Category Archives: Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic

Review: Anna-Jane and the Endless Summer by Paige Classey

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Anna-Jane and the Endless Summer by Paige Classey

Anna-Jane and the Endless Summer
Paige Classey
Random House Books for Young Readers
Published April 28, 2026

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About Anna-Jane and the Endless Summer

Anna-Jane couldn’t wait for camp. But when the outside world goes dark, she and her friends soon realize they’re in for the adventure of their lives this summer—and maybe even beyond.

Anna-Jane is thrilled to be back at Camp Chester—the one place she feels like she belongs. She’s excited to swim in the lake, read in her favorite chair, and swap secrets with her best friend under the stars. But not long after Anna-Jane unpacks her trunk, weird things start happening.

First, townspeople near camp begin disappearing. Then, the internet, cell service, and all other forms of communication are cut off. Soon, Anna-Jane and the residents of Camp Chester realize they are completely alone.

Or so they think. Across the lake, the kids spot a strange flashing light. And when animals begin turning up with yellowed eyes and disfigured limbs, it is clear the dangers are only growing. Most alarming of all, though, is the deepening distrust among the campers themselves, which could have deadly consequences. Anna-Jane knows what to expect from a summer at camp . . . but what happens when camp lasts well beyond the summer?

My Review

I didn’t realize this was a novel in verse until I started reading it. That format lends itself really well to a fast-paced story like this one. The summer camp setting also creates a perfect place where the kids are really at the center of the story and have to make decisions for themselves.

Though for the most part, I enjoyed the pacing of the story, there are a couple of things that I wish the author had explored more deeply, or maybe left out altogether. At one point, someone raises the idea that the changes Anna-Jane and the others are seeing are the result of bioterrorism. I felt like that was kind of a leap. The science behind what’s happening is explored a little bit, but it’s not truly the focus of the story.

I do like that the kids at camp each had something to contribute. I like that the crisis flipped the social hierarchy. Suddenly, the most popular kid wasn’t necessarily the best positioned to help. Perhaps the kid on the bottom rung of the social ladder would turn out to contribute the greatest value to the survival of the group.

I could definitely see fans of Megan E. Freeman’s novels in verse enjoying this one. It’s got a similar focus on surviving an event that changes life as we know it. It’s also a nice spin on summer camp stories.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One character has a gun and implies a threat to use it. Anna-Jane learns to hunt small animals using a bow and arrows. Someone collapses due to a medical crisis. References to the death of a child.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis

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The Danger of Small Things
Caryl Lewis
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published March 24, 2026

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About The Danger of Small Things

Set in a world where bees are at risk of extinction, this startling YA dystopian is perfect for fans of Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now and Sarah Crossan, described by the author as a love letter to her daughter. 

Imagine a world where honeybees have died out. It’s a patriarchal world where famines are rife. It’s a world without art, without books, without plays. Girls are sent away from home, forced to pollinate crops by hand with brushes and to marry as soon as they can. Inhabiting this world is Jess and her friends Cass, Deva, and Ruth. But even if one fourteen‑year‑old knows that brushes weren’t invented for pollinating, can she really stoke a revolution?

Caryl Lewis: ‘As a beekeeper, I am acutely aware of the interconnectedness of everything and have long been frightened of how we, as humans, set ourselves apart from nature. We do not seem to understand that in destroying nature, we destroy ourselves. My daughter is growing up in what feels like a much more hostile environment facing climate instability, the rise of misogyny and the roll back of women’s bodily rights. I wanted to comfort and empower her and let her see that our greatest weapon in a floundering world is the imagination.’

My Review

I’m really fascinated by the fact that the author is herself a beekeeper, and that her experience inspired the story. Certainly, exploring the extinction of bees and its impact on global food supply is a timely one. In this story, Lewis connects this with a society that uses the food shortage to create a government system that uses its girls and women as labor before pressuring them into a life of raising the next generation of laborers.

Some elements of the story left me wanting more information about the larger world beyond the town where Jess lived. Where did the leaders go when they left the village? Who did they trade with?

