Books Like The Hunger Games:
10 More Enthralling Young Adult Series
by Iva-Marie Palmer
Thanks to the movie adaptations, teens have gobbled up, and through their sheer enthusiasm (and fandom), helped make The Hunger Games book series a worldwide phenomenon. And with the upcoming movie adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — a prequel to the trilogy that reveals President Snow’s backstory — we’re once again flying through the pages of this thrilling series.
But after you’ve devoured those, what comes next? Fortunately, page-turning teen series abound, and one or more of these series should capture the imagination of your favorite young reader (and possibly strike your fancy as well).
Please note: retail buttons will direct you to the first book in a series. Click on the title of the series to see more books.
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An Ember in the Ashes Series
Available from:Laia and Elias are both subjects of the Empire: the former a slave, the latter a prized soldier. Their paths cross when Laia agrees to spy on the Empire’s most powerful military academy in return for her brother’s rescue. Fans call this series a mash-up of The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones. Need we say more?
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The Gemma Doyle Trilogy
Available from:This series’ launch actually predates the first book in the Twilight series and though it should have gotten equal, if not better, reception, it was overshadowed by those glittery vampires. At the center of the trilogy is Gemma Doyle, a headstrong Victorian era 16-year-old who is plagued by visions, including one that predicts her mother’s death. At her new London boarding school, she gains a trio of followers who want to explore the secrets of Gemma’s travels to other realms. What’s best about the book series is Bray’s devotion to examining the position of Victorian era society women.
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The 5th Wave Series
Another YA thriller that hit movie theaters, The 5th Wave trilogy is an epic tale about not just survival, but keeping one’s humanity. To rid the Earth of its seven billion inhabitants, the Others are wreaking chaos in waves, and Cassie’s determined to keep her brother safe. She doesn’t trust anyone — including the enigmatic Evan Walker, who may be her best hope.
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Flame in the Mist Series
Available from:Set during Japan’s feudal period, Flame in the Mist spirals around Mariko, the daughter of a prominent samurai. On her way to the imperial city to meet her betrothed, Mariko survives an attack by a gang called the Black Clan. In disguise, she infiltrates the group to learn who planned her assassination — and unexpectedly falls in love with one of its members. Nothing is as it seems in this story that builds to a dizzying conclusion.
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Legend Series
Available from:Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy has everything you loved in The Hunger Games: a secretive nation divided into districts, a revolution simmering beneath the surface, and a fierce and unlikely couple that’s clearly ill-fated from the start. June and Day are thrown together when Day is accused of killing June’s brother. But the hunt to avenge her brother’s death leads to the nation’s secrets cracking open.
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Empress of a Thousand Skies
Empress of a Thousand Skies and its sequel, Blood of a Thousand Stars, is space opera at its finest. Rhee, the sole surviving heir of a long-ruling dynasty, and Aly, a war refugee turned celebrity turned fugitive, must maneuver interplanetary deception and skirt the brink of a galaxy-obliterating war. Rhoda Belleza subtly weaves timely social commentary into the richly plotted narrative.
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And I Darken Series
Available from:For fans reeling from the finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones (and still holding out for GRRM’s conclusion), Kiersten White’s series is a welcome distraction — this time set in the Ottoman Empire. Lada Dragwlya is hellbent on reclaiming her birthright: the throne of her homeland, Wallachia. But her brother is starting to think of the Ottoman court as home, and Lada is falling for the heir to the empire she’s vowed to fight. Love and ruthlessness intertwine, as they’re wont to do.
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Rebel of the Sands Series
Available from:In the desert nation of Miraji, Amani Al’Hiza knows her prospects are grim. She may be a prodigious gunslinger, but as a young woman with no family or financial means, this world — full of mythical beasts and magical djinn — is a harsh reality. When she meets a foreigner named Jin, she feels her first hope for freedom, but the thrilling series arc finds her fighting to liberate her entire nation.
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Blood Rose Rebellion Series
Available from:Rosalyn Eves delivers a totally unique historical fantasy about a teenage girl shunned for her inability to perform magic — and her seemingly uncontrollable ability to disrupt magic. Anna is considered Barren, a defect of her blood, and an embarrassment to her powerful family. But when her true abilities come to light, she’s exiled to Hungary, where revolutionaries hope she’ll break the spell that binds the world’s nefarious social order.
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Last Reality Series
Available from:A bit Ready Player One, a bit Westworld, the Last Reality series is set against one of those backdrops that feels unreal yet eerily plausible. Like many people, Simon is addicted to a virtual reality game called Otherworld — a place so incredible, so freeing, that it’s far superior to real life. But the tech company behind Otherworld has horrifying practices and equally horrifying plans for humankind.
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