If you could not put down The Maze Runner, you likely fell in love with its pulse-pounding dystopian survival, relentless mystery, and high-stakes escape. The adrenaline rush does not have to end with the Glade. Explore our handpicked recommendations below and discover your next read today.
Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.
He was wrong.
Now he's trapped in a school that's surrounded by a razor-wire fence, where video cameras monitor his every move—and where breaking the rules equals death.
All Benson wants is to find a way out. But when he stumbles upon the real secret the school has been hiding, he realizes that escape may be impossible.
Why it's similar
Both novels center on a teenage protagonist trapped inside a walled, heavily monitored compound where groups of youth must maintain their own social order under strict, unexplained rules. Each story builds suspense around uncovering the sinister true nature of the institution controlling them.
What's different
Rather than a vast outdoor maze inhabited by biomechanical monsters, Variant takes place inside an isolated boarding school where the tension stems from espionage, paranoia, and imposter students.
The first novel in the worldwide bestselling series by Suzanne Collins!
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Why it's similar
Both are action-packed young adult dystopian novels where adolescents are forced into an engineered, lethal arena manipulated by an authoritarian entity. Both books explore themes of survival, sacrifice, and defiance against an unseen controlling power.
What's different
While The Maze Runner emphasizes teamwork and collective mystery-solving, The Hunger Games focuses on individual gladiatorial combat where teenagers are pitted against one another for televised entertainment.
Golding’s iconic 1954 novel, now with a new foreword by Lois Lowry, remains one of the greatest books ever written for young adults and an unforgettable classic for readers of any age.
This edition includes a new Suggestions for Further Reading by Jennifer Buehler.
At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued.
Why it's similar
Both works examine group psychology and the fragile nature of civilization when an isolated community of young boys must establish rules and hierarchy without adult supervision. Key character archetypes in both books represent order, pragmatism, and chaotic savagery.
What's different
Lord of the Flies is a classic literary allegory set on a deserted natural island with no sci-fi elements or external puppet masters, moving at a slower, more contemplative pace than Dashner's fast-paced techno-thriller.
In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...
Why it's similar
Both books strand a youth population inside an impenetrable physical perimeter where they are forced to establish a functioning society and fight deadly, unexplained threats. Both highlight the struggle between factions striving for law and order versus those descending into lawlessness.
What's different
Gone incorporates speculative elements like spontaneous superpowers and alien biological mutations, shifting perspective across a wide ensemble cast rather than focusing on a single amnesiac protagonist.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.
“Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field.”—USA Today
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness
“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
“I live for you,” I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Praise for Red Rising
“[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler
“Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
Why it's similar
Both stories place adolescents into a brutal, high-stakes testing ground orchestrated by a ruling elite to weed out the weak and identify ruthless leaders. In both settings, participants must navigate artificial environmental hazards while forming uneasy alliances.
What's different
Red Rising features an adult space-opera scope built around a rigid Roman-inspired color caste system, featuring graphic military warfare and deep political maneuvering rather than an amnesiac puzzle-escape.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * For fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Rising comes a gripping sci-fi adventure in which a group of teenagers wake up in a mysterious corridor with no knowledge of who they are or how they got trapped. Their only hope lies with an indomitable young woman who must lead them not only to answers but to survival.
"I open my eyes to darkness. Total darkness. I hear my own breathing, but nothing else. I lift my head . . . it thumps against something solid and unmoving. There is a board right in front of my face. No, not a board . . . a lid."
A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief--she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people . . . and no answers.
She knows only one thing about herself--her name, M. Savage, which was engraved on the foot of her coffin--yet she finds herself in charge. She is not the biggest among them, or the boldest, but for some reason the others trust her. Now, if they're to have any chance, she must get them to trust one another.
Whatever the truth is, she is determined to find it and confront it. If she has to lead, she will make sure they survive. Maybe there's a way out, a rational explanation, and a fighting chance against the dangers to come. Or maybe a reality they cannot comprehend lies just beyond the next turn.
Praise for Alive
"Suspenseful . . . [Alive] lives up to its hype, packing plenty of thrills."--Entertainment Weekly
"Fascinating and intriguing . . . a cross between Lord of the Flies and The Maze Runner and yet . . . so much more."--Fresh Fiction
"A ripping, claustrophobic thunderbolt of a novel, Scott Sigler's Alive gives us an unforgettable young hero who must find the inner strength to lead without knowing where she is, who she is, and how bitterly the odds are stacked against her."--Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
"Sigler has created a wonderful and engrossing character in M. Savage. Strong and smart, but with the na�vet� and misgivings of any teenage girl, she's someone you'll definitely want on your side when s*** hits the fan, which it most certainly does."--Veronica Belmont, host of Sword & Laser
"A tense, unsettling page-turner of a story--both deeply strange and wildly compelling."--Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker and Maplecroft
"From the first page I was hooked. The puzzle unfolds masterfully, right down to the last page."--Dr. Phil Plait, author of Bad Astronomy
Why it's similar
Like The Maze Runner, it opens with teens waking up with no memories in a confined, deadly environment, forcing them to band together, survive elaborate threats, and unravel a central mystery about who they are and why they are trapped.
What's different
Compared with The Maze Runner, it leans more into horror and science-fiction mystery, with a slightly older feel and a heavier emphasis on body horror and psychological tension.
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