I was a bit worried about Jess’s relationship with the guard. I think she was supposed to be thirteen or fourteen, and he was seventeen or eighteen. Nothing romantic happens between the two of them, though, and it doesn’t seem like Jess thinks of him in that way.

All in all, I think the concept of this book is very relevant. I could see readers who enjoy dystopian fiction liking this one a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to kissing. Vague references to sexual abuse. (Not shown on the page.)

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to riots and political unrest. Some instances of homophobia.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

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Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)
Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press
Published March 18, 2025

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About Sunrise on the Reaping

The phenomenal fifth book in the Hunger Games series!

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

My Review

Where do I begin? In some ways, I think Haymitch’s story may be easier to tell than President Snow’s origin story. Snow becomes the villain. We know how Haymitch’s tale ends, and though it does start at kind of a low point when he enters the scene in The Hunger Games, we sense that he was more than the alcoholic recluse he’s become. This story shows us how much more.

I think Collins did a great job connecting this book to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which occurs fifteen years before this book, and The Hunger Games, which occurs twenty-four years after it. That couldn’t have been easy.

The story also contains a lot of surprising moments and some really fun cameos. (Wiress and Beetee, for example.) Katniss’s parents are also in the story. We know Haymitch outlasts the other tributes, but the story introduces some other goals and stakes. It sets up how and why Haymitch reacts the way he does to Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games, especially when Katniss reacts to the game makers the way she does.

Beneath its surface, the story explores the power of propoganda. Haymitch gives a lot of thought to the difference between how the Capital defines itself and its policies versus his real experience in District 12. Participating in the Hunger Games gives him a unique opportunity to share his own message, if he can find a way to do so that can’t be ignored.

Some of the story’s components are similar to the other stories. The tributes from certain districts have trained their whole lives to compete, while those from others are barely surviving. It was interesting thinking about what motivated the tributes to behave as they have, and to watch Haymitch evaluate those motivations in light of his own values.

All in all, Sunrise on the Reaping is a great addition to the series. You could read it without having read the rest of the series first, but it will spoil some events in the original trilogy. I’d recommend starting with The Hunger Games first, if you haven’t read it yet.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Lenore believes when people die, they move to another plane of existence, where loved ones might find one another.

Violent Content
Multiple brief graphic descriptions of harm and death. Situations of peril. Gun violence. Fire. Poison. Animals attacking people.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol and illegally making alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Postscript by Cory McCarthy

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Postscript
Cory McCarthy
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Published February 17, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Postscript

From Stonewall Honoree Cory McCarthy, a heartbreaking, joyful, read-it-in-one-sitting YA novel about the last of us.

“I’m not sure the how-pocalypse changes anything. I don’t think about it; this is hard enough.”

This is a depopulated archipelago off the coast of Massachusetts, home to a tiny handful of sapiens sifting the remnants of civilization for scraps of comfort and joy. 

There’s no sense in trying to figure out exactly how humans got to this place of endless gray skies and so many mass graves—that’s a very long letter no one has the heart to read again. What matters is this fleeting postscript, a strangely joyous house of bones built by an unlikely quintet of survivors.

My Review

I haven’t read a book by Cory McCarthy in a while, but as I started reading this one, I immediately remembered why I love their work so much. They have this incredible ability to summarize so much in a few cleverly chosen words. I kept having to stop and marvel at the writing.

The book isn’t all that long, and the story feels lean, but in a really good way. It’s almost like the story cuts right to the heart of what’s happening with each character, which feels right in an apocalyptic story.

The characters, like the setting, are a little strange. You can feel the marks the trauma they’ve faced has left behind on them. Despite the grim landscape, the story is filled with these unexpected bursts of joy, from someone meeting a dog to falling in love for the first time. There’s also raw, messy grief and misunderstandings. For a short book, this story captures a lot!

While the unusual topic and tone of this story probably won’t appeal to everyone, I think fans of Before Takeoff by Adi Alsaid or They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran will really enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief descriptions of sex. Reference to sex work.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to human trafficking. Suicide (not shown on page). References to death. Death of a loved one.

