Here are 42 books that All Better Now fans have personally recommended if you like All Better Now. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Sunrise on the Reaping

Kris Zeck

From Kris' 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Kris loves this book

Haymitch is an incredible character. You already know his story, but it’s still worth the read.

By Suzanne Collins ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Sunrise on the Reaping as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

"Sunrise on the Reaping is a propulsive, heart-wrenching
addition to The Hunger Games, adding welcome
texture to the cruel world of Panem . This is the project of dystopian
fiction: to shine a light in tyranny's greasiest corners
and show how people - ordinary, determined human beings - might take
it apart" - New York Times

"Collins is an excellent writer, and there are
moments of surprising lyricism . Sunrise on the Reaping contains
enough both to snare new readers and to satisfy the most bloodthirsty
fan" - Guardian

When you've been set up to lose everything you love,
what…


If you love All Better Now...

Book cover of Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander

Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander by Christian Hurst,

When seventeen-year-old Lily Starling is found in San Francisco with no memory of who she is, her search for answers pulls her into a future she never imagined. Taken aboard the Union starship Salamander, she becomes entangled in a mission that will test the limits of identity, loyalty, and courage.

Book cover of The Hive

galadriel

From Galadriel's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Galadriel loves this book

This is a YA book but it works on different levels for anyone aged 10 to 100. There are a lot of layers to it. It's a really thought provoking book yet at the same time a fast paced and fun read.

By Anna February ,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Hive as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

A thrillingly original dystopian murder mystery - think
The Hunger Games meets A Good Girl's Guide to Murder!

A FUTURE QUEEN LIES MURDERED ...

Justice is merciless in the Hive, a monarchy of tomorrow, where
young bodyguard Feldspar awaits execution, guilty of being alive
when her charge is dead.

The girl has one defender - Niko, a royal maverick. Together
they have three days to prove the impossible.

Three days to question everything Feldspar knows about the
world that raised her and discover who the real murderer is
. . .



A thrillingly original YA murder mystery, set in…


Book cover of Scythe

Kawika Miles Black Author Of Saga of the Nine: Origins

From Kawika's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Kawika's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Kawika Miles Black Why Kawika loves this book

Now, although this is technically three books, the trilogy has to be read together. Otherwise, the themes are incomplete in my opinion. Having read each book back to back, cover to cover, the story of death and humanity’s incapability of dealing with it in wholesome fashions is brilliantly articulated by Neal Shusterman.

As I have personally delved into the dystopian genre due to my own creative endeavors, I always like to see another author’s take on the genre. Not only does this world extrapolate the possibilities of death being conquered, but it battles with the question of how involved should technology be in our lives, to what end do we worship this technology, and what are the warning signs that lead to our complacency.

By Neal Shusterman ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Scythe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

"A true successor to The Hunger Games." Maggie Stiefvater

In a perfect world, what is there left to fear? A chilling and thought-provoking sci-fi novel from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman.

A dark, gripping and witty thriller in which the only thing humanity has control over is death.

In a world where disease, war and crime have been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ("gleaned") by professional scythes. Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythes' apprentices, and despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation, they must learn…


If you love Neal Shusterman...

Book cover of A Wave of Breath

A Wave of Breath by Tess Collins,

Even as the world collapses, she will cross the ruins of a nation for the love that death itself cannot silence.

In the wake of a national calamity known only as The Water Event, Brooklyn Tremain launches herself across a shattered America in pursuit of Martin Siriso—the man she loves…

Book cover of Dry

Frances Greenslade Author Of Red Fox Road

From my list on survival for young readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a Canadian writer living in southern British Columbia. When I was young, most people thought I was too small and frail to do awesome things. It wasn’t until I got older that I began to understand that my love for wild places and adventures was at the heart of who I was, and I began to see that I was much stronger than I thought. These days, I hike, climb, kayak, cross-country ski, and snowshoe – anything that gets me outside in nature. And I've done some awesome things out there! I want to change the way people see nature, not as something to be conquered, but to be treated with affection and respect.

Frances' book list on survival for young readers

Frances Greenslade Why Frances loves this book

This is one of the scarier disaster novels I’ve read, targeted at young adults rather than middle-grade readers.

People die in frighteningly believable ways in this story about a severe water shortage in California. I live in a semi-arid region that has been experiencing more frequent droughts in the last few years, so this novel’s premise felt plausible: the taps are literally turned off.

