“We’ve already come too far to end this now.”
Conceived by Hwang Dong-hyuk all the way back in 2009, it took over a decade for a production company to take an interest in the dystopian series, Squid Game. However, when Netflix decided to take a punt on it, it soon proved to be a more than worthwhile investment. Following the release of its first season in September 2021, Squid Game amassed over 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first four weeks across 142 million member households, becoming the most-watched show on Netflix in the process. The show centres around a secret contest where 456 contestants risk their lives across a variety of children’s games to win a prize purse of ₩45.6 billion. If you’re craving more of the twisted games, social commentary and high-stakes tension ahead of the release of season two, join us at What We Reading for the best books like Squid Game!
Battle Royale – Koushun Takami
First up on our list of books is Koushun Takami’s infamous Battle Royale, arguably the pioneer of this type of story. Takami’s Battle Royale centres around a recognisable premise: a class of high school students are taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided with arms and forced to kill one another until one sole survivor emerges victorious.
Gaining infamy in Japan following its release and labelled as violent exploitation, Battle Royale has become a runaway bestseller in the years since its release and received a big-screen adaptation back in 2000. A gruelling modern-day Lord of the Flies, Battle Royale explores what it means to be young and alive in a dog-eat-dog world.
Alice In Borderland – Haro Aso
Eighteen-year-old Ryohei Arisu is sick of his life. School is boring, his love life is a joke, and his future feels like an impending doom. As he struggles to fit into a world that doesn’t appear to be concerned about him in the slightest, Royhei believes that everything would be better if he were anywhere else. And, when a strange fireworks show whisks him and his friends to a parallel world, he thinks all his dreams have come true.
But, this new world isn’t an empty paradise, but rather a vicious game. And the only way to survive is to play. Winning a game only earns each player with a few days’ grace period meaning, if Arisu and co. ever want to return home, they’ll have to play much harder. Another dystopian battle royale that received a successful Netflix adaptation, Alice in Borderland is a graphic manga by Haro Aso.
Whodunnit? Murder In Mystery Manor (Whodunnit #1) – Anthony E. Zuiker
Ten excited guests arrive at the Westlake Estate, expecting a lavish retreat. They are the lucky winners of a sweepstake to ‘Live Like a Billionaire for a Week’. But, what was meant to be a luxurious escape soon turns into a horrifying nightmare. Within hours of arriving, the guests take their seats for dinner. When they pull their party poppers, one of the guests bursts into flames and collapses to the floor. The remaining guests are told they must solve the crime. Or become the next victim.
The killer at large invites the guests to explore the Westlake’s sweeping grounds, but is also hiding amongst them. Tense alliances are forged as information is passed around uncertainly. No one knows who to trust. Because, in this game, the person with the least accurate solution to the latest murder will be condemned to a hideous death. Similar to Squid Game, Anthony E. Zuiker’s Whodunnit features deadly games, outlandish schemes and plenty of thrilling plot twists.
Red Rising (Red Rising Saga #1) – Pierce Brown
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the colour-coded society of the future. Like every other Red, he spends his days working, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars habitable for future generations. He gives his days willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. He soon discovers that humanity made it to the surface generations ago and that he and the Reds are little more than slaves. He sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, where the ruling Gold castes struggle for power. There, he is forced to compete for his life and the future of civilisation against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling classes. Like Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game, Darrow will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies, even if it means having to become one of them to do so.
The Long Walk – Stephen King
Against the wishes of his mother, sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty is set to compete in the annual match of stamina and wits known as The Long Walk. One hundred boys must keep a steady pace of precisely four miles per hour without ever stopping. The winner will earn the ultimate ‘Prize’ – anything he wants, for the rest of his life.
But, as part of this national tournament in a dystopian America sweeps through year after year, there are a number of harsh rules that Garraty and his ninety-nine fellow competitors must adhere to. There is no finish line. The one to win will be the last man standing. The contestants cannot receive any outside help whatsoever. Go under the speed limit and you receive a warning. Three warnings and you are out of the game. Permanently.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Stand By Stephen King
The Grace Year – Kim Liggett
In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds and drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a potent aphrodisiac, the essence of youth, of a girl on the cusp of womanhood. It’s why they are exiled on their sixteenth birthday, sent to release their magic into the wild so that may return purified and ready for marriage. But, not all of them make it back alive.
Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life and of a society where friends and women aren’t pitted against each other. But, as her own grace year draws near, she realises that it isn’t just the brutal elements she has to be wary of. It isn’t even the poachers in the woods, keen to grab any girl that strays too close. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.
Check Out These Speculative Fiction Books
Reprieve – James Han Mattson
Another one of the best books like Squid Game for any readers looking for another story about desperate people playing deadly games comes from James Han Mattson in Reprieve. In 1997, four contestants reached the final cell of the Quigley House, the most infamous full-contact escape room in America. If these contestants can endure all the horrors the house has to offer without shouting the word ‘Reprieve’, they’ll win a substantial cash prize. But, before they are able to complete the challenge, an intruder suddenly breaks in and kills one of the contestants.
The story is told through the eyes of those who were present on that fateful night. As each character’s journey unfurls and overlaps, deceit and misunderstandings, fuelled by obsession and prejudice all boil to the surface. Reprieve blends classic horror with searing social commentary to present an unsettling portrait of modern life in a way any fan of Squid Game is sure to love.
Check Out Our Reprieve Book Review
The Six – Anni Taylor
In the grips of a crushing gambling addiction, young mother Evie is desperate for a way out. She’s astounded when she’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a program that includes a six-day stay in a Greek monastery featuring six challenges and a shot at winning sixty thousand dollars. The only condition? She must keep it all a secret.
Evie’s husband is distraught to find the note she left behind. But his anger soon turns to alarm when her burned-out car is discovered in the woods and he becomes the prime suspect accused of murdering his wife. Far too late, Evie discovers the chilling truth about the island and its program. And the closer she comes to finding an escape, the closer the danger lurking in the depths of the monastery will come to find her.
The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) – Suzanne Collins
Finally, no list of books like Squid Game would be complete without mentioning The Hunger Games. In the ruins of a land once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a gleaming Capitol surrounded by twelve districts. The Capitol is repressive and cruel, clinging onto power by forcing all districts to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to compete in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death broadcasted on live television.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives with her mother and younger sister, knows it is a death sentence when she volunteers herself to compete in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before. For her, survival has become second nature. But, in order to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Hunger Games
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
