Saturday, May 18, 2013

Saturday @ Starbucks #11: Discussing Dystopians with my Favorite Latte

Saturday @ Starbucks is a weekly feature hosted by Starbucks & Books Obsession.



To join in, just re-post the topic and  link back to the host. Grab a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and do a post on the topic.

This week's topic is:
Discussing Dystopian Novels

Drink of the Week: My Favorite Latte
So this week, I thought I would spotlight my favorite Starbucks latte. As I am sure you know by now, I am a true caramel lover so before the caramel macchiato became my drink of addiction, I loved a good caramel latte. I love a hot caramel latte on the cold days and an iced one on the warm summer days. It's simple yet delicious. give it a try!


Book Topic: Discussing Dystopians

Over the past couple of years, dystopian novels have become extremely popular. Wikipedia defines dystopia as a community or society, usually fictional, that is in some important way undesirable or frightening. I think one of my favorite thing about dystopian novels is the fact that they deal with a ficitional future that could essentially be real. The plot is generally derived from a deeper meaning and is built around a theme. I like that dystopians are generally darker and can be a nice break from romance or contemorary novels. Contemporary novels usually revolve around a tough subject where as dystopians revolve around moral themes. 3 categories within dystopian that I have enjoyed are romantic, war/violence and paranormal.

Romantic: Romantic dystopians generally revolve around the idea of a future society where love and companionship are arranged or determined by society. Generally the government or society determines the characters future partner. The primary focus within the plot is the love and romance between the characters. The moral themes usually involve the ability to make your own choice or the unfairness of divided society.

War/Violence: War/Violence dystpians usually revolve around a society where people are oppressed or their lives are controlled by the goverment and war and violence is a primary focus within the plot. The moral theme usually involves societal oppression and overcoming inequality.


Paranormal: Paranormal dystopians usually revolve around a future where earth has either been destroyed and humans are living on an alternate planet or aliens have inhabited earth. This is still a fairly new category to me so I haven't really discovered a patterned theme yet.


Overall, I love to read dystopian novels and I know there are so many out there that I haven't heard of and I haven't even scratched the surface but I am always on the lookout for a good dystopian novel. A category that I haven't read much of but would really like to find some good books is the apocalyptic dystopian. If you know of any, I would love some recommendations.

What about you? Do you like Dystopian novels? If so, what are some of your favorites? What do you think about this genre?

Next week's topic: Discussing Genres- New Adult

15 comments:

  1. I love lattes as well and dystopians! Thanks for the follow, am following back! Have a great weekend!

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  2. They go well together :-) Thanks for stopping by! Have an amazing Saturday!

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  3. Hi Chelsea. I really liked how you broke down three of the main/popular types of Dystopian novels. I recently read Gravity, and totally loved it. Great post for a quick and easy breakdown :)


    PS Carmel Lattes = :D

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  4. I never thought of the different categories within this genre before but you're spot on. The last category I can't think of any I've read from that. The middle one covers two of my favourites Divergent and Delirium so I think this is my favourite class. The top section reminds me of Eve and Matched (which you mentioned). I enjoy these too but not as much.
    What I love about dystopia is all the action, it keeps me on the edge of my seat in fear of my life..or you know the heroines life which in my mind is me! They also make me think about society and the wrong roads we could take.
    Now all I need is a Carmel latte and a new dysopian :-)

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  5. Thanks! I loved Gravity and I can't wait for Hover to come out in August. Plus, it is one of my favorite covers. I also enjoyed my caramel latte this morning :-)

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  6. I agree with you. War/Violence dystopians are probably my favorite too. I love that they are so full of action too and they are a little on the darker side. They really make me think about what it would be like if the future were like that. I haven't read Eve yet but I have it on my TBR. That may be my next Dystopian :-)

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  7. Chelsea, there is an author if a new dystopia looking for reviews. It SOUNDS great and early reviews are promising. I tweeted a link earlier so have a look if you're interested. Going to read it next.

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  8. Awesome, Thanks! I will check out the link :-)

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  9. Great categories. I enjoy all three dystopians but prefer the romance to be a side story and the world building to take center stage as well as the survival of characters.

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  10. I agree with you. I love the dystopians that have a lot of action and suspense with a romance or 2 on the side.

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  11. Also, I think that dystopians that emphasize the world building and survival are the most exciting and the ones that I can really get into. The romance ones are usually a little slower. Sometimes new thoughts just randomly pop into my head :-)

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  12. I like dystopians, but right now I like post-apocalyptic stories better (Angelfall, The 5th Wave).
    My absolute favorite dystopian is Battle Royale, which definitely falls into the "Violence dystpians" category. I also liked The Hunger Games, Divergent (but Insurgent was meh) and Selection/The Elite (<fave "Romantic dystopian"). As for Paranormal dystopians, I really enjoyed The Hunt, which is vampire dystopian.

    Great post!!!

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  13. You're going to <3 The 5th Wave!! And you have to read Battle Royale! It's The Dystopian novel (well not counting 1984 :). I love The Hunger Games, but it's undeniably (just) a rip off of Battle Royale.

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  14. Thanks! Ooh, I like the sound of post-apocalyptic books. I have The 5th Wave on my TBR. I haven't heard of Battle Royale but I need to check that one out. I also need to check out The Hunt. Thanks for all the awesome recommendations!

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Thank you for your comment, you have truly made my day! I love reading and discussing other's thoughts and ideas. Leave a link to your blog and I would love to stop by!