As well, the various characters’ reactions to the crisis reflected people I know, from preppers to climate changer deniers to those who dig deep and find kindness no matter how bad things get.

By Neal Shusterman , Jarrod Shusterman ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Dry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

“The authors do not hold back.” —Booklist (starred review)
“The palpable desperation that pervades the plot…feels true, giving it a chilling air of inevitability.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Shustermans challenge readers.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“No one does doom like Neal Shusterman.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a…


Book cover of Unwind

Kimberly Baer Author Of The Haunted Purse

From Kimberly's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Kimberly's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Kimberly Baer Why Kimberly loves this book

I’m a sucker for a unique premise. I like a story that makes me think. This YA novel delivers on both counts.

In a dystopian future, parents can have their troublesome teens “unwound”—dismembered into spare parts to be distributed among needy patients. The process isn’t considered killing since all parts of the unwound child remain alive, albeit grafted onto/transplanted into many different individuals.

Tenets of religion, philosophy, society, and family converge as the author explores every facet of this disturbing scenario. One particular chapter, presented from the perspective of a secondary character as he undergoes unwinding, is the most chilling and poignant passage I have ever read. It haunts me still.

By Neal Shusterman ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Unwind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them

Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but…


Book cover of The Handmaid's Tale

Misty Danielles

From Misty's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Misty loves this book

It is a profound and unsettling dive into societal decay that feels terrifyingly prescient. Atwood’s brilliance lies in the details—how she exposes the weaponization of language and the stripping of individual identity until even a birth name becomes a forbidden memory. Offred’s internal act of storytelling is a breathtaking form of rebellion; it’s a reminder that even when we are silenced, our internal narratives and small acts of defiance are what keep us human. It isn’t a "feel-good" read, but it is an essential one.

By Margaret Atwood ,

Why should I read it?

47 authors picked The Handmaid's Tale as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER **
**A BBC BETWEEN COVERS BIG JUBILEE READ**

Go back to where it all began with the dystopian novel behind the award-winning TV series.

'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it' Guardian

I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.

Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford -…


If you love All Better Now...

Book cover of A Cat's Garden of Secrets

A Cat's Garden of Secrets by Jacqueline Diamond,

A talking cat, a magical library, and a young woman with awakening powers, plus a murder to solve! Escape to an enchanted village in this charming blend of fantasy and whodunit.

On the weirdest day of a 19-year-old orphan's life, her cat starts speaking, her car kidnaps her, and she…

Book cover of 1984

Paul Clark Author Of The Omega Course

From my list on novels of ideas.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved stories, and I love the clash of ideas – political and philosophical, religious and atheistic. And if you can put them together in a novel, so much the better. But I insist that it has to be a real story, with real characters, not ciphers. They must be inconsistent, their ideas half-formed and subject to change. And they must be allowed to put their point of view with their own voice, so I’m never entirely sure what the author thinks. The characters have to be people I can care about, people I can love or hate, people whose fate can cause me anxiety, sorrow, or joy.

Paul's book list on novels of ideas

Paul Clark Why Paul loves this book

I first read Orwell’s dystopian nightmare as a teenager and have gone back to it several times since.

Apparently, it is such a brilliant description of life under totalitarianism that, during the communist era, some Eastern Europeans refused to believe that an inhabitant of a democratic country could have written such a book. 

Even today, I find the book very relevant, as Orwell develops themes of truth, propaganda, doublethink, and the misuse of language that you can find in Homage to Catalonia, written a decade earlier. And the ubiquitous and intrusive telescreen has a parallel in our age of surveillance capitalism and the way the Chinese authorities are using information technology to cement their rule.

By George Orwell ,

Why should I read it?

62 authors picked 1984 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU . . .

1984 is the year in which it happens. The world is divided into three superstates. In Oceania, the Party's power is absolute. Every action, word, gesture and thought is monitored under the watchful eye of Big Brother and the Thought Police. In the Ministry of Truth, the Party's department for propaganda, Winston Smith's job is to edit the past. Over time, the impulse to escape the machine and live independently takes hold of him and he embarks on a secret and forbidden love affair. As he writes the words 'DOWN WITH BIG…


Book cover of Brave New World

Haywood Spangler Author Of Reasoning for Business

From my list on critical thinking books for the intellectually curious.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the founder and principal of Work & Think, LLC., and help clients make complex decisions that include a realistic understanding of uncertainty. My Spangler Ethical Reasoning Assessment® (SERA®) is used across industries and around the world, enabling individuals to combine critical thinking and values to make complex decisions. I am a frequent keynote speaker, a corporate consultant, a researcher, and an author. My new book is Reasoning for Business. Learn more at my website.

