Book picks similar to
Escape by L.S. O'Dea


fantasy
dystopian
young-adult
dystopia

Golden Blood


Melissa Pearl - 2011
    Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected. Gemma's parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be "used and abused", as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew... Harrison Granger.Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can't stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.

Darkness of Light


Stacey Marie Brown - 2013
    Witch. Crazy. Schizo.Ember Brycin has always known she’s different. After finding her mother brutally murdered, her mind begins to see things that shouldn’t exist. The more she feels her sanity slipping, the more bizarre and inexplicable things constantly happen around her.When the latest school explosion lands her in a facility for troubled youth, she meets Eli Dragen—a hot as hell, darkly mysterious, bad boy from a notorious biker gang. Their connection is full of passion, danger, and secrets. Secrets that will destroy her life and lead her down a path she could never imagine.A pawn in a war between the Fae.In the middle of Light and Dark, Ember finds another world where truth and knowledge are power and no one can be trusted.No one.**New Adult/Mature YA: sexual content, language, alcohol, violence, death, and other mature content intended for readers 17 and older.

Parched


Z.L. Arkadie - 2011
    I nod stiffly to give no indication I know exactly, who that is. I’m shocked to hear that name in this setting, at this stage of my life, the one far away from Cambridge, Massachusetts over five years later.”Advertising Exec, Clarity Parker thought she’d never see Baron Ford again. Five years ago, they shared the date of her life and then he literally vanished into thin air. Now he’s back and has asked that she, exclusively, be assigned to his multi-million dollar account.On the day the fog rolls in, not only can she no longer avoid him but she can no longer avoid herself. See, Clarity has an ability that she’s run away from her entire life. She’s learning an ability like hers doesn’t come for free, and something or someone is trying to make her pay for it with her life.Her world is soon turned upside down after she escapes to a place called Enu. It’s here Clarity learns who and what she truly is. She also learns that Baron Ford is Baron Ze Feldis; he’s a vampire, and what bonds them runs deeper than anything she can ever imagine. Their bond is further tested when they end up not only battling Baron’s psycho ex-vampire girlfriend, who wants Clarity dead but also “the evil” as they journey in search of the book which holds the Prophecy of the Seven Seeds. One thing’s for sure, from this point on, their lives will never be the same.**Edited on 10/24/2011 – If you have the previous version, please email Customer Service to request the most updated version. If you purchased the Ebook on Smashwords, you can simply download the most up-to-date version.

Fear University


Meg Collett - 2015
     My mother abandoned me when I was ten years old because I have a freakish mutant disease that makes me incapable of feeling pain. I bounced from one foster family to another because too many people like to test my medical condition in a game of “Try To Make Ollie Scream.” At sixteen, I killed a man for taking that game too far. Two years later, I’m still on the run in Kodiak, Alaska. Here, I’m the most dangerous person around, until I come face to face with a creature that should only exist in folklore. The monster is an aswang, and I, with my medical anomaly, am uniquely qualified to hunt the beast that haunts the night. At least, that’s what the two scarred, mostly crazy ’swang hunters tell me when they kidnap me and take me to Fear University, a school where young students learn to hunt and kill aswangs. I arrive at the university a prisoner, but I stay because I finally find my freedom. For once in my life, I belong. I’m needed. I make a home for myself inside the university masquerading as an old Alaskan prison. Something close to happiness warms my icy heart when I’m with my scarred, still mostly crazy tutor, Luke Aultstriver. For a murdering runaway like me, Fear University is a haven where I can put my skills to good use hunting monsters in the night. But when certain truths come to light and even more lies are exposed, I fear that I, Ollie Andrews, am the worst kind of monster of all. And, maybe, they should be hunting me. This book is recommended for mature readers due to sexual content, violence, and language.

Riser


Becca C. Smith - 2010
    She lives in a future where the world is overpopulated and a little pill makes you immortal. Where people are secretly being exterminated and serial killers are sanctioned by the government. When Chelsan's mother is killed by one of these exterminations, she vows to take down the man responsible.

The Glass Wall


Madison Adler - 2011
    Athletic and with killer looks, he wears black eyeliner like a magician and seems to be watching Sydney's every move.What starts out as a light-hearted investigation with her gadget-happy foster father takes a serious turn when she discovers that Rafael isn't human. Add Jareth, the country's latest rock sensation, into the mix and Sydney is swept into a mysterious world of Tulpas, the Fae, and the Brotherhood of the Snake.Sydney doesn't know she's a Blue Thread of Fate. She doesn't know the fate of humanity depends on her choice of whom to trust--Jareth or Rafael. And she certainly doesn't know that she's taken the first step on the unexpected path of love.Ages 12+ [83,605 words - 352 pages of a 6X9 book ]Don't forget to read the free prequel short story "Behind the Mirror"!

Prodigy


Cassandra - 2019
    Can she survive her new reality? Jessica comes from Witch Royalty, and plenty of enemies want her dead before she gets a chance to learn anything about her past.  Click the button to find out how one young woman learns, makes mistakes, and juggles life with opportunities that challenge her future.

Evan Burl and the Falling, Vol. 1-2


Justin Blaney - 2012
    Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN 9780988251014.

