Dive into dystopian worlds where rebellion, identity, and society’s norms clash in thrilling narratives! If “Uglies” by Scott Westerfeld left you hungry for more stories set in societies with dark secrets and brave new worlds, then you’re in the right place. In this post, we’re exploring a collection of novels that resonate with the gripping themes of “Uglies” – from the challenges of conforming to societal standards to the thrill of defying a controlled system.
These books will take you on journeys through meticulously crafted dystopian settings, where protagonists must face complex moral landscapes and fight for what they believe in. So, strap in and prepare to be whisked away to worlds where every decision comes with high stakes, and the fight for individuality and freedom is just a page turn away!
7 Books Like Uglies
Uglies series represents our reality with fictional characters and fantasy backgrounds. We saw how women were treated and how they felt. This book teaches us many lessons and helps us realize a girl’s feelings and situation. Are you waiting to read more books similar to Uglies? I will discuss about 7 similar dystopian romance books for you. Let’s begin!
| Name | Key Focus | Tropes |
|---|---|---|
| Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill | A dystopian novel set in a future world where girls are bred and raised in schools to conform to societal standards of beauty and behavior, serving men as companions, concubines, or chastities. | Dystopian society, female objectification, beauty standards, competitive environment, societal critique, feminist themes, psychological drama, friendship and rivalry, oppressive system, identity struggle. |
| Vox by Christina Dalcher | A dystopian novel set in a future America where women are limited to speaking only 100 words a day. | Dystopian society, language restriction, feminist resistance, government control, rebellion against oppression, female empowerment, social commentary, family dynamics, scientific backdrop, political intrigue. |
| The Farm by Joanne Ramos | A dystopian novel that explores themes of motherhood, immigration, and socioeconomic disparity. | Surrogate motherhood, class division, ethical dilemmas, immigrant experience, luxury and deprivation, moral complexity, personal sacrifice, societal critique, power dynamics, maternal bonds. |
| Salt Slow by Julia Armfield | A collection of short stories that blend the mundane with the fantastical, exploring themes of womanhood, the human body, and the surreal aspects of everyday life. | Magical realism, female-centric narratives, body horror, surrealism, psychological depth, transformative experiences, dark and atmospheric, modern life complexities, emotional intensity, unique storytelling. |
| The Godless Boys by Naomi Wood | A dystopian novel set in an alternate 1980s Britain, where a secular group has exiled all religious people to an island. | Alternate history, religious conflict, isolated community, dystopian society, forbidden love, societal division, rebellion and resistance, personal identity, moral dilemmas, character-driven narrative. |
| Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel | A post-apocalyptic novel that intertwines the lives of several characters before and after a devastating flu pandemic. It explores themes of survival, the endurance of culture and art, and the interconnectedness of human lives. | Post-apocalyptic world, pandemic survival, interconnected narratives, traveling performers, lost civilization, resilience of humanity, memory and loss, art and culture preservation, societal collapse, human connection. |
| The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood | A dystopian novel set in a remote Australian setting, where a group of women are imprisoned for their involvement in sexual scandals with powerful men. | Female imprisonment, societal shaming, survival narrative, feminist themes, power dynamics, psychological torment, misogyny critique, wilderness setting, group dynamics, rebellion against oppression. |
1. Only Ever Yours
This is a modern retelling of Atwood’s story. It’s a YA book but with strong crossover appeal. Louise O’Neill writes both for young adults and for older adults. So this one is set in a world where baby girls are no longer born naturally but instead bred in schools. They trained their whole life in the art of pleasing men. When they graduate, the highest-rated can become companions who can live at home and be wives and mothers until they’re no longer helpful.
The ones left behind will either become concubines or teachers so that you can see the resemblance of The Handmaid’s Tale there. This book follows two students, Freida and Isabel, and what happens when they try to resist their forced system. So it’s hard to read, very dark, but it is powerful, like Uglies.
Author: Louise O’Neill
Average Rating: 3.9/5
Category: Physical & Emotional Abuse, Feminist Theory
Number Of Pages: 400
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
2. Vox
Women are only allowed to speak 100 words every day. So they wear these bracelets and receive strong electric shocks if they go over their world limit. For me, some of the most powerful scenes were watching our main character, Jean. She used to be a well-respected scientist before this rule was implemented to raise her children. So, she has a young daughter and is trying to teach her daughter to value herself in this world where her silence is seen as the most important thing.
