IMO: What I Want From A Dystopian Novel

Dystopians have been popping out left, right and centre and that doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. And with so many out there (and with novels in general) I find a novel either frustrates me to no end, I love it or a mixture of both. So I decided to compile a list of things that I think really tick the boxes (both good and bad) for me when it comes to dystopians. Feel free to share your list with me in the comments.

- A character who has guts and knows it's a harsh world--and deals with it accordingly.

I found lately that we get these dystopians where the world has been harsh for a very long time, yet we get weak characters who haven't adapted. I guess I really hate this because it's sometimes a case in die or live worlds and the main character lives--when realistically they would be dead.

- Having a weak mother to make the main character stronger.

I've seen this in two cases--Article 5 and The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Both harsh worlds where the mother (who should be the responsible one) were portrayed as weak and it was up the main character to take care of them. I find this just peeves me off more than anything. I couldn't even finish The Forest of Hands and Teeth cause I grated my teeth every time the mother was brought up.

- Tough but necessary decisions.

This one kind of relates to the first. But I want my heart to be torn in half between two tough and sometimes necessary decisions. Think I Am Legend (spoiler) where he has to kill the dog. It sucks, the dog is his only family, but it has to happen (/spoiler).


Those have to be my top three, I think, that make or break a dystopian novel besides the obvious of plot, characters, and writing. Let me know what makes or break a dystopian novel for you!