I read 105 books in 2025 and 40 of them were dystopian.
I was on a bit of a tear.
(In case you’re curious, the others were a mix of nonfiction about Antarctica, horror reads for a book club, and a couple Spanish language board books because that’s where I’m at learning-wise… mi conejillo de indias esta delgado.)
There were a few standout favorites in my dystopian reading this year, and I wanted to share them with you. These are not books that came out in 2025 – I read a lot, but I’m not quite that current. They range from 1960s classics to graphic novel adaptations, YA to adult, and irreverent to very, very serious.
Here are my top 8 best dystopian books I read in 2025:
1. I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
I listened to this twice in audio and read it once and I feel like I could read it ten more times and get something new out of it every time. That’s saying a lot for a 13-page short story! I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream is a genre classic about the last survivors of humanity and the sentient supercomputer that tortures them for creating it. The best way to read it is to listen to the author’s narration – Ellison is haunting and theatrical.
2. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (graphic novel)
I picked this graphic novel adaptation up before reading the original text and the illustration style, the expressions on the characters’ faces, and the visual punch gives the story a new layer of impact. Kindred is about a modern-day Black woman who is repeatedly transported to the antebellum south. It’s exactly as traumatic and terrifying as you’re imagining, and the graphic novel does a great job of preserving Butler’s unique voice and deeply developed characters.
3. The Stranded by Sarah Daniels
This book was born out of the pandemic, inspired by the people who were trapped on cruise ships at the beginning of lockdown but amplified to dystopian horror levels. In The Stranded, the people of the Arcadia have been trapped for decades, developing their own society, rules and government and floating on the open ocean while they wait for some country to allow them to dock. It’s got Wool vibes as well as Divergent vibes and I couldn’t put it down.
4. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Okay, I’m a sucker for any book that has even a little bit of experimental fiction genes, and The Knife of Never Letting Go scratches that itch. When men can hear each other’s thoughts and women have been banished entirely, Todd isn’t allowed to even think the questions he has about society. There’s a Wizard of Oz-esque journey and a doggy sidekick with some of the best catchphrases, and a romance that builds slowly.
5. Dry by Neal & Jarrod Shusterman
I will snatch up every Neal Shusterman I see, and this is his first work with his son, Jarrod. In Dry, the California water crisis reaches a crescendo when one day all the taps run dry and stay that way. There’s an all too realistic Costco run, government assistance that’s too little, too late, and the prepper boy next door who keeps the main character and her brother alive through sheer force of will. This book tends toward the ridiculous more often than not, but it’s a fast read with the worldbuild and character development I love from both Shustermans. (Shustermen?)
6. Now We Are Animals by RP Nathan
Now We Are Animals begins with an alien invasion, and like most invasions, the aliens are land-hungry and don’t have a lot of use for us humans. We make perfectly serviceable farm animals, and a lucky few become pets. That’s what Cara is, and the book is told through her diary entries: the story of the invasion and her experience living with the aliens. I’ll be reading the sequel, Now We Are Free, very soon because I can tell the author has a lot more to say on both plot and theme.
7. Replacement by Jordan Rivet
Replacement’s book description reads like Brave New World told from the perspective of one of the lower classes – the ones that have 50, 100, 150 clones all trained to do a particular job. Only Jane doesn’t know any of her fellow clones, or the job she was trained to do. Hunting for the answer launches her into a mystery that grabs you and doesn’t let go until the final page (and there are four more books in this series so you don’t have to stop there). I can’t stop raving about this book to whoever will listen.
8. Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton
The only sequel in my list, I liked Antimatter Blues as much as or possibly more than Mickey7. Mickey gets up to all his irreverent, clever hijinx again in this one, but the adventure packs way more emotional punch and has more to say on a philosophical level about colonization and cohabitation with “less intelligent” life forms. Man, Berto is a terrible best friend, though.
💬 I can’t wait for another year of discovering new authors and diving deeper into the worlds of my favorites! Tell me in the comments, what was your favorite dystopian read of 2025?
📚 Want even more recs? Check out my Ultimate Dystopian Reader’s Guide for tailored recommendations based on topic, tropes, audience and more!