Books like 'When the Lights Go Out'
Readers who enjoyed When the Lights Go Out by Carys Bray also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary sc-fi literary-fiction pollution-climate-change dystopia family apocalyptic
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Fever by Deon Meyer
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNico Storm and his father Willem drive a truck filled with essential supplies through a desolate land. They are among the few in South Africa--and the world, as far as they know--to have survived a devastating virus which has swept through the country... -
![The Stranding by Kate Sawyer]()
The Stranding by Kate Sawyer
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRuth lives in the heart of the city. Working, drinking, falling in love: the rhythm of her vivid and complicated life there is set against a background hum of darkening news reports from which she deliberately turns away... -
![The One by J.K. Accinni]()
The One by J.K. Accinni
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn The One, the sixth book in the Alien Species Intervention #6609 series, almost a hundred years have passed since Armageddon. The Earth is ready for habitation but it is a far different Earth from the one last seen so long ago. Alongside the original wildlife and generations of their offspring, new plants and forms of wildlife from different worlds populate the planet as chosen by the Womb... -
![Promise Me Once by Paige Weaver]()
Promise Me Once by Paige Weaver
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOnce with him was never enough.I am the girl you dislike. The girl you snub at parties. I am the one who flirts with men and knows no boundaries. I am the one you whisper about. The one who has no rules. I am the one who takes and uses without any regret or excuses.On the outside I am perfect... -
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![I Am Not a Number by Lisa Heathfield]()
I Am Not a Number by Lisa Heathfield
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe powerful and heart-wrenching new novel from Lisa Heathfield, award-winning author of Seed and Paper Butterflies. Perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Louise O'Neill and Lisa Williamson.The Traditionals have been voted to lead the country, winning people over with talks of healing a broken society, of stronger families and safer streets. They promised a happier future for everyone... -
![Falling Stars by Kyla Stone]()
Falling Stars by Kyla Stone
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThey survived the Grand Voyager. They believed they were safe. They were wrong. After a violent ambush, the survivors find themselves thrust into a harsh, unrecognizable world. No communications. No shelter. No food. All they have is each other—a ragtag group of elites and misfits. Amelia faces her deadliest test yet. Guilt-ridden Willow must save her brother at any cost...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia literary-fiction action-adventure aliens book contemporary disaster -
![Where the World Turns Wild by Nicola Penfold]()
Where the World Turns Wild by Nicola Penfold
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJuniper Greene lives in a walled city from which nature has been banished, following the outbreak of a deadly man-made disease many years earlier. While most people seem content to live in such a cage, she and her little brother Bear have always known about their resistance to the disease, and dream of escaping into the wild. To the one place humans have survived outside of cities... -
![The Semplica-Girl Diaries (short story) by George Saunders]()
The Semplica-Girl Diaries (short story) by George Saunders
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNovelette, Free online fiction.From newyorker.com“The Semplica-Girl Diaries” deals with a family in a not-too-distant future (or perhaps an alternate present or past?) that is struggling to keep up with the Joneses—which, in this society, means leasing some unusual garden ornaments... -
![Flight 3430 by Jacqueline Druga]()
Flight 3430 by Jacqueline Druga
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn a small Montana town, it takes four minutes for every man, woman and child to die.It isn’t a virus or biological attack, but rather the beginning of a geological event that triggers a chain reaction across the globe with devastating effects.A repeat of an extinction event that occurred millions of years earlier.There is no stopping it. The only way to survive is to stay ahead of it... -
![We of the Forsaken World... by Kiran Bhat]()
We of the Forsaken World... by Kiran Bhat
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn a distant corner of the globe, a man journeys to the birthplace of his mother, a tourist town destroyed by an industrial spill. In a nameless remote tribe, the chief’s second son is born, creating a scramble for succession as their jungles are being destroyed by loggers... -
![Survival by Thomas A. Watson]()
Survival by Thomas A. Watson
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsMike and Bruce have escaped the hospital and the city. Only to find infected aren't their only worry. With them they have brought survivors back to the farm and that was never part of any plan. How will they feed, clothe and help those who join them. How can those that join the family help them? They traveled through hell to come home but hell is now everywhere... -
![Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker]()
Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe baker's dozen stories gathered here (including a new, previously unpublished story) turn readers into travelers to the past, the future, and explorers of the weirder points of the present...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia literary-fiction adult anthologies audiobook contemporary female-author -
![Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift]()
Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsTHE END OF EVERYTHING WAS HER BEGINNINGIt's November 2023. The human race has been wiped out by the 6DM virus (Six Days Maximum - the longest you've got before your body destroys itself). The end of the world as we know it.Yet someone is still alive. Alone in a new world of burning cities, rotting corpses and ravenous rats, one woman has survived... -
