,

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 — 5,282,150 ratings
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2

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4.15 avg rating — 2,347,260 ratings
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3

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3.97 avg rating — 2,746,091 ratings
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4

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,009,728 ratings
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5

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3.88 avg rating — 1,260,689 ratings
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6

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3.70 avg rating — 3,136,517 ratings
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7

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4.01 avg rating — 4,401,733 ratings
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8

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4.09 avg rating — 499,815 ratings
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9

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 757,314 ratings
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10

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 283,251 ratings
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11

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4.29 avg rating — 1,584,514 ratings
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12

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4.07 avg rating — 595,899 ratings
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13

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3.85 avg rating — 823,866 ratings
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14

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4.35 avg rating — 819,111 ratings
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15

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4.12 avg rating — 2,749,989 ratings
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16

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4.05 avg rating — 148,814 ratings
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17

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3.99 avg rating — 117,328 ratings
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18

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4.23 avg rating — 1,274,736 ratings
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19

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4.07 avg rating — 131,492 ratings
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20

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4.02 avg rating — 559,153 ratings
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21

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4.18 avg rating — 328,225 ratings
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22

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4.15 avg rating — 430,521 ratings
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23

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3.83 avg rating — 342,873 ratings
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24

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3.99 avg rating — 876,625 ratings
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25

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3.88 avg rating — 108,992 ratings
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26

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4.16 avg rating — 1,250,179 ratings
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27

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4.62 avg rating — 12,624 ratings
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28

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4.20 avg rating — 245,232 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 — 77,551 ratings
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32

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4.02 avg rating — 303,712 ratings
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33

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3.98 avg rating — 48,543 ratings
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34

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4.09 avg rating — 48,018 ratings
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34

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3.85 avg rating — 61,051 ratings
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36

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3.69 avg rating — 403,825 ratings
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37

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4.05 avg rating — 1,646,243 ratings
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38

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4.02 avg rating — 81,454 ratings
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39

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3.89 avg rating — 356,633 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 — 135,377 ratings
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42

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3.68 avg rating — 29,884 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 70,372 ratings
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44

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3.95 avg rating — 20,188 ratings
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45

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4.27 avg rating — 683,352 ratings
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46

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3.88 avg rating — 141,278 ratings
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47

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4.01 avg rating — 294,539 ratings
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48

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4.14 avg rating — 177,862 ratings
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49

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3.98 avg rating — 74,413 ratings
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50

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3.61 avg rating — 164,877 ratings
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51

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3.92 avg rating — 17,659 ratings
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52

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4.01 avg rating — 263,945 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 145,112 ratings
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54

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3.75 avg rating — 44,779 ratings
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55

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3.25 avg rating — 26,763 ratings
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56

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 45,119 ratings
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57

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4.39 avg rating — 2,819,380 ratings
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58

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3.69 avg rating — 7,496 ratings
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59

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4.23 avg rating — 266,757 ratings
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60

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4.26 avg rating — 83,739 ratings
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61

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4.01 avg rating — 242,881 ratings
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62

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4.11 avg rating — 149,436 ratings
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62

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4.01 avg rating — 115,722 ratings
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64

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3.80 avg rating — 253 ratings
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65

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3.99 avg rating — 9,369 ratings
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65

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3.73 avg rating — 132,451 ratings
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67

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3.84 avg rating — 10,901 ratings
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68

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3.96 avg rating — 16,751 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 — 37,078 ratings
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71

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 123,380 ratings
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72

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4.17 avg rating — 245,767 ratings
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73

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3.84 avg rating — 34,207 ratings
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74

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4.05 avg rating — 221,003 ratings
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75

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4.23 avg rating — 4,581 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 — 8,120 ratings
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81

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3.59 avg rating — 230,795 ratings
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82

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4.30 avg rating — 212,434 ratings
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83

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3.75 avg rating — 11,645 ratings
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84

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3.70 avg rating — 10,081 ratings
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85

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3.69 avg rating — 16 ratings
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86

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4.04 avg rating — 113,325 ratings
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87

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3.88 avg rating — 1,000,139 ratings
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88

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3.64 avg rating — 12,745 ratings
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89

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3.68 avg rating — 251 ratings
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89

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4.64 avg rating — 22 ratings
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89

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3.97 avg rating — 7,147 ratings
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92

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3.52 avg rating — 1,107 ratings
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93

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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 — 558,053 ratings
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97

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3.91 avg rating — 15,624 ratings
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98

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3.85 avg rating — 27,764 ratings
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99

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4.10 avg rating — 27,246 ratings
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100

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3.95 avg rating — 33,311 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
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Lee 317 books
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Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3384 books
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Bettie 15668 books
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Sambaloelek 2164 books
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Shanna_redwind 6002 books
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Robin 162 books
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Nathan 26115 books
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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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