Haywood's book list on critical thinking books for the intellectually curious

Haywood Spangler Why Haywood loves this book

For me, this book stimulates analysis of the relationship between technology and human flourishing, as well as the state’s role in using technology to promote the public good.

first read Brave New World because it was assigned in a high school English class. I later asked students to read it when I was teaching biomedical ethics at a university.

Whereas Dr. Frankenstein’s creation is the single product of a “mad genius” in an otherwise “normal” world, the brave new world is an entire civilization transformed by technology. Because of this vision of a civilization dominated by technology and a totalitarian government, I recently returned to Brave New World.

The novel provoked me to consider the reasons we even develop new technologies—what do and should they provide us?  

By Aldous Huxley ,

Why should I read it?

28 authors picked Brave New World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**

EVERYONE BELONGS TO EVERYONE ELSE. Read the dystopian classic that inspired the hit Sky TV series.

'A masterpiece of speculation... As vibrant, fresh, and somehow shocking as it was when I first read it' Margaret Atwood, bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale.

Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Our perfect society achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself. Now everyone belongs.

You can be happy too. All you need to do is take your Soma pills.

Discover the brave new…


Book cover of Klara and the Sun

Tim Weed Author Of The Gatepost

From my list on recent speculative novels.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was six, I wrote an eleven-page epic about an adventurous otter named "Ottiga." The causality between that early effort and my career as a novelist is uncertain, but it did establish a pattern. I was the perpetual new kid on the block, and novels provided a pathway to escape the difficulties of being young and introverted. I learned that fiction is an antidote to loneliness; that it has the power to transport us to entirely new worlds, or to show us the familiar world in entirely new and unexpected ways. The speculative novels on this list did that for me, and I hope they do the same for you!

Tim's book list on recent speculative novels

Tim Weed Why Tim loves this book

In a near-future world where one can purchase emotionally intelligent androids or “artificial friends” (AFs) to keep children company, we take the AF’s perspective. Klara, who begins as a display item in a department store, is adopted by Josie, a girl with what seems to be a fatal illness, and dedicates herself to trying to save Josie’s life.

Like all AF's, Klara has been programmed to observe and learn, and she seems to have exceptional abilities in this regard. She also possesses an especially kind disposition, keen emotional intelligence, and a number of other qualities that make her feel more human than most of the actual humans in the story.

For me, Klara is one of the great characters in recent literature, and her unique perspective is one of the things that make this immersive speculative novel such a pleasure to read. 

By Kazuo Ishiguro ,

Why should I read it?

27 authors picked Klara and the Sun as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller*
*Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021*
*A Barack Obama Summer Reading Pick*

'A delicate, haunting story' The Washington Post
'This is a novel for fans of Never Let Me Go . . . tender, touching and true.' The Times

'The Sun always has ways to reach us.'

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges…


Book cover of A Wizard of Earthsea

James Stoddard Author Of The High House

From James' 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

James' 3 favorite reads in 2025

James Stoddard Why James loves this book

Most fantasy readers are familiar with this novel. I've probably read it half a dozen times, and it never gets old. LeGuin's writing style, so simple on the surface, is elegant, literate, and unique. The story of Ged continually resonates with me, and though our styles and plots are much different from one another, Wizard was certainly an influence on my novel, The High House. Whenever I can't quite find a book that moves me, I return to Earthsea and walk upon it's glistening shores.

By Ursula K. Le Guin ,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked A Wizard of Earthsea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

The first book of Earthsea in a beautiful hardback edition. Complete the collection with The Tombs of Atuan, The Furthest Shore and Tehanu

With illustrations from Charles Vess

'[This] trilogy made me look at the world in a new way, imbued everything with a magic that was so much deeper than the magic I'd encountered before then. This was a magic of words, a magic of true speaking' Neil Gaiman

'Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it' David Mitchell

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge,…


Book cover of Sunrise on the Reaping
Book cover of The Hive
Book cover of Scythe

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