![Heading Home by Susan Kiernan-Lewis]()
Heading Home by Susan Kiernan-Lewis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat happens when the one thing you’ve been praying for turns out to be the one thing that will destroy you and everything you love? After two years of living and adjusting to life after the bomb, Sarah and her son, John, have discovered that happiness can trump grief and loss... -
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![Overshadowed by Vannetta Chapman]()
Overshadowed by Vannetta Chapman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the Lights Go Out... Who Will Be Ready? All Gabe Thompson wanted was a rewarding and challenging career in the U.S. military. He's about to get his wish. The government knows that a massive solar flare could plunge the entire world into darkness for decades to come, but few believe it will ever happen. The governor of Texas is hoping it won't, but planning that it could... -
![Motorman by David Ohle]()
Motorman by David Ohle
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFiction. It is curious that a reprint could be heroic. It is more curious that a book this good could go out of print so quickly. And it is most curious that an introduction would even be required for a novel that, if you examine it carefully in the right kind oflight, might actually be seen to be steaming... -
![Intentional Dissonance by Iain S. Thomas, pleasefindthis]()
Intentional Dissonance by Iain S. Thomas, pleasefindthis
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNewLand, the last city on Earth after The End. Before The End, the world was on the cusp of widespread adaptation of technologies that should never have been invented. Popular use of teleportation polluted the fabric of time and space. The gifts of a select few meant a whole new world was about to erupt.After The End, Jon Salt is addicted to feeling...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia book contemporary fiction male-author post-apocalyptic psychological -
![Under the Blue by Oana Aristide]()
Under the Blue by Oana Aristide
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program...Categorized as:
dystopia apocalyptic pollution-climate-change literary-fiction fiction sci-fi ai post-apocalyptic -
![The Marriage Act by John Marrs]()
The Marriage Act by John Marrs
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhat if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey?Britain. The near-future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills — the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single... -
![Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee]()
Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'You said that you would come back. You looked me in the eye and said that. Well, if you had, this is what you would have seen: soft wood, black cracks, fridges in the road. The broken spines of old rides at Dreamland.'In the coastal resort of Margate, hotels lie empty and sun-faded 'For Sale' signs line the streets. The sea is higher - it's higher everywhere - and those who can are moving inland...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction pollution-climate-change family apocalyptic fiction lgbtq sci-fi -
![Good Fences by Boyd Craven]()
Good Fences by Boyd Craven
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsBrian Cartwright just wants to work and run his farm in peace. The police keep showing up as the HOA from the new neighborhood keeps filing nuisance complaints against him and his farm. What makes matters worse, his former boss George and his son built a big house overlooking the farm. His prepping lifestyle and following the news online is his only other hobby other than church activities... -
![Rebel Radio by Boyd Craven]()
Rebel Radio by Boyd Craven
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA raw and gritty standalone novel in The World Burns Saga. Can be read on it's own or as a companion after The World Burns 5: The World Bleeds!Life after an EMP puts the USA in the dark ages is not an easy one. Life is dangerous and difficult enough without humans preying on each other... -
![When the Power Is Gone by P.A. Glaspy]()
When the Power Is Gone by P.A. Glaspy
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsRuss and Anne Mathews live in a rural suburb in Tennessee. Regular people, with regular jobs, living a normal life - except for one thing. They are what many people call "preppers." They have stocked up on supplies to survive any kind of event they can think of that may occur to disrupt life as they know it. When that event comes, they start preparing for the new way of life they will face...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia literary-fiction action-adventure adult book contemporary female-mc -
![Not Forgetting the Whale by John Ironmonger]()
Not Forgetting the Whale by John Ironmonger
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen a young man washes up, naked, on the sands of St Piran, he is quickly rescued by the villagers. From the retired village doctor and the schoolteacher, to the beachcomber and the owner of the local bar, the priest's wife and the romantic novelist, they take this lost soul into their midst... -
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![The High House by Jessie Greengrass]()
The High House by Jessie Greengrass
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn this powerful, highly anticipated novel from an award-winning author, four people attempt to make a home in the midst of environmental disaster.Perched on a sloping hill, set away from a small town by the sea, the High House has a tide pool and a mill, a vegetable garden, and, most importantly, a barn full of supplies...Categorized as:
dystopia family literary-fiction pollution-climate-change 21st-century adult audiobook book -
![The Universe in Miniature in Miniature by Patrick Somerville]()
The Universe in Miniature in Miniature by Patrick Somerville
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this genre-busting book from award-winning novelist Patrick Somerville characters, stories, and stray thoughts revolve around the "The Machine of Understanding Other People," the story of a Chicago man who is bequeathed a supernatural helmet that allows him to experience the inner worlds of those around him... -
![Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith]()
Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA chilling feminist novel set in a near-future dystopia, Anna explores the conflicts between selfhood and expectations, safety and control, and the sacrifices we make for the sake of protection.Beaten. Branded. Defiant.Anna is a possession. She is owned by the man named Will, shielded from the world of struggles by his care. He loves her, protects her, and then breaks her... -
![Tma 2.0 by Ondřej Neff]()
Tma 2.0 by Ondřej Neff
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOndrej Neff originally released the first version of this book in 1998; however, he never stopped developing the story and as a result of his improvements (but also his disillusionment with the conditions in the post-communist Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic) he later released a darker version of the story.Tma 2... -
![Every Version of You by Grace Chan]()
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn late twenty-first century Australia, Tao-Yi and her partner Navin spend most of their time inside a hyper-immersive, hyper-consumerist virtual reality called Gaia. They log on, go to work, socialise, and even eat in this digital utopia. Meanwhile their aging bodies lie suspended in pods inside cramped apartments...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction pollution-climate-change sci-fi fiction mental-illness lgbtq contemporary -
![Eagle One by Noah Mann]()
Eagle One by Noah Mann
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBook 2 in The Bugging Out SeriesAn apocalyptic blight has long since turned the green earth grey. The world's few survivors face a never ending search for food, and a constant fight against those who have cast aside all morality in a bid to survive.But in the midst of the worldwide horror, rumors of a sanctuary spread. Eagle One, the enigmatic destination, might be the last hope for civilization...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction post-apocalyptic -
![The Maerlande Chronicles by Élisabeth Vonarburg]()
The Maerlande Chronicles by Élisabeth Vonarburg
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA future society, where women far outnumber men, has abandoned the models of patriarchy and matriarchy and established new gender roles. But Lisbei, a young thinker whose gift is exploring the past, confronts the new establishment in order to force changes of her own. The Maerlande Chronicles is a sequel to the critically-acclaimed novel The Silent City... -
![Good Night, Sleep Tight by Brian Evenson]()
Good Night, Sleep Tight by Brian Evenson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“PERHAPS TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP ANOTHER PERSON. PERHAPS TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP NOT A PERSON AT ALL.”From the “master of literary horror” (GQ) comes a collection of new stories tracing the limits and consequences of artificial intelligence and “post-human” relationships... -
![A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar]()
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD“Wondering if there’s a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthy’s The Road a run for its money? Here you go. [A Guardian and a Thief is] an indelible piece of writing, in equal parts dazzling and devastating...Categorized as:
literary-fiction dystopia fiction sci-fi contemporary historical-fiction mystery book -
![This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub]()
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Harper's Bazaar, Oprah Daily, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly, Good Housekeeping, Parade, Bustle, Marie Claire, PopSugar, Thrillist, Lit Hub and more! What if you could take a vacation to your past? With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a... -
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![Wolfe Island by Lucy Treloar]()
Wolfe Island by Lucy Treloar
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor years Kitty Hawke has lived alone on Wolfe Island, witness to the island’s erosion and clinging to the ghosts of her past. Her work as a sculptor and her wolfdog Girl are enough. News of mainland turmoil is as distant as myth until refugees from that world arrive: her granddaughter Cat, and Luis and Alejandra, a brother and sister escaping persecution...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction pollution-climate-change adult audiobook book contemporary disaster -
![One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie]()
One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf you could test your son for a gene that predicts violence, would you do it?Antonia and Bea are sisters, and doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.Antonia had her son tested to make sure he didn’t possess the "violent" M gene.Bea refuses to let her son take the test. His life should not be determined by a positive or negative result... -
![Mothers & Other Monsters: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh]()
Mothers & Other Monsters: Stories by Maureen F. McHugh
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn her debut collection, Maureen F. McHugh examines the impacts of social and technological shifts on families. Using deceptively simple prose, she illuminates the relationship between parents and children and the expected and unexpected chasms that open between generations...Categorized as:
dystopia family literary-fiction adult anthologies contemporary female-author fiction -
![Dance Dance Revolution by Cathy Park Hong]()
Dance Dance Revolution by Cathy Park Hong
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"The Guide" is a former South Korean dissident and tour guide who speaks a fluid fabricated language; "the Historian" interviews the Guide and annotates the commentaries. Cathy Park Hong's passionate and artful poem sequence weaves an ultimately revitalizing dialogue on shared experience in a globalized world, using language as subversion and disguise... -
![Neon Green by Margaret Wappler]()
Neon Green by Margaret Wappler
