Book picks similar to
The Modified by C.A. Kunz


young-adult
dystopian
science-fiction
sci-fi

Hollowland


Amanda Hocking - 2010
    This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door.Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

Entanglement


Dan Rix - 2012
    Casler Selavio, on the entanglement of halves.In a world like ours, humans are born in pairs. When a newborn boy takes his first breath in the coastal town of Tularosa, the exact time is noted, recorded in the Registry, and later compared to the birth times of other newborns around the globe. There will be one identical match—his half. They will meet on their eighteenth birthday and they will spend their lives together. Except this time, there is no match.Hotheaded heartthrob Aaron Harper is scheduled to meet his half in twenty-nine days, and he doesn’t buy a word of that entanglement crap. So what if he and his half were born the same day and share a spooky psychic connection? Big deal. After breaking one too many teenage girls’ hearts, he’ll stick to brawling with the douchebag rugby players any day.Until the day a new girl arrives at school and threatens everything he takes for granted.Cold and unapproachable, Amber Lilian hates the growing list of similarities between her and the one boy she can’t read, Aaron: born the same day, both stubborn, both terrified of meeting their halves. . . . All the more reason not to trust him. That she would rather die than surrender herself as her half’s property is none of his damn business. But once lost in Aaron’s dangerous, jet black eyes, she’s already surrendered more than she cares to admit.Tangled in each other’s self-destructive lives, Aaron and Amber learn the secret behind their linked births and why they feel like halves—but unless they can prove it before they turn eighteen, Aaron faces a lifetime alone in a world where everyone else has a soul mate . . . and he’ll have to watch Amber give herself to a boy who intends to possess not only her body but also a chunk of her soul.ENTANGLEMENT, a 75,000 word YA thriller, will appeal to readers of Michael Grant's GONE and Ally Condie’s MATCHED.

Defiance Rising


Amy Miles - 2011
    “What are you doing here?” I scream. “Get out!”“Aw, don’t tell me you’re a shy one. I didn’t peg you for that.” Bastien grins as he throws his leg over a rock and settles in for what appears to be an annoyingly lengthy time.Using one arm, I swim as quickly as I can away from the center of the pool and head straight for the rocks. Bastien seems completely unphazed by my rising fury and he grins down at me. He does however reach out to retrieve my dagger from the pile of clothes he’s perched beside. “Have you no decency?” I growl through chattering teeth. If I don’t get out soon I’ll risk hypothermia, but there’s no way I’m going to give Bastien the satisfaction of seeing me naked.Twirling the dagger in his hand, he appears to contemplate my question. “I suppose this might seem a bit forward of me, but I thought you might like to know it’s time to go.”“Fine. Message received. Leave now!”He leans over the edge, peering down at me. “And miss all the fun? I think not.”Illyria has never known a life without the Rebellion.Instinct.Survival.Nothing else matters…until she ventures out into unknown territory and is faced with an enemy that proves even more fierce and determined than she ever thought. Bastien is infuriating, dangerous and annoyingly gorgeous. Eamon is familiar, comforting and turning into a man before her eyes. Both want her heart...but she is torn between duty and desire. When her choice affects all of mankind, how can she allow herself to be selfish?There is a power within her that can change everyone’s fate…but she underestimated the most potent force on Earth—love. Illyria must discover if she has the strength to sacrifice her heart to save mankind.

Reap


Casey L. Bond - 2014
    From five enormous, technologically-advanced cities, the Greaters rule over the Lessers. In the Lesser village of Orchard, things are not as perfect as Abby Kelley thinks they are. When the apple harvest draws near and the Greater’s engineered fruits become too much for one village to handle alone, reinforcements from neighboring villages are called upon. Having to choose between her best friend, whom she has no romantic feelings for, and mysterious newcomer Crew, Abby finds herself in the middle of a harvest that she had no intention of becoming a part of. She becomes involved in a situation that threatens the strict rule of the Greaters, and just might give the Lessers hope for a better tomorrow. But, can she help the Lessers without losing Crew? And if she chooses Crew, will she lose her best friend?

Origins


Kristen Middleton - 2012
    Seventeen year old Cassandra Wild thought living in the chaos of her mother’s home daycare and dealing with her developing feelings for Bryce, her new Martial Arts’ instructor, was a struggle, until the night her world turned upside down.When an untested vaccine kills more than just a rampant flu virus, Cassie learns how to survive in a world where the dead walk, and the living…run!

