings
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25

by
3.88 avg rating — 108,972 ratings
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26

by
4.16 avg rating — 1,250,180 ratings
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27

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4.62 avg rating — 12,623 ratings
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28

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4.20 avg rating — 245,093 ratings
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29

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3.95 avg rating — 115 ratings
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30

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3.80 avg rating — 112 ratings
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31

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3.75 avg rating — 77,545 ratings
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32

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4.02 avg rating — 303,620 ratings
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33

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3.98 avg rating — 48,538 ratings
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34

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4.09 avg rating — 48,015 ratings
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34

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3.85 avg rating — 61,047 ratings
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36

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3.69 avg rating — 403,803 ratings
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37

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4.05 avg rating — 1,646,066 ratings
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38

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4.02 avg rating — 81,451 ratings
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39

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3.89 avg rating — 356,574 ratings
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40

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3.89 avg rating — 12,487 ratings
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41

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 135,372 ratings
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42

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3.68 avg rating — 29,882 ratings
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42

by
3.95 avg rating — 70,358 ratings
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44

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3.95 avg rating — 20,185 ratings
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45

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4.27 avg rating — 682,750 ratings
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46

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3.88 avg rating — 141,236 ratings
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47

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4.01 avg rating — 294,510 ratings
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48

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4.14 avg rating — 177,840 ratings
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49

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3.98 avg rating — 74,409 ratings
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50

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3.61 avg rating — 164,865 ratings
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51

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3.92 avg rating — 17,658 ratings
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52

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4.01 avg rating — 263,916 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 145,073 ratings
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54

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3.75 avg rating — 44,780 ratings
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55

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3.25 avg rating — 26,759 ratings
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56

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 45,117 ratings
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57

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4.39 avg rating — 2,818,981 ratings
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58

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3.69 avg rating — 7,495 ratings
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59

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4.23 avg rating — 266,692 ratings
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60

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4.26 avg rating — 83,727 ratings
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61

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4.01 avg rating — 242,849 ratings
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62

by
4.11 avg rating — 149,404 ratings
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62

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4.01 avg rating — 115,700 ratings
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64

by
3.80 avg rating — 253 ratings
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65

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3.99 avg rating — 9,368 ratings
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65

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3.73 avg rating — 132,431 ratings
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67

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3.84 avg rating — 10,899 ratings
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68

by
3.96 avg rating — 16,749 ratings
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69

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3.84 avg rating — 5,521 ratings
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70

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3.89 avg rating — 37,077 ratings
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71

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 123,365 ratings
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72

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4.17 avg rating — 245,743 ratings
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73

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3.84 avg rating — 34,199 ratings
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74

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4.05 avg rating — 220,989 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 4,579 ratings
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76

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3.67 avg rating — 122 ratings
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77

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4.42 avg rating — 38 ratings
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78

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4.28 avg rating — 29 ratings
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78

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4.55 avg rating — 31 ratings
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80

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4.05 avg rating — 8,119 ratings
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81

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3.59 avg rating — 230,766 ratings
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82

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4.30 avg rating — 212,404 ratings
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83

by
3.75 avg rating — 11,644 ratings
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84

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3.70 avg rating — 10,078 ratings
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85

by
3.69 avg rating — 16 ratings
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86

by
4.04 avg rating — 113,318 ratings
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87

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,000,031 ratings
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88

by
3.64 avg rating — 12,743 ratings
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89

by
3.68 avg rating — 251 ratings
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89

by
4.64 avg rating — 22 ratings
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89

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3.97 avg rating — 7,141 ratings
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92

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3.52 avg rating — 1,107 ratings
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93

by
4.64 avg rating — 28 ratings
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94

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4.01 avg rating — 97 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 785 ratings
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96

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4.15 avg rating — 557,991 ratings
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97

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3.91 avg rating — 15,619 ratings
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98

by
3.85 avg rating — 27,760 ratings
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99

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4.10 avg rating — 27,245 ratings
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100

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3.95 avg rating — 33,307 ratings
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528 books · 724 voters · list created December 16th, 2012 by Tamhas (votes) .
244 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Tamhas 6213 books
35 friends
Lee 317 books
4 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3384 books
853 friends
Bettie 15668 books
19 friends
Sambaloelek 2164 books
7 friends
Shanna_redwind 6002 books
40 friends
Robin 162 books
11 friends
Nathan 26112 books
72 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by [deleted user] (new)


message 2: by Daniel (new)

Daniel Mala Hey there,

Like your list. I have been building a similar list (Dark Days Dystopian for the Not So Young Adult) with the same concept that there is some great and smart literature in this genre that is filled with a lot of not so hot YA stories. Thanks, you've alread added to my to read list.

Dan...


message 3: by Ufuk (new)

Ufuk Okay,who the heck put The Book Thief?


message 4: by Karen M (last edited Sep 30, 2015 03:38PM) (new)

Karen M Pride & Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities, etc. I understand war would be apocalyptic but I'm not sure that was what the creator of this list was looking for. Then again maybe I'm wrong.


message 5: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Dec 15, 2016 11:00AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I noticed Catch-22 (#27) on this list. Now I know it's been quite a while since I've read it, but I would never have put it on this list... But like Karen M said: 'Then again maybe I'm wrong.' I would never have put Pride and Prejudice or A Tale of Two Cities on this list either, by the way.


message 6: by William (new)

William Stephens Great list. I just discovered lists and am always looking for smart books. I added a couple by an unknown writer, Soul Source and Right of Passage, that I really liked.


message 7: by Mark (new)

Mark Kloss How is Harry Potter dystopian or apocalyptic??

Love the list otherwise though!


message 8: by Scott (new)

Scott Fisher Mark wrote: "How is Harry Potter dystopian or apocalyptic??

Love the list otherwise though!"


Ha ha. I had the same thought.


message 9: by Scott (new)

Scott Fisher I think Steven Amsterdam's "Things we didn't see coming" should be on this list https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...


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