Books Like The Hunger Games: 7 Dystopias to Read Next
Want another survival arena, an oppressive regime, and a reluctant rebel after The Hunger Games? These seven dystopian novels deliver the same high-stakes fight to bring a system down.
The Hunger Games hit so hard because it was never really about the arena. Suzanne Collins used a fight-to-the-death spectacle to say something sharp about inequality, propaganda, and how power keeps people compliant — and gave us Katniss, a reluctant symbol who never asked to be one. That mix of visceral survival stakes and genuine ideas is the formula. The best read-alikes deliver both: the adrenaline and the argument.
Here are seven dystopias that scratch the itch, each with what it does best. If you’ve finished the trilogy, Suzanne Collins gave you a template the whole genre has been chasing — here’s where to go next.
Divergent — Veronica Roth (the closest match)
Divergent is the most direct successor: a future society sorted into rigid factions, a young heroine who doesn’t fit, and a creeping conspiracy that erupts into rebellion. The tests, the training, the slow realisation that the whole system is rotten — it hits the same beats as The Hunger Games with its own propulsive energy. The easiest place to land next — and if you do, here is the full Divergent series in reading order.
Best for: the same trilogy-shaped rebellion and a fierce young heroine.
Red Rising — Pierce Brown (the darker, older version)
If you want The Hunger Games aged up and turned brutal, Pierce Brown’s Red Rising is the one. A low-caste laborer infiltrates the academy of his oppressors in a deadly, sprawling contest that makes the Games look gentle. It’s violent, political, and epic in scope — the rebellion fantasy for readers ready to leave the YA shelf.
Best for: higher stakes, sharper violence, and a grand-scale uprising.
The Maze Runner — James Dashner (the survival puzzle)
The Maze Runner leans into the arena half of the formula. A group of teens wake with no memories inside a deadly, shifting maze, and survival means cooperation, cleverness, and nerve. The mystery of why drives it forward, and the claustrophobic tension will land for readers who loved the in-arena chapters most.
Best for: the survival puzzle and constant physical danger.
Legend — Marie Lu (the two-sides romance)
Legend by Marie Lu splits its story between a privileged prodigy and a wanted criminal in a divided future America — and lets their collision expose the regime’s lies. It’s got the romance, the class divide, and the rebellion arc, told at a brisk, cinematic pace. A strong pick if Katniss-and-the-system was your favourite tension.
Best for: dual perspectives, romance, and a divided society.
The Giver — Lois Lowry (the thoughtful original)
The Giver came before the YA dystopia boom and arguably set its terms. Lois Lowry’s quiet, devastating story of a boy who discovers the cost of his “perfect” community has no arena and no battles — just one of the genre’s most haunting ideas. Read it when you want the dystopian argument distilled to its purest form.
Best for: the ideas, minus the action — short, sharp, unforgettable.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — Suzanne Collins (back to Panem)
Of course, the most natural next read is more Panem. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes returns to the early Games through the eyes of a young Coriolanus Snow, and it’s a genuinely uneasy study of how a person becomes a tyrant. It deepens everything the original trilogy implied about power.
Best for: more of Panem and the origins of its villain.
An Ember in the Ashes — Sabaa Tahir (the brutal empire)
For the rebellion-against-an-empire arc in a fantasy register, Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes delivers a soldier and a rebel spy caught in a merciless, Rome-inspired regime. It trades sci-fi for fantasy but keeps the oppression, the impossible choices, and the high body count.
Best for: the rebellion stakes in a dark fantasy setting.
How to choose your next read
Pick by what gripped you most. The faction-sorted rebellion? Divergent. The darker, epic version? Red Rising. The survival puzzle? The Maze Runner. The romance across a divide? Legend. The pure dystopian idea? The Giver. More Panem? The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The empire in fantasy form? An Ember in the Ashes.
For more, browse our dystopian and young adult shelves, and start with whichever piece of The Hunger Games you’re chasing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What book is most like The Hunger Games?
Divergent by Veronica Roth is the closest in feel — a young heroine, a rigidly divided society, and a rebellion that builds across a trilogy. For readers who want the survival-arena intensity aged up and darker, Pierce Brown's Red Rising is the standout match.
What should I read after The Hunger Games trilogy?
Start with the prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, for more of Panem, then branch into Divergent, The Maze Runner, or Red Rising for the same rebellion-against-a-regime arc. The Giver is the quieter, more thoughtful option if you want the dystopian ideas without the arena.
What makes a book similar to The Hunger Games?
Usually three elements: a controlling, unequal society; a young protagonist forced into a deadly contest or open rebellion; and a story that uses survival stakes to ask real questions about power, propaganda, and sacrifice. The books here each deliver at least two.