Drug Content
One character is an alcoholic.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

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This is Not a Test: The Definitive Edition with Please Remain Calm
Courtney Summers
Inky Phoenix Press/Bindery
Published January 13, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About This is Not a Test: The Definitive Edition with Please Remain Calm

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High, but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self.

To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed, and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live.

But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways, and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

My Review

This is Not a Test is one of the only Courtney Summers novels I hadn’t yet read. (The only one I still haven’t gotten to at this point is Fall for Anything.) This version includes both This is Not a Test and Please Remain Calm, a novella from the love interest’s perspective that takes place after This is Not a Test.

This book was so intense that I literally read it in one session. The threat of zombies is everpresent, but that’s not the only threat the characters face. The tension between members of the survivors Sloane hides with just keeps going up. One group blames a person for the deaths of others. The group disagrees on how to treat a new survivor discovered within the compound. Sloane herself begins the story intending to end her life, so she is a danger to herself for quite a stretch of the narrative.

Throughout the story, Sloane thinks about her missing sister and her father, who abused her. I had a theory about where that thread of the story was going, but I was wrong. I do appreciate that the author wraps up the unanswered questions there in a way that allows Sloane to move on. I also like that she finds a connection to Rhys, a boy from the group of survivors she was with in the school.

As you’d expect from a Courtney Summers novel, this story is sharp, smart, and deeply moving. I don’t even know if I blinked through some of the chapters. I didn’t want to miss a single second.

If you’re looking for a zombie story packed with social commentary and exploring the connection between sisters and girl friends, definitely do not miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Vague reference to someone walking in on a couple having sex. A couple starts making out, intending to have sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Mentions of and brief descriptions of domestic violence and child abuse. Suicidal ideation and a vague attempt. One scene shows a character ending their life. Several scenes show zombies attacking one another and anyone still alive. Some members of the group blame another group member for the deaths of others. One person essentially sends others into a fatal situation, hoping it allows the others to escape.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett

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Version 1.0.0

The Forest of a Thousand Eyes
Frances Hardinge
Illustrated by Emily Gravett
Amulet Books
Published August 26, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Forest of a Thousand Eyes

Costa Award-winning Frances Hardinge’s gripping story of a young girl’s daring mission through a natural world intent on her destruction.

With stunning two-colour illustrations by superstar illustrator Emily Gravett on every page, this richly atmospheric book is perfect for fans of David Almond and Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

The hungry Forest is moving forward like an army, a green and constant threat to the humans living in and on an increasingly crumbling Wall. Feather, accompanied only by her scaled ferret, Sleek, must avoid the Forest’s tentacles, and the many dangerous creatures it shelters, to return the community’s precious spyglass to its rightful place. Along the way, she develops her resilience, and meets other people living on the Wall, whose stories and experiences open her mind, and those of her community, to new horizons.

A compelling story filled with adventure, emotional intensity and the rawness of nature.

My Review

This is totally going to date me as a reviewer, but this book reminded me of The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, but plants instead of zombies and make it middle grade. (I tried to link to my review, but apparently I never posted a review of that one! I’m adding the whole series to my list to reread.)

This story is eerie. Feather, the main character makes a mistake that threatens her community’s survival, so she sets out on a quest to fix her error. The whole way, the Forest comes after her. The plants feel sinister as they creep along after her, sending vines to wrap her up and whispering thoughts of betrayal to her scaled ferret.

I love the community aspect of the story. Feather meets people from other settlements on her journey, and they trade ideas and learn from one another. So that she leaves behind her a trail of goodwill leading all the way home.

The story is a little dark, and definitely unusual. I’d say this would bridge upper elementary grades into middle school. It would work well as a story that has an eerie vibe for the Halloween season without being related to the holiday.

The message about caring for others and building community is well-crafted, and the quick pace of the adventure along with the evocative illustrations will make readers want to devour this book in one sitting.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone tries to kill another person by pushing them off a wall. Forest elements stalk a character with ill intent. The story contains depictions of and descriptions of spiders.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.