Girl of Glass


Megan O'Russell - 2016
    One glass wall. No turning back.The human race has been divided. The chosen few live in the safety of the domes, watching through their glass walls as those left on the outside suffer and die. But desperation has brought invention. New drugs have the ability to alter humans, giving them the strength to roam the poisoned night unafraid—but survival comes at a terrible price.Seventeen-year-old Nola Kent has spent her life in the domes, training to protect her little piece of the world within the glass. The mission of the domes is to preserve the human race, not to help the sick and starving.When the fate of an outsider child falls into her hands, Nola dares to venture beyond the security of her home, diving into a world of darkness and vampires. Life within the glass didn’t prepare her for the realities of suffering or the depth of forbidden love.When blood washes over the domes, Nola must choose between her home and her heart.

Brightest Kind of Darkness


P.T. Michelle - 2011
    Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate...until she dreams a future she can't ignore.After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

Awakening


Jeremy Laszlo - 2013
    But he never came back. With supplies running out and vital life support systems failing, Jack, Samantha, and Will have no choice but to ignore their father’s warnings and leave the vault. With no knowledge of what befell the world outside, or what they might expect once the door is opened, they find themselves in a world they do not recognize. Thrust into the remains of the world they remember, how will they survive on their own, not knowing what or who else remains amongst the ruins?

The Shadows


Hunter J. Keane - 2012
    This much she knows. It's what she doesn't know that could destroy her. Alex Garretty is just a normal teenage girl until she is yanked from her home in the middle of the night. Her entire family is moved across country and given new identities. Just when Alex thinks it can't get any worse, she meets Daniel, her mysterious but charming classmate. She quickly learns she isn't the only one keeping a big secret, and Daniel's secret could cost Alex her life. A visitor from her past arrives in town and Alex must quickly learn who she can trust. When she discovers the truth about her own destiny, Alex must find a way to accept it and even more importantly, a way to survive.

Rock Heaven


Jamie Thornton - 2017
     THREE WORLDS. ONE RULE. SHE MUST NEVER OPEN A DOOR. Since before Maella can remember, one family rule has shaped her life: never open a door. Maella comes from a family of doormakers—people who unleash otherworldly violence when they open something even as simple as a cabinet door. Maella didn’t mean to open a door. Maella tried NOT to open a door. She just wanted to save her friend. Pushed through a portal of her own making, Maella discovers worlds of nightmarish flying monsters, magical drug deals, political prisoners, religious cults, and a terrifying prediction: Maella will die upon opening her seventh door. In order to survive, Maella must uncover her family’s secrets, all while hiding her identity and outrunning the prediction of her death. But what do you do when the truth you need could destroy the universe?

Irving Wishbutton and the Questing Academy


Brian Clopper - 2013
    While their authors toil at getting their stories written and printed, these characters are killing time at The Questing Academy. As their stories take shape, they endure many changes, some good, and some bad. At the academy, heroes learn the plotting ropes alongside villains, supporting characters and even window dressing castmates such as guard three whose only contribution to his scene is a poorly timed sneeze. Ah, but the academy stresses there are no small roles. Plopped into the middle of things is a grand hero, Irving Wishbutton. As he adjusts to life on a literary campus, he has to also deal with the twists and turns of his character and story development. It isn’t always pretty. For one, he arrives a smudge, his only distinct feature, a gaudy red button on his chest. Everything else about him is hazy and not defined yet due to his writer who has avoided describing him early on. Two, he immediately gets on Dean Harmstrike’s bad side when a pack of emberhounds from Irving’s own story attack him at the Office of Fine Aunts. Three, there are a plethora of mysteries and entanglements afloat at the academy. Irving’s creator has marked him as acutely curious. While the faculty tells him to dig into what makes himself tick, he can’t help but unravel the mysteries and secrets that abound on campus. On his quest of self-discovery, he is befriended by another fellow smudge, a beautiful fairy from another book’s supporting cast. He also gets mixed up with a confused vampire whose fickle writer is constantly making revisions, including writing her twin brother out of her story. Lord Raggleswamp, a short-statured short-tempered braggart of a villain and Gared, The Golden Knight, whose silver tongue can command any and all monsters, are both constant thorns at Irving’s side as he seeks answers and to fit in. With the help of an equally headstrong cast, Irving tackles the big questions: Who built the academy? What’s Dean Harmstrike’s true agenda? Why is being branded a smudge so very wrong to others on campus? What lurks beneath the library? What happens to each character upon graduation?

The Light Within Me


Carly Fall - 2011
    She longs to feel a real connection with someone, and she finally does when she meets Noah.Unbeknownst to Abby, Noah is from another world and his sole purpose is to hunt down the evil of his people that was unleashed on Earth hundreds of years ago. He's certain he isn't going to be able to return to his home, and anger and the need for revenge are his constant companions. His focus has been eradicating the evil and making them pay for taking his life on his world away from him.Noah tries desperately to fight his attraction to Abby so he can keep his focus on his mission. But when Abby gets dragged into the evil and mayhem from Noah's world, he realizes that maybe with Abby he can find a home here on Earth...if he can save her in time.