Welcome to the seventh year of annual updates to my list of The 110 Best Dystopian Novels. Starting from dozens of contenders, I narrowed the field to these four best dystopian books of 2022. Rankings are based on curated lists from The Guardian, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon.
To complement these rankings, I have created two pieces of bonus content:
- Recommendations for the best dystopian books from seventeen contemporary dystopian authors like A.G. Riddle, Neal Shusterman and Lois Lowry.
- A one-page PDF shopping guide to the complete list of The Best Dystopian Novels.
You can access both of these free resources using the form below. And now, here are The Best Dystopian Books of 2022!
4. All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown
In the aftermath of a pathogen that decimates humanity, two boys head south in search of civilization and discover that their bond may go beyond mere friendship. Brown’s debut novel was named a semifinalist in young adult fantasy and science fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards.
3. Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
A sixteen-year-old trans boy flees the fundamentalist cult that unleashed Armageddon, killed most of the Earth’s population and infected him with a bioweapon that will turn him into a deadly monster. Publishers Weekly listed White’s queer dystopia as one of the best young adult novels of 2022, and it was a semifinalist in young adult fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards.
2. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
In Chan’s debut novel, a young mother is sentenced to a Big Brother-like institution that measures the devotion of women who are not constantly attached to their children.
1. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
In a future America where authorities can relocate the children of dissidents and so-called “unpatriotic” books are banned, a twelve-year-old boy searches for his mother, a censored Chinese American poet who left the family three years earlier. Amazon named Our Missing Hearts one of the best books of the year, and it was a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards fiction category.