Book picks similar to
Vestige by Deb Hanrahan


dystopian
dystopia
sci-fi
young-adult

The Aftermath


Jen Alexander - 2014
    Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge sometimes with devastating consequences all just to live another day.With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border.If they play the game right, they are each other's best hope for survival and a life beyond the only world Claudia's ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath.

Branded


Abi Ketner - 2013
    In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. To punish the guilty, he created the Hole, a place where sinners are branded according to their sins. Sinners are forced to live a less than human existence in deplorable conditions, under the watchful eye of guards who are ready to kill anyone who steps out of line.Now, LUST wraps around my neck like thick, blue fingers, threatening to choke the life out of me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and the Hole is my new home. Constant darkness. Brutal and savage violence. Excruciating pain. Every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t let them win. I will not die in the Hole. I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

The Union


T.H. Hernandez - 2014
    What she doesn’t have is any idea what to do with the rest of her life. She only knows she wants to do something meaningful, to make a difference in the lives of others.When she’s kidnapped and taken into the Ruins as a pawn in a dispute involving her boyfriend, Bryce, her ideal world is turned upside down. What she learns while in the Ruins shakes her faith in everything she’s ever known, from Bryce, to her family, and even the Union itself.Now Evan must choose whether to stay with Cyrus, the sexy, resourceful survivor who believes she’s in the Ruins for a reason, or return to the only life she’s ever known. But when she stumbles upon a dangerous plot that threatens both worlds, her decision could tear her apart.The Union is a futuristic young adult romantic adventure.

Post-Human Omnibus


David Simpson - 2014
    What will happen when humans can live forever? Or die with just a few keystrokes? How will our governments react as they lose control of their citizens' data? And how do you feel about uploading your mind into a computer so that you may live on after death?The Post-Human Omnibus is the perfect book for these times. It's an epic series of stories that explore all sides of humanity's future through science fiction, from both near-future dystopias to far-future utopias (and everything in between). Written by award winning author & TEDx speaker David Simpson, this collection explores many different genres from thrillers to romances to mysteries and much more.

Some Fine Day


Kat Ross - 2014
    The survivors were forced to retreat deep underground and build a new society.This is the story that sixteen-year-old Jansin Nordqvist has heard all of her life.Jansin grew up in a civilization far below the Earth’s surface. She’s spent the last eight years in military intelligence training. So when her parents surprise her with a coveted yet treacherous trip above ground, she’s prepared for anything. She’s especially thrilled to feel the fresh air, see the sun, and view the wide-open skies and the ocean for herself.But when raiders attack Jansin’s camp and take her prisoner, she is forced to question everything she’s been taught. What do her captors want? How will she get back underground? And if she ever does, will she want to stay after learning the truth?

Fire & Flood


Victoria Scott - 2014
    . . .Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to the middle of nowhere for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying--and she's helpless to change anything.Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?Victoria Scott's breathtaking novel grabs readers by the throat and doesn't let go.

Until the End


Tracey Ward - 2013
    The Fever spreads and kills quickly, but the dead aren't staying dead.When her neighbor, Jordan, saves her from one of the infected, Alissa joins him in his plan to escape the city, the disease and the threat of a quarantine that will lock the living in with the undead.What she doesn't tell him is that she has an illness of her own, one that plays tricks with her mind and makes her a dangerous companion. But Jordan has a secret as well, one that compels him to keep Alissa, a veritable stranger, safe at all costs.As they fight for their lives and race for their freedom, they'll discover that what they truly need in order to survive is to stay together until the end.*The Quarantined Series is followed by the Survival Series, a spinoff trilogy of books chronicling life 10 years after the outbreak with a few familiar faces...

Ashes


Ilsa J. Bick - 2011
    . .An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions.Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling post-apocalyptic novel about a world that could become ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation.

Fast-Tracked


Tracy Rozzlynn - 2011
    The phrase had been repeated throughout Alexandria's life. A person's rank on their assessment test determined everything. Their job, where they lived, and even who they could marry. At least that's what Alexandria thought before she received the results. Alexandria's assessment elevates her to fast-tracker status, but Byron, her best friend turned true love, isn’t as lucky. His results sink him to the lowest possible rank and a guaranteed life of hardship and misery. Everything Alexandria believed is a lie. Fast-trackers run the country. Anger one of them and your whole world could fall apart. Anger one of them and the people you love suffer. Disillusioned, Alexandria plunges herself into the fast-tracker's world in hopes of helping Byron. But can she help Byron before she completely loses herself to the allure of their lifestyle?

Midnight City


J. Barton Mitchell - 2012
    The human adult population is gone, having succumbed to the Tone---a powerful, telepathic super-signal broadcast across the planet that reduces them to a state of complete subservience. But the Tone has one critical flaw. It only affects the population once they reach their early twenties, which means that there is one group left to resist: Children.Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter, and his current target is Mira Toombs, an infamous treasure seeker with a price on her head. It’s not long before Holt bags his prey, but their instant connection isn’t something he bargained for. Neither is the Assembly ship that crash-lands near them shortly after. Venturing inside, Holt finds a young girl who remembers nothing except her name: Zoey.As the three make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, they encounter young freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and the amazing powers that Zoey is beginning to exhibit. Powers that suggest she, as impossible as it seems, may just be the key to stopping the Assembly once and for all.

And All the Stars


Andrea K. Höst - 2012
    Her elusive cousin Tyler is the perfect subject: androgynous, beautiful, and famous. All she needs to do is pin him down for the sittings.None of her plans factored in the Spires: featureless, impossible, spearing into the hearts of cities across the world - and spraying clouds of sparkling dust into the wind.Is it an alien invasion? Germ warfare? They are questions everyone on Earth would like answered, but Madeleine has a more immediate problem. At Ground Zero of the Sydney Spire, beneath the collapsed ruin of St James Station, she must make it to the surface before she can hope to find out if the world is ending.

Mortality


Kellie Sheridan - 2013
    There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death. Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore. Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough.

Defects


Sarah Noffke - 2015
    Seventeen-year-old Em Fuller, however, fears something is askew. Em is one of the new generation of Dream Travelers. For some reason, the gods have not seen fit to gift all of them with their expected special abilities. Em is a Defect—one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power. Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father. One of the few bright spots in her life is the return of a friend she had thought dead—but with his return comes the knowledge of a shocking, unforgivable truth. The society Em thought was protecting her has actually been betraying her, but she has no idea how to break away from its authority without hurting everyone she loves.

Nil


Lynne Matson - 2014
    You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die.Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.

The Brink


Martyn J. Pass - 2016
    Humanity had barely survived The Panic 70 years earlier and now the slow death brought on by the collapse of society seems unavoidable, especially as it seems the worst is still to come. Accompanied by a strange hound he rescued from the labs deep beneath the Fort, Alan sets out to aid the survivors who struggle to hold back mankind's final hour, joining up with a handful of soldiers desperately trying to fan the embers of mankind into life once more. But Alan has a secret he's desperate to hide and which threatens to be revealed with every action he takes. Can his fear of discovery be overcome so that mankind can stand a chance of surviving? Or will humanity topple over the brink as he stands by and watches? Following on from Project - 16, The Brink tells the story of a man who faces a destiny he neither wants nor is prepared for and starts Alan Harding on a path to legend.