The Gender Game

By:  Bella Forrest

Genre: Teen Dystopian

Pages: 418

Published: 2016

Told In: First Person

 “Movie” Rating: PG-13

Compare to:

Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Divergent, Veronica Roth

The Maze Runner, James Dashner

In a nutshell:

Violet has been sentenced to death for crimes committed in her female run society, but she is given a 2^nd chance if she will spy in the neighboring male run land. However, Patrus life is more difficult and dangerous than Violet expected.

What you may enjoy:

Engaging story and plot. If you like dystopian books, you’ll most likely enjoy this. There is a lot of fighting and action. Not as much romance as most dystopians.

What you may NOT enjoy:

The main character is difficult to connect with and enjoy. She’s your typical cliché dystopian character. Some of the details just don’t make sense and seem a little forced to keep the plot moving.

Warnings:

Violence and Disturbing Images:

Girl hit with tranquilizer dart; girl stabbed in the neck with a fork; girl beaten up; two girls fist fight; girl’s throat cut open; two men cage fight; woman punched in the face; woman punched in the stomach; woman slapped; woman’s face cut; woman stabbed in the thigh; man knees woman in the face; man’s throat cut open; woman hit in the back of the head; man and woman stabbed to death; man falls to his death; dead bodies fall to the ground.

Sex and Nudity:

Man kisses woman’s neck; man kisses woman’s cheek; man and woman kiss passionately (graphic); man touches woman’s breasts

Language and Profanity:

Ass (2xs); hell (10xs); God 7xs); dammit (7xs); damn (6xs); bitch (2xs); bastard (2xs)

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Wander

By: Lewis Bright Rees

Genre: Dystopian/Horror

Pages: 535

Published: 2017

Told in: First Person

Compare to:

World War Z, Max Brooks

The Immortal Rules, Julie Kagawa

I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

In a nutshell:

In a destroyed world, after a plague left behind “Feelers”, people of heightened emotion that torture and kill for pleasure, Wander has been alone for years, just surviving. But everything changes when she decides to help Dagger and together they work towards one of the last remaining civilizations.

What you may enjoy:

Good writing with an exciting story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There is not a dull moment in the book. Equal parts thrilling and horrifying.  

What you may NOT enjoy:

There is an unnecessarily large amount of language throughout the book. Some of the violence is disgustingly graphic. Littered with typos.

Warnings:

Violence and Disturbing Images:

Men kick a naked boy; girl’s limbs cut off and fed to her; people eat human flesh; people mutilate their bodies (graphic); woman shot in the head; people’s mutilated bodies described (graphic); man shot in the head, spraying blood; woman shot in the back; man shot in the leg; man stabbed in the leg; man shot in the chest; man shot in between the eyes; woman kicked in the face; woman shot in the face; man beats boy; man shot in the stomach; man’s head shot off (graphic); man shot in the head; bullet goes through man’s skull (graphic); man stabbed in the armpit; people eating from a human corpse; scalpel cuts through boy’s mouth (graphic); girl hit in the face; boy slices up girl’s hand; girl’s fingers cut off (graphic); people killed with a meat cleaver; man stabbed in throat with a scalpel; girl kicked and beaten; boy’s gaping cheek stapled together; man beaten to death; woman shot; man’s throat slit with a hatchet; woman falls, breaking bones; rotting corpse of a woman described; girl shoots man in stomach and head; woman shot in the throat; man shot in the head; woman’s head slammed against a wall; girl shoots woman’s hand; woman shot in the head; people shot with a crossbow; man shot in the head; woman shot in the head; corpses hanging by their entrails; corpses crucified with barbed wire; mutilated bodies strewn about.

Sex and Nudity:

Man kisses woman; two boys kiss

Language and Profanity:

Sh*t (25 times)

H*ll (51 times)

Bullsh*t (3 times)

Forms of d*mn (15 times)

Forms of F*ck (20 times)

J*sus (6 times)

G*dd*mmit (13 times)

Forms of b*tch (2 times)

G*d (7 times)

*sshole (3 times)

Chr*st (3 times)

Sh*tty (6 times)

*ss (5 times)

B*st*rd

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The Forgetting

By: Sharon Cameron

Genre: YA Dystopian Fiction

Pages: 403

Published: 2016

Told in: First Person

Compare to:

Divergent, Veronica Roth

The Giver, Lois Lowry

Delirium, Lauren Oliver

In a nutshell:

In the city of Canaan, every twelve years, the people forget everything―everything except what they record in their personal books. But Nadia does not forget. With the next forgetting fast approaching she will do everything she can to keep together those she loves. But there are things in Canaan’s past that even Nadia does not remember.

What you may enjoy:

This is a dystopian that you can wrap up in one book instead of three. Cameron has developed a fascinating world with interesting, consistent characters. The premise behind the book is fresh and interesting and the plot is full of twists and mysteries that will keep surprising you up until the very end.  

What you may NOT enjoy:

The book starts out slowly with most of the action concentrated at the end of the book―a book that is longer than necessary. The characters are your standard teen dystopian archetypes: angsty and unique heroine; handsome and mysterious love interest; corrupt and controlling villain.

Warnings:

Violence and Disturbing Images:

Girl mentions possibility of being flogged; girl slaps boy twice; boy burns arms; girl tackles man; women raped, implied; woman stabs herself in the arm; man whipped, mentioned; men drag a bloody girl through the street, mentioned; 3 children lay dead in the street, mentioned; man hit over the head with a board; men attack a boy; man holds knife to a girl’s throat; woman stabs a girl with a needle; girl’s wrists bleed from being tied up; boy’s hand burns and blisters from acid poison; girl dies from poison; boy tortured with drops of acid poison, non-graphic; man slaps girl; boy knocks man unconscious; building burns with people locked inside; man walks into a burning building; dead man lays in the road; man’s arm cut by a knife; boy beats man’s head against the road; boy strangles man; woman holds a knife to a girl’s throat; man stabs woman repeatedly, mildly graphic

Sex and Nudity:

Affairs implied; implies sexual relations; two sisters sit naked in a bath; boy and girl hold hands several times; boy and girl kiss passionately in a lake, mildly graphic; boy and girl kiss; girl runs hands over boy’s naked chest; boy takes off his shirt; boy and girl kiss passionately on a bed, non-graphic; man gropes girl; homosexual romantic interest implied

Language and profanity:

A** (in Russian) 4 separate times

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