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's the summer of 1994 in suburban Chicago: Forrest Gump is still in theaters, teens are reeling from the recent death of Kurt Cobain, and you can enter a sweepstakes for a spaceship from Jupiter to land in your backyard. Welcome to Margaret Wappler's slightly altered alternative '90s. Everything's pretty much as you remember it, except for the aliens...Categorized as:
dystopia family literary-fiction adult alternate-history book contemporary female-author -
![The Defiant: Grid Down by John W. Vance]()
The Defiant: Grid Down by John W. Vance
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIf the power went out, could you survive?? For years a few have warned that a day of reckoning was coming, but those warnings went unheeded and even mocked. Then that day came… When Nicholas McNeil, a father and dedicated husband, turned out the lights in his suburban home Sunday night, they would never turn on again...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction post-apocalyptic -
![Low Flying Aircraft And Other Stories by J.G. Ballard]()
Low Flying Aircraft And Other Stories by J.G. Ballard
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsContents:The Ultimate CityLow-Flying AircraftThe Dead AstronautMy Dream of Flying to Wake IslandThe Life and Death of GodThe Greatest Television Show on EarthA Place and a Time to DieThe Comsat AngelsThe Beach...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook contemporary fiction -
![Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini, Mazen Maarouf]()
Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini, Mazen Maarouf
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPalestine + 100 poses a question to twelve Palestinian writers: what might your country look like in the year 2048 – a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba? How might this event – which, in 1948, saw the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes – reach across a century of occupation, oppression, and political isolation, to shape the...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction adult anthologies contemporary fiction poc-author politics -
![The Last Rail-Rider by Jason Gurley]()
The Last Rail-Rider by Jason Gurley
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings(The Last Rail-Rider is a short story.)He doesn't remember the days before the sickness.He only knows the world since it went bad. The empty towns. The rusted-out cars. The corpses, everywhere.He doesn't know why he rides the rails. He just does. The trains never take him away from the ruin. The trains never take him anywhere...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia adult anthologies contemporary fiction industrial-era post-apocalyptic -
![Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru]()
Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the slowly sinking city of Coconino, Arizona, the days are long, the money is tight, and the rain never stops.For Jin Haldar, this life is nothing new—ever since her father died in a diving accident, she’s barely made ends meet for her and her younger sister, Thara...Categorized as:
dystopia apocalyptic pollution-climate-change family romance fantasy young-adult sci-fi -
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![Mania by Lionel Shriver]()
Mania by Lionel Shriver
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSet in a parallel yet all too familiar near past, a brilliant subversive novel from the New York Times bestselling author about a lifelong friendship threatened by the Culture Wars. In an alternative 2011, the Mental Parity movement takes hold. Americans now embrace the sacred, universal truth that there is no such thing as variable human intelligence... -
![In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster]()
In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn a distant and unsettling future, Anna Blume is on a mission in an unnamed city of chaos and disaster. Its destitute inhabitants scavenge garbage for food and shelter, no industry exists, and an elusive government provides nothing but corruption. Anna wades through the filth to find her long-lost brother, a one-time journalist who may or may not be alive...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary epistolary -
![Extinction by Ray Hammond]()
Extinction by Ray Hammond
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOnly one quarter into the 21st century and our planet is displaying disturbing symptoms: storms, floods, mud-slides, tornadoes and blizzards afflict the globe's surface, while heatwaves, droughts and deep-freeze are regular occurrences. Not to mention volcanoes and earthquakes... -
![Gliff by Ali Smith]()
Gliff by Ali Smith
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom a literary master, a moving and genre-bending story about our era-spanning search for meaning and knowing.An uncertain near-future. A story of new boundaries drawn between people daily. A not-very brave new world. Add two children. And a horse.From a Scottish word meaning a transient moment, a shock, a faint glimpse, Gliff explores how and why we endeavour to make a mark on the world... -
![The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger]()
The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTo all appearances, the Larsen-Hall family has everything: healthy children, a stable marriage, a lucrative career for Brantley, and the means for Daphne to pursue her art full-time. Their deluxe new Miami life has just clicked into place when Luna—the world’s first category 6 hurricane—upends everything they have taken for granted... -
![The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley]()
The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsHow far would you go to protect your family?Ann Brooks never thought she’d have to answer that question. Then she found her limits tested by a crisis no one could prevent. Now, as her neighborhood descends into panic, she must make tough choices to protect everyone she loves from a threat she cannot even see...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia family literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book contemporary
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