Karen Healey writes killer speculative fiction. I think I liked While We Run even better than I liked the first book, which was fantastic anyway. When We Wake had an ending, but an open-ended one, making this sequel welcome but not required. This time, the story is told from Abdi’s point of view, and it begins a few months after the first book ended. I don’t want to share too much, but I will say that things aren’t great – Abdi and Tegan are in government custody and are being manipulated and tortured into being mouthpieces. They have a plan to get away – but at what cost? And what will they need to do once they’re free?

Much of what makes dystopias so powerful is their connection to our own present-day issues. If you read a synopsis of a dystopia and it makes you roll your eyes, it’s probably because the premise lacks this connection. This is not the speculative fiction Healey writes. Her future world is believable because of the way it differs from the present. She’s taken the issues we grapple with now (or avoid grappling with now) and shown how they could progress, how they could worsen – or perhaps get better. She doesn’t focus on any one thing, either, addressing climate change, government and corporate power, class, race, the effects of colonialism and globalization. The result is a complex future world with a variety of problems big and small, and a diverse group of people struggling with them.

Abdi and Tegan grapple with so very much in this volume. Is collateral damage – any amount – acceptable, even for a just cause? Is complete recovery from trauma possible? At what point does reading people too well become manipulation? How the heck do you fix a world? This stuff is hard. In some cases, there aren’t any good answers. It’s a lot for teenagers to handle; it’s also precisely the kind of thing teen readers see going on in their world.

From a thematic standpoint, this book rocks it. From a craft standpoint, it’s terrific as well. Abdi’s narrative is heartbreaking at times. I feel like sometimes writers of dystopias will have their characters go through really horrible stuff and then gloss over any sort of lasting effects it may have. Healey refuses to do this – it’s obvious Abdi is traumatized by his time in captivity and Healey lets him go through it. She makes us as readers feel it, too. And of course, the plot, which features cryonics and lots of government secrets, is exciting and well-paced, too.

Many of the characters from When We Wake return in the sequel, which means the book is quite diverse. Abdi is a black protagonist, an atheist, the son of Muslims. His three friends are a white semi-religious Christian girl (Tegan), a devout Muslim girl (Bethari), and a transgender girl (Joph). Far from feeling like a checklist, this cast simply feels like the people who exist. You know, the people you see when you take a look at your own community.

Readers who may feel they’ve exceeded their threshold for dystopias and books featuring shitty futures would do well to take a look at this series, which breathes new life into the subgenre. It’s worlds removed from books that bear a striking resemblance to this fun little joke.

Review copy received from the publisher. While We Run is available May 27.