Book picks similar to
Population by Elizabeth Stephens
sci-fi
dystopian
romance
post-apocalyptic
The Reapers are the Angels
Alden Bell - 2010
A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself - and keeping her demons inside. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.
Autumn
David Moody - 2001
After 99% of the population of the planet is killed in less than 24 hours, for the very few who have managed to stay alive, things are about to get much worse. Animated by phase two of some unknown contagion, the dead begin to rise. At first slow, blind, dumb and lumbering, quickly the bodies regain their most basic senses and abilities... sight, hearing, locomotion... As well as the instinct toward aggression and violence. Held back only by the restraints of their rapidly decomposing flesh, the dead seem to have only one single goal - to lumber forth and destroy the sole remaining attraction in the silent, lifeless world: those who have survived the plague, who now find themselves outnumbered 1,000,000 to 1...Without ever using the 'Z' word, Autumn offers a new perspective on the traditional zombie story. There's no flesh eating, no fast-moving corpses, no gore for gore's sake. Combining the atmosphere and tone of George Romero's classic living dead films with the attitude and awareness of 28 Days (and Weeks) later, this horrifying and suspenseful novel is filled with relentless cold, dark fear.
Inhuman
Kat Falls - 2013
Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it’s necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane’s father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts—he is a Fetch. It’s a dangerous life, but rewarding—until he’s caught.Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb—and her very DNA—in the Savage Zone. But she’s not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn’t exhibit any signs of “manimal” mutation, he’s hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.
Kahayatle
Elle Casey - 2012
My name is Bryn Mathis. I'm seventeen years old, and I live in a neighborhood outside of Orlando, Florida. I’m here alone because my dad died almost a year ago, along with all the other adults in the world. I'm almost out of food, and the gangs of kids that roam around my town are getting more vicious by the day. It's time for me to leave and find another place to live ... a place where I can find food and shelter ... a place where they won't be able to find me. Alone, it might have been possible, but now I've got company. I'm worried that I don't have what it takes to get from here to my final destination, and I have no idea what might be waiting for me when I get there.
Reign
May Sage - 2018
He’s reborn; and Nalini just saved his life. A captive at the mercy of the Warlord of their multi-world kingdom, Nalini has learned to hide under a mask, a lie. As far as her master sees, she’s his obedient little puppet. Then, she meets him. The male who can obliterate the entire Galaxy. Her world ends that day. In the eyes of a young Seer, Kai discovers who he’s meant to be. His future is blood and death; but there’s a female by his side. A female he’d gladly destroy stars for. If his destiny is ruling over ruins with her, so be it. Two souls, worlds apart, under different skies. One destiny. Warning: mature content. Strands of Starfire is a space fantasy romance with some explicit scenes. Note that this series will only include standalone books.
The Wasteland
K.A. Knight - 2018
I was stolen from my family and raised in the Wastelands to the North. I did what I had to ensure my survival. I became The Champion, with my history carved into my skin for all to see. Now I spend my days drinking and hiding from my past until four newcomers offer me a job I can’t refuse. When my past and future mix I must once again rise and fight. This time it’s not for my freedom, it's for my happiness. *Contains triggers and a cliffhanger ending. This is a dark Dystopian RH.
PODs
Michelle K. Pickett - 2013
Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul. After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters. Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.
Lawless
Crystal Ash - 2019
Good men became killers. Strong women became property.And every day turned into a fight for survival.I once dreamed of becoming a nurse. That dream went up in flames the same day I graduated nursing school, when women were banned from holding any kind of medical license.Now as an unlicensed medic, I travel what was once the southwestern United States, trading medical services for food, transportation, and shelter with the hopes of reaching Canada.Because the United States is no more. And the lawless land that’s replaced it is a deadly place for a woman.My worst fear comes true when I’m captured by the Steel Demons MC, the most ruthless biker gang in the Southwest. These men thrive on the violence and chaos brought on by the Collapse, and they’re eager to unleash it all on me.It doesn’t even matter that the President’s dog likes me. I’m as good as dead.Sons of Anarchy meets The Handmaid's Tale in this dystopian reverse harem adventure! This wild ride is not for the faint of heart and contains adult themes that may be triggering.Reading order:1. Lawless2. Powerless (December 2019)3. Fearless (March 2020)
Aberrant
Ruth Silver - 2013
There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone. The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government's match in marriage and "The Day of the Chosen", a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn't existed in generations. Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she's arrested and thrown in prison. The only crime committed, her existence. Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from "The Day of the Chosen." The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system. With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run. Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together. Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven. New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay. Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands. Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her. Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive.
Captive of the Horde King
Zoey Draven - 2019
Now, he owns her.On the unforgiving planet of Dakkar, I did what all the humans in our village did: kept my head down, worked to provide for my family, and I certainly didn’t break any Dakkari laws to risk inciting the alien race’s merciless wrath.Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for my brother and one careless mistake brings a horde of the nomadic, barbarian Dakkari straight to our doorstep, led by their powerful horde king—a cold, ruthless, battle-scarred warrior demanding retribution.In order to save my brother’s life, I do the unthinkable.I sell myself to the horde king as his war prize. I agree to warm his furs, to travel with his horde across the wild lands of Dakkar, and to never see my family again.But as I struggle with my new reality, I discover that the surly, mysterious, dominant horde king never intended for me to be his concubine…He wants me as his queen.
After the End
Amy Plum - 2014
They’re hunting her to save their future.World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.
Book of the Dead: AESLI-00
V.E.S. Pullen - 2020
All of them seeming to pop up wherever she is.Seriously, do they think she’s stupid?
Zero Repeat Forever
Gabrielle S. Prendergast - 2017
He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind. Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall. His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting. Until a human kills her… Sixteen year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade, annihilating entire cities, taking control of the Earth. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her friends have only a fragment of instruction from the human resistance. Shelter in place. Which seems like good advice at first. Stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless but what choice does she have? Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend. Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival depends on trusting each other…
Reboot
Amy Tintera - 2013
After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.The perfect soldier is done taking orders.
Wings of the Walker
Coralee June - 2017
I don’t know the exact moment I fell in love with him, but I do know that if anyone found out about our lingering stares, it would end his political career. Josiah’s unexpected engagement has me squinting down the barrel of heartbreak, and to make matters worse; I find myself traded to Cyler Black and his leadership council in a distant Providence. Soon, Cyler and his team of passionate leaders start to feel like family, and I'm promised freedoms I never imagined were possible; But Josiah’s not through with me yet, and war is on the horizon. Can I find happiness in my new home? Or will Josiah finally choose me? This is a slow-burn reverse harem romance and the first book in the series.