YA dystopian means young adult fiction set in a broken society: a repressive government or system, a teenage protagonist who is forced to fight it, and stakes high enough that failure could end her world. The “YA” part is the age of the lead and the coming-of-age arc; the “dystopian” part is the ruined, controlled world she has to survive.
If you came here for the one-line answer, that is it. Below is what actually marks the genre, the books everyone means when they say it, and how the romance fits in, because “dystopian romance meaning” is the other thing people search. The rest of this page is my own working notes on writing one.
What makes a book YA dystopian
A dystopia is a society that has been organized into something cruel and called it normal. YA dystopian adds a teenage lead who sees through it and gets pulled into resisting it. The markers below are the ones that show up again and again.
- A tyrant or oppressive system. A government or power with no freedom, no hope, and usually a secret at the center of it.
- Complacency. Nobody is happy, but nobody rebels. People walk the line because they are afraid or because they have given up.
- Violence. Often involving teens, guns, death, and gore. The world is dangerous and the story does not look away.
- An inciting event. Something forces the protagonist onto a path she cannot refuse, often at the cost of someone she loves.
- Love interests. Usually at least two, and usually complicating everything.
- A revolution. The protagonist becomes a symbol or a leader, and her role in freeing her people comes before her own happiness.
Famous YA dystopian examples
When people say YA dystopian, they usually mean a handful of books that defined the shelf. The Hunger Games is the clearest example: a controlling government, a teenage girl forced into violence, and a revolution she ends up leading. Divergent does the same with a society split into factions. The 5th Wave and Wayward Pines push it toward the postapocalyptic end, where the world has already broken and the characters are trying to survive what is left.
That last point matters for the definition. Dystopian and postapocalyptic are often shelved together, but they are not the same thing: dystopian is a controlled society, postapocalyptic is what comes after the collapse. Plenty of YA books blend the two.
What about dystopian romance?
“Dystopian romance” is the same genre with the love story pushed to the front. The world is still broken and the stakes are still high, but the emotional engine is the relationship between the lead and her love interest (or interests). The romance does not replace the revolution; it runs alongside it, and the tension comes from the character having to choose between saving her people and letting herself be happy.
If you want titles rather than definitions, our recommended YA dystopian books list is the place to start. For the ones with the biggest revolutionary streak, see the best YA dystopian books that made us want to overthrow the government.
How to write a YA dystopian novel
If you are writing one, the genre gives you a useful set of levers. Start with the system: what does it control, and what does it tell people so they accept it? Then give your protagonist a reason she cannot walk away, a personal cost that makes the inciting event impossible to refuse. From there the revolution is the spine, and the romance is what makes the reader care about the person leading it.
If you are drafting one yourself, the writing and publishing advice for fiction authors hub has the craft side.
My notes on writing one
I’m in the process of writing 5 YA (young adult) novels. As young adult novels, the protagonist in all of these novels are teenage girls. There may or may not also be some teenage guys involved. Well – there definitely are some of course as romantic interest, but I haven’t decided if they will get their own voice or if I stay with only one narrator for each book.
But I’m also currently reading some dystopian/postapocalyptic novels, like Wayward Pines and Dust and The 5th Wave. And I’m making some notes about how elements I need to include in my novels. And I got a little confused, because while most of my novels play with Armageddon settings (the stakes are high enough that failure could mean the end of civilization), my novels all start from the Ordinary World. So they are actually more paranormal romance than they are dystopian.
And I’m almost bummed out, because it would be so much easier to start after the end of the world. Everybody died. The lead characters are already dead and broken and hopeless, just trying to survive. But they find hope and meaning in their love for each other. That’s a simple plot. And it’s exciting. Start with the action. The first scenes can be gore and violence.
In my books, the first scenes are boring high school stuff. A call to adventure, sure… but I’m showing the ordinary world as a foil; so that eventually the heroine will look back and see how far she’s come. She’ll have something to miss.
That means my books are going to be a little bit slower. I’ll have to work harder to add in some early intrigue. I’ll have to work harder to establish the narrator’s voice and personality. And also show her develop in a satisfying way. In dystopian/postapocalyptic, the character can start out broken. The author doesn’t need to show heartbreak. In my novels, I’ll have to introduce a current or past event that makes them afraid, distrustful, uncertain… afraid to love.
I’ll have to throw a lot of shit their way, to force them to become the strong characters I need them to be by the end. This might not all be able to happen in the first book. Maybe the first book is just about survival. They just have to not die.
There are also some elements of dystopian fiction, however, I’ll see if I can work into my stories. I’ve made a convenient list for you.
Tyrant
A dystopian needs a tyrant, an oppressive government/society without freedom. A place with no hope. Cruel and unjust. A secret conspiracy.
Complacency
Nobody is happy… but they don’t rebel. They walk the line. They don’t have a leader.
Violence
Probably involving teens and kids with guns, and death and gore.
Inciting Event
The protagonist gets forced onto a path of action that’s impossible for her to refuse. She does the best she can. It may involve sacrificing herself to save someone she loves (a family member).
Love interest (x2)
There’s usually at least 2 main love interests.
There’s a lost guy, she gives him meaning and purpose.
He wants to save/protect her.
She wants to be strong and pushes him away. They fight because she refuses to accept help. He can be controlling and overprotective. He’s dark and secretive.
The other guy is happy, confident, funny and friendly. She should like him. He likes her. But she doesn’t feel that way about him. This other guy may turn out to be the bad guy. She has mixed feelings; because she does like him a little. Maybe they kiss. Maybe she’s attracted to him.
A revolution
She becomes a revolutionary hero, and leads an uprising. Her role is more important than sorting out her relationships, so she stalls on that front and ignores her feelings. She won’t let herself be happy until her people are free.
She feels bad about killing, at first, but gets better at it.
YA paranormal romance/urban fantasy
If you took out the “dystopian” part, but kept the YA – you’d still get the love interests. Instead of a tyrant, you’d have an evil force or power – she has something he wants. She’s the only one who can stop him. She discovers she has powers; powers that are mysteriously and abnormally strong.
She has a best friend who’s ordinary (and might have a crush on her… but she doesn’t feel that way about him/her).
Daddy Issues
In any kind of YA, parentage is important. Usually one or both parents are missing – assumed dead. Later we may discover they aren’t really dead. They are in prison; or they are the enemy; or something else happened. The protagonist finds out that through her parents she is irrevocably tied to the core plot. Her father started this. Her mother is the villain. She inherited powers through one of them. Maybe we find out that her parents aren’t really her parents, and her new boyfriend is actually her brother.
Dealing with these revelations is part of the character coming to grips with her new self.
What else am I missing? Tell me in the comments!
WORK IN PROGRESS...
