Every year, it seems, there is a book or a movie that a number of new books find themselves compared to. For a long time, we were seeing everything compared to John Green or Rainbow Rowell. That’s certainly waned — and it feels even weirdly dated when it does pop up.
Fortunately, 2019 has a new popular catchphrase for YA books. They’re all being compared to The Handmaid’s Tale. More specifically, books featuring a compelling female lead (see: “strong female character”) is being thusly named as great for fans of Atwood’s classic. The rise in the show’s popularity makes this no surprise, but it is becoming not only overwhelming to see on book after book, but it’s becoming meaningless, too. Do people genuinely become fans of the book or are they intrigued/disgusted/frustrated by the realities it showcases?
I’ve pulled together all of the books I’ve seen so far either compared to The Handmaid’s Tale in official marketing — press releases, ARC jackets, descriptions — or in their “meets” pitches from official marketing. These are 2019 books only. I know there are more out there, so if you know another one or two getting that billing this year, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Descriptions from Amazon. Not all of these descriptions, which are publisher descriptions, contain the comp, but many of them do.
Eve of Man by
Scythe meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this gripping new dystopian trilogy written by UK-bestselling authors Tom and Giovanna Fletcher.
On the first day, no one really noticed. All those babies wrapped in blue blankets–not a pink one in sight. On the third day, people were scared–a statistic-defying abundance of blue. Not just entire hospitals, not only entire countries, but the entire world. Boys. Only boys.
Until Eve. The only girl born in fifty years. The savior of mankind. Kept protected, towering above a ruined world under a glass dome of safety until she is ready to renew the human race.
But when the time comes to find a suitor, Eve and Bram–a young man whose job is to prepare Eve for this moment–begin to question the plan they’ve known all along. Eve doesn’t only want safety, and she doesn’t only want protection. She wants the truth. She wants freedom.
Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this start to a thrilling, subversive near future series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young about a girls-only private high school that is far more than it appears to be.
Some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.
The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardian, they receive a well-rounded education that promises to make them better. Obedient girls, free from arrogance or defiance. Free from troublesome opinions or individual interests.
But the girls’ carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears. As Mena and her friends uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there—and who they really are—the girls of Innovations Academy will learn to fight back.
Bringing the trademark plot twists and high-octane drama that made The Program a bestselling and award-winning series, Suzanne Young launches a new series that confronts some of today’s most pressing ethical questions.
The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis (No cover or release date yet)
Good Luck Girls was pitched as “The Handmaid’s Tale meets Thelma and Louise in an alternate Wild West setting.” The novel, which is slated for fall 2019, follows five girls who, Hellegers explained, “escape from the ‘welcome house’ that owns them and embark on a dangerous journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge.”
Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart (out in paperback this year, with a sequel to come in July)
Bold, brutal, and beautiful–a must-read fantasy full of fierce sisterhood, action, and political intrigue for fans of The Selection series, Caraval, and The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (September 17)
A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!
No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.
Girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.
Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life―a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for their chance to grab one of the girls in order to make their fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.
With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.
Internment by Samira Ahmed
Rebellions are built on hope.
The Virtue of Sin by Shannon Schuren (June 25)
A compelling novel about speaking out, standing up, and breaking free — perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and Tara Westover’s Educated.
Miriam lives in New Jerusalem, a haven in the desert far away from the sins and depravity of the outside world. Within the gates of New Jerusalem, and under the eye of its founder and leader, Daniel, Miriam knows she is safe. Cared for. Even if she’s forced, as a girl, to quiet her tongue when she has thoughts she wants to share, Miriam knows that New Jerusalem is a far better life than any alternative. So when God calls for a Matrimony, she’s thrilled; she knows that Caleb, the boy she loves, will choose her to be his wife and they can finally start their life together.
But when the ceremony goes wrong and Miriam winds up with someone else, she can no longer keep quiet. For the first time, Miriam begins to question not only the rules that Daniel has set in place, but also what it is she believes in, and where she truly belongs.
Alongside unexpected allies, Miriam fights to learn–and challenge–the truth behind the only way of life she’s ever known, even if it means straying from the path of Righteousness.
We Set The Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
In this daring and romantic fantasy debut perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Taleand Latinx authors Zoraida Córdova and Anna-Marie McLemore, society wife-in-training Dani has a great awakening after being recruited by rebel spies and falling for her biggest rival.
At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children. Both paths promise a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class.
Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her pedigree is a lie. She must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society.
And school couldn’t prepare her for the difficult choices she must make after graduation, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio.
Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or will she give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?