If You Love 'The Handmaid's Tale,' You Need To Read These Dystopian Novels

Season three of The Handmaid's Tale is back on Hulu (blessed be), and fans are already obsessed with the latest happenings in Gilead (even if they're also, let's be real, hella frustrated with June's choices). ICYDK, Margaret Atwood wrote the book the hit TV show is based on more than 30 years ago. After all this time, it still manages to contribute to the zeitgeist year after year, and the same can be said for many of the best dystopian novels.

The iconic dystopias—Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451—are classics for a reason, but the 21st century has given a whole new crop of authors fresh perspectives to latch on to and readers a whole new library to love. Case in point: Two young adult dystopian instant classics, The Hunger Games and Divergent, took the world by storm in recent years.

Some readers turn to dystopias for an escape, but really, what they do best is help readers better understand reality. (That's deep, I know.) Plus, the genre is way more fun when you're not examining its themes in tiny detail for a high school paper. Whether you're reading YA or cracking open a classic, you definitely want to add these 35 dystopian novels to your summer reading list (even if you're devouring them for the third, fourth, or fifth time):