Jean also has a son, slightly older, whom this society has conditioned that he’s grown up. So, he is constantly arguing with his mother about her value as a woman. Those scenes were the most chilling for me to read. This dystopia is so close to our real world, terrifying, similar to Uglies.
Author: Christina Dalcher
Average Rating: 4.2/5
Category: Censorship & Politics, Political Thrillers
Number Of Pages: 352
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
3. The Farm
The Farm is an organization that provides surrogate mothers for mega-rich clients. The surrogates are called Hosts, and they are very well cared for at the Farm as long as they deliver healthy babies. We hear from a few different points of view, the main one being Jane. She is one of the Hosts, and Mae is the owner of this organization.
Having both points of view is powerful, and it’s scary because of Mae’s point of view. We can see quite how easily hyper-capitalism is for people to become commodities. The violations of basic human rights that people are willing to turn a blind eye to in exchange for money. From Jane’s point of view, we see her becoming increasingly trapped and helpless within this system. We saw this plot and the character’s situations in Uglies, and we can relate to it.
Author: Joanne Ramos
Average Rating: 4/5
Category: Family Life Fiction
Number Of Pages: 327
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
4. Salt Slow
This is a collection of nine short stories. All about female bodies and female appetites, sexuality, and all with a big dose of magical realism to make it all extra weird. So where, the stories I’ve talked about so far might make you feel scared for women. Like Uglies, these stories might make you feel scared of women and girls.
Especially one of the stories is about a girl band, which it’s hinted might not be fully human. Also, their music’s violent mania seems to inspire mainly teenage girls who listen to it. So the story is about a post-apocalyptic future in which the world has flooded, and a couple is afloat above the ruins of their lost world and preparing for the woman to give birth to this new reality.
Author: Julia Armfield
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Anthologies & Short Stories
Number Of Pages: 208
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
5. The Godless Boys
This is an alternate history instead of a dystopian future. So this imagines that after the war, the Church took control of England, and non-believers were deported to this remote island off the coast of the north of England. Fast forward to the 1980s, and now a group of boys who grew up there terrorize the island, searching for the religious spies they are convinced are among them.
One day, a girl shows up on the island, hidden away in a boat from the mainland that brings them food and supplies. One of the boys from this gang falls in love with her, which kickstarts a violent reaction across the island. The romance and background match with Uglies.
Author: Naomi Wood
Average Rating: 3.9/5
Category: Dystopian Fiction
Number Of Pages: 356
Available: Paperback
6. Station Eleven
The story is about a flu virus that wipes out most of the population. Also, the book jumps between the before and the after of this virus, the after being about twenty years into the future. There’s a large cast of characters in this book, one of which is Kirsten. She was a child when the virus first struck and is now a traveling performer with The Symphony, which performs Shakespeare’s plays.
The Symphony comes across a dangerous prophet on their journey, and various group members disappear. So it’s a scary, sinister, page-turning story but also a beautiful look at how interconnected humans are. It is also a fight for the importance of art, even in this post-apocalyptic landscape. Kirsten is as brave as Tierney, as we already know in the Uglies series.
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Average Rating: 4.4/5
Category: Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Number Of Pages: 352
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
7. The Natural Way of Things
This one is feminist horror. Ten women wake up from a drugged sleep to find themselves in a compound in the middle of the Australian outback. They’ve got no phones, no computers, and a 30-foot electric fence surrounds them. None of the women know why they’re there, but as they talk to each other, they slowly discover they all have one thing in common. They all have been involved in sex scandals with powerful men.
We never hear the full stories, but that works well because we realize we have already heard these stories from the few little words. But where the book takes a dark turn when a scheduled food delivery fails to show up. So, the women realize that they have been forgotten there. The science elements with a horror background are exciting and will grab your attention and make you want to read. If you are a big fan of Uglies, you must try it.
Author: Charlotte Wood
Average Rating: 3.5/5
Category: Psychological Literary Fiction, Australia & Oceania Literature
Number Of Pages: 208
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
Last Words
Each of these novels not only offers an escape into an alternate reality but also poses profound questions about our society, identity, and the choices we make. They remind us of the power of individual thought in a world of conformity and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
So, as you close one book and open another, may your journey through these stories inspire you to think deeper, question bolder, and dream of a world where every voice matters. Until our next literary adventure in the realms of dystopia, happy reading, and may your thoughts be ever unconfined!
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