Are Teen Dystopian Books Coming Back? It's Complicated

Teen dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games and Divergent took over bestseller lists in the 2010s, but the genre suddenly cratered in popularity around 2015 or so. For many years, young adult (YA) dystopian novels have been considered dead.

But starting in 2024, big publishers are slowly starting to market new books as YA dystopias again, such as Jill Tew's The Dividing Sky and S.K. Ali's Fledgling. There are also a few more coming next year, like Chloe Gong's Coldwire, Ava Reid's Fable for the End of the World, and the prequel to The Dividing Sky, An Ocean Apart (Fledgling is also getting a sequel -- the date just hasn't been announced yet).

So why are teen dystopias making a comeback now? And what makes them different from the titles that dominated in the 2010s? This video explores all this and more, with the help of special guest Jill Tew, author of The Dividing Sky!

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Watch my full interview with Jill Tew on Instagram:   / dapivejarle  

Watch S.K. Ali's interview on Tightwires with Hiba Tahir:    • NYT Bestselling author S.K. Ali talks abou...  

The credits music is made by my lovely brother :)

00:00 Intro
02:17 A Brief History of YA Dystopia
07:55 the Wilderness Years
11:00 The New Wave of YA Dystopia
28:11 The Future of YA Dystopia

Thanks for watching!