Dystopian August Kick-Off + 5 Marked-Up Novels Giveaway!

ETA: (Midpoint recap!) (End recap!)

It's here: the 6th in a row of dystopian theme months that began in Feb 2010 to spotlight dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. If you plan to participate with me this month, grab the Dystopian August badge above or from my sidebar and put it on your blog, linking to this kick-off post.

Now I'm pretty inclusive in my definition of dystopia/post-apocalyptic lit, so you'll find a wide range of books, including some occasional books with very limited dystopias. Thanks to the explosion in popularity of the genre, publishers often market books as dystopias which really aren't - in which case I will alert you to that fact in my review.

So what's in store this month?

Reviews of over 20 dystopian novels, past, present and future. (Refer to my index of dystopian reviews for latest updates and past reads) Every Thursday, I'll do an in-depth joint review of a book with Michelle from Galleysmith. NOTE: In a policy change, I'm giving each book I review a merit badge in one of the following categories: World-building, Action, Romance, Twisty Reads, and Great Writing (see the merit badges here - they are ADORBS! and read more about the philosophy behind the merit badges here) so if you know you prefer world-building books over all else, you'll know which titles to look out for.


Interviews with more authors releasing an upcoming dystopian which give you an exclusive preview of these upcoming books. Each author answered the same six questions and shared a song to add to the Ultimate Dystopian Playlist I've been compiling. See my index of author preview interviews from August 2011 and those from Feb 2012 including MY interview about my forthcoming book LEVEL 2.


Plus - TONS of book giveaways, a preview checklist and weekend round-up posts to catch you up on anything you might have missed.


Speaking of giveaways, I put together a super special one this month! Not only have I marked up an ARC of LEVEL 2 with tons of behind the scenes tidbits, I have also asked four other authors to mark up their own books just for you. All you have to do to enter to win is read and review at least one dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel during the month of August and then link to your review via a google form below (if you review it on your blog or GoodReads because you don't have a blog). Also you MUST indicate in your post that you are reading it as part of Dystopian August and link back to this post! If you don't your entry doesn't count. Each book you read and review counts as an entry. Since I'm paying for shipping, this contest is open internationally.

Here are the books you could win:

LEVEL 2 by Lenore Appelhans - Simon & Schuster BFYR Jan 15, 2013 (arc) Read summary at Goodreads.

Here's a photo of one of the marked-up pages of LEVEL 2 (click to zoom).

FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund- HarperCollins Out Now (Hardcover) Read summary at Goodreads.

Diana shares lots of cool behind the scenes fun - but only with the winner!

INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows - HarperCollins - Out Now (Hardcover) Read summary at Goodreads.

Jodi provided this photo of what you can expect from your winning copy of INCARNATE:

STARTERS by Lissa Price - Random House - Out Now (Hardcover) Read summary at Goodreads.

Lissa's tidbits about STARTERS are so juicy, only the winner gets to read them ;)

PRODIGY by Marie Lu (sequel to LEGEND) - Penguin - Jan 29, 2013 (arc) Read summary at Goodreads.

Marie shares the following as a teaser for her marked up copy of PRODIGY: 

- pg. 150: "Like Day, Anden [the new young Elector of the Republic] is a character from my old fantasy manuscript that never got published. In this old manuscript (written back in high school), Day and Anden were best friends."

- pg. 209: "The Republic's white-themed funerals are inspired by Asian funerals, where the wearing of white is symbolic of death."

Get reading and posting for your chance to win these rare, wonderful editions of these 5 novels.

Enter links to your dystopian reviews in August here.

The above link takes you to a google form.

See links to other dystopian reviews here.

The above link takes you to a google spreadsheet.

I'll be posting at least once a day usually at midnight (Central European Time) and sometimes at noon (CET). If you don't want to miss anything, consider following my blog or subscribing via a feedreader. Thanks! I hope you enjoy this month as much as I am enjoying putting it together!


Tweet me! @lenoreva The official twitter hashtag is: #dystopianaugust Let's talk dystopian :)