Terra


Gretchen Powell - 2012
    A young girl struggling to survive. A lost boy with a powerful secret.A discovery that will change everything.In the distant wake of a plague that has decimated the Earth's population, humanity is split in two: The rich and powerful live in skycities that float overhead, while those who remain on the ground have gathered in settlements strewn across a dying planet. Eighteen-year-old Terra Rhodon is a terrestrial--a denizen of the barren groundworld--who makes her living as a scav. Long abandoned by her father, her caregivers gone, Terra supports herself and her younger brother, Mica, by scouring the earth for discarded scraps and metals to recycle for profit. One day, while on a routine scavenging run, she discovers something that shocks her home settlement of Genesis X-16. When the value of her discovery is revealed, Terra's world is turned upside down.Terra suddenly finds herself asking questions no one will answer. Her search for the truth leads her to Adam--a beguiling skydweller unlike any she has ever met. But Adam has secrets and a quest of his own, and with him by her side, the world Terra thought she knew begins to unravel. Soon her discoveries unearth a terrifying conspiracy that has the potential to shatter everything--a revelation that will test the bonds of loyalty, family, and love.

Exiled


RaShelle Workman - 2011
    DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER. ONLY LOVE WILL SAVE THEM.Venus isn't from Earth, she's from Kelari. On her planet she's next in line to rule, but there are those who will go to great lengths to make sure that doesn't happen. Including frame her as a traitor.Accused and sentenced, the gods of her planet exile her to Earth. They've given her one week to help a human find his true love. If she doesn't succeed, she'll die, but if she does she might lose her heart. Praise for this series:  "Michael and Venus have probably been the best pairing/couple that I've read about this year! GO READ THIS BOOK! You will love it. Seriously." Nancy, reviewer Tumbling Books"Writing that moves readers to ponder their hearts is good writing, and that's what readers will find with Workman. Her protagonist is strong willed, her antagonist is easy to hate, and her mentor is easy to love." Kathleen Brebes"What a ride!" Taffy Lovell Books in the Immortal Essence Series: EXILEDBANISHEDDISPLACEDBEGUILEDTEMPTEDMERGEDUNITED

Saving Mars


Cidney Swanson - 2012
    Earth-Mars relations couldn’t be worse, and her brother is captured during the raid. Breaking rules of secrecy and no contact, Jess finds an ally in Pavel, nephew to a government official, but their friendship only makes more agonizing the choice before her: Save her brother or save her planet?

You Are Mine


Janeal Falor - 2013
    She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.

Pentimento


Cameron Jace - 2013
    After the destruction of the world, the Beasts provide citizens with whatever they need in exchange for the one teenage girl they enslave every week. They call them the Brides, and they never comes back. Iris isn’t the worrying type though; she’s been defying the system since she was ten and never cared for the Beast’s rules.Then she meets Colton Ray, who is not like any other boy she’s ever seen. His confidence and dominance are otherworldly she can’t rationalize the attraction she feels for him. Colton had one slight problem though. It’s rumored he is one of the Beast, and Iris could be the next on the Beast’s list.

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?

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.

First World


Jaymin Eve - 2013
    An epic journey. If the Seventine are released, will anyone survive?Abigail Swish might not love her life, living in gang-ridden New York in 2035 and training to fight and survive with Compound 23. But she is grateful for a few things, especially her no-filter-between-brain-and-mouth best friend Lucy and her escape each night into a dream world far different from her own. In fact, sometimes she lives for the fleeting moments she spends at night with the man who fuels every romantic fantasy she’s ever had. But each morning reality returns. She could just cry. But she won’t of course; tears don’t change a damn thing.Then without any warning, a month before her eighteenth birthday, everything does change. A guardian finds her. He explains, in a strangely familiar accent, that she was stashed on Earth for safekeeping and has been lost to her family ever since. And it is time to return home. To the First World; a land of unimagined beauty. Abigail and Lucy find themselves escaping New York, ending up on another planet and traversing through an unforgiving wilderness. Yeah, because that sort of thing just happens every day. Luckily an unexpected saviour arrives; the man from her dream-world. Brace is six-and-a-half feet of gorgeous perfectness, wrapped in an arrogance like no other. Unable to trust his assistance, and unsure which of her instincts to follow - kiss him or punch him in the mouth - Abigail eventually accepts his help to find her family. And what a family. Enter Josian, her father; larger than life and apparently not even human. He is Walker, a planet-less race revered as gods, causing mischief and mayhem through-out this star-system. Unfortunately, there is no time for a cosy reunion, since no one explained that by returning to First World her half-Walker genetics would act as a catalyst setting forth a chain of events which could spell disaster for not only her existence but that of all worlds.First World is book one in the Walker Saga, a seven-book paranormal fantasy series.Spurn - A Walker Saga Book Two release date set for September 2013.

Perfection


J.L. Spelbring - 2013
    She was genetically engineered to be the perfect soldier: strong, intelligent, unemotional, and telepathic. Only Ellyssa isn't perfect. Ellyssa feels emotions--a fact she's spent her life concealing. Until she encounters the epitome of inferiority: a dark-haired boy raised among renegades hiding since the Nazis won the war a century ago. He speaks to her telepathically, pushing thoughts into her mind, despite the impossibility of such a substandard person having psychic abilities. But he does. His unspoken words and visions of a place she's never visited make Ellyssa question her creator. Confused and afraid her secret will be discovered, Ellyssa runs away, embarking on a journey where she discovers there is more to her than perfection.

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.