As well as giving us ready-made action and drama, this kind of setting shapes some of my favourite protagonists to read about: antiheroes and antiheroines. I tend to find morally ambiguous characters much more interesting than those with fixed parameters (though of course, a good/bad opposites pairing has its own awesomeness). The books below make the most of the opportunity to throw off ‘civilised’ constraints provided by the dystopian setting, producing a rich exploration of power and moral codes. The books below range from the famous to the obscure, YA to adult. What you won’t find are any which explicitly reimagine the post-COVID world. Although plenty of quarantine romances have already been written, and plenty where some sort of pandemic has decimated the world, I find it extremely difficult to read them. They’re just a little too close to home. I’m fine with pre-2020 pandemic novels, where the authors probably assumed they were penning an inventive apocalypse that would never actually happen, but post-2020 ones are a little too real.
Must-Read Dystopian Romances: YA
Must-Read Dystopian Romances: Adult
If you want more, here’s a list of some other dystopian novels! The political intrigue of the novel is brilliant. I classify this as a dystopia because it’s set in a world where concepts such as democracy, meritocracy, and justice have long since crumbled away. Instead, the Emperor’s word is law, and abuses perpetrated by the social elite are ignored. Nemesis herself is a wonderful character; though she was created without empathy, it’s a delight to see her slowly develop the capacity to care for others than Sidonia. And of course, the romance aspect is great too. Tragically, Ee hasn’t written any more books since finishing this series (the last book of which, in any case, is a letdown). But the first two are great. Penryn is strong and smart, without being unrealistic. Her slow-burn romance with Raffe is never allowed to supersede her personal goals, but enables her character to grow in different ways. This one uses speech interestingly – there are no speech marks, and dialects are conveyed realistically. The second book of the trilogy gets heavy on the angst, and the third one is flatly disappointing, but the first one is absolutely worth a read. Saba is a great antiheroine. The dystopia element here works quite interestingly. Despite being set far in the future, we’re shown how humanity has in fact regressed to a somewhat medieval mindset. Then, the novel asks, does technology cross the line into being magic? Maggie is a wonderfully manipulative heroine. She’s smart, driven, and ruthless. Quinn comes off as a little more bland in comparison – Maggie is totally the star of the show. This is a book which is probably improved by being read without any major knowledge of the plot. Though it is romantic, romance is an element which forms part of Seth’s backstory, rather than necessarily being present while reading. This one seems to be a bit of a Marmite book: you either love it or hate it. The writing style is flowery, and I did think it bordered on the unreadable at times, but it certainly appears to be up many people’s streets. Warren, the villainous love interest, is another draw. Nalah is the leader of Las Mal Criadas, a girl gang who’s this close to moving into the Towers. But before they can make it in, Déesse – the charismatic female leader of Mega City – tasks them with seeing off the Ashé Ryders, another gang suspected of encroaching on the city. The journey teaches Nalah a lot about power, responsibility, and herself. It’s a bittersweet book, and like More than This the romance is more ‘what could have been’ than what was, but it’s a memorable read. In Cain’s post-apocalyptic world, some unnamed moron of a US President started a nuclear war that’s devastated the landscape. Women are in short supply, many having been sexually assaulted and murdered by the gangs of roving, lawless men. Enter Eugenia. She was essentially sold into sexual slavery by her companion, and is now the property of Aaron, a man who’s carved out a little niche of relative peace on an abandoned cruise ship. To keep his community going, however, he effectively runs a prostitution ring. Men toil in exchange for sex with the ship’s women; the women in turn will only obtain their freedom once they’ve had enough sex to pay off their debts. As you can imagine, there are a lot of dark – even demoralising – themes in the novel. Although it is a romance, it’s heavily coloured by the bleakness of the surrounding dystopia. Years ago, Azrael – lord of death – rose to take over the world. Absolutely immortal, he also has the power of reviving the dead, turning them into zombies. Articulate and elegant zombies, but zombies all the same, subject to his utter control. Now he lives in his walled territory of Haven with his dead servants and a select group of humans. Outside the walls, the rest of humanity is tearing itself to pieces. Lan – determined, desperate, and with nothing left to lose – smuggles herself inside Haven. Though she becomes merely one of Azrael’s many mistresses, her impact on his existence ends up being unforeseeable. I remember this series making waves years ago, for its gritty depictions of a gangland-type dystopia and plentiful sex. Though Lex and Dallas are the main couple, Lex also hooks up with a woman, and there are some ménage scenes. Victoria, sister of a woman who vanished on that ship, is determined to uncover the truth. So she accepts the offer to travel on the Melusine, which is being sent out to see exactly what happened. Also on the ship is Olivia, an autistic lesbian with whom Victoria strikes up a relationship that seems touchingly innocent amongst the horror and gore in the rest of the novel.
