Dystopian Fiction – Write on the World

Some dystopian novels rely on elaborate worldbuilding to make their horrors believable. Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer doesn’t need to. Its premise is terrifying precisely because it feels only a few steps removed from reality, taking current political and religious extremism to their logical, ugly conclusion. The result is a tense, claustrophobic thriller about bodily autonomy, fanaticism, and survival that never overstays its welcome.

I’m a sucker for a good cult novel, so this one was right up my alley. There’s something endlessly fascinating about the power dynamics inside insular religious communities, especially the relationships among women forced to survive within those systems. Kritzer taps into that fascination immediately. The novel is brief and concise, but it uses every page effectively, building constant tension as Doctor Liz navigates a nightmare situation with no safe options.

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Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey: A hypnotic look at belonging, control, and the cost of transformation

May 6, 2026May 3, 2026 Mandy Webster

What would you give up to finally belong somewhere—and would you recognize the moment it stopped being your choice? Make Me Better is an unsettling, slow-burn descent into the seductive promise of community, where healing and control blur until they’re indistinguishable. Fans of Wife Shaped Bodies, The Unworthy, or Sorrowland will find something deeply familiar—and deeply disturbing—here.

Get your copy of Make Me Better from my independent online bookstore today!

At the center of the story is Celia, a woman whose longing for connection overrides her sense of self-preservation. She doesn’t just develop crushes—she builds entire imagined lives around men she barely knows. When she recognizes how precarious that pattern is, she redirects that intensity toward the idea of motherhood. A baby, after all, would be hers in a way no one else ever has been. That same vulnerability makes her the perfect target for something like Kindred Cove.

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Writers on Writing

What dystopian stories teach us about who controls history: An exploration of cultural narrative in Ruins

April 9, 2026March 14, 2026 Mandy Webster

While reading Ruins, the latest novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton, I found myself thinking less about the far-future world it imagines and more about the stories civilizations tell about themselves — and why those stories so often begin to unravel the moment someone steps outside their borders. Set in a distant future where American civilization is long gone and no written records survive, Ruins follows an archaeologist who begins to question the official histories preserved by Leadership. In this world, what is accepted as truth has been shaped over thousands of years of retelling, and stability depends on the population’s belief in those narratives.

Civilizations survive through stories — but whose stories get left out? Inspired by Lily Brooks-Dalton’s *Ruins*, this post explores rules, exceptions, and the hidden structures of society.

It wasn’t just the mystery at the heart of the novel that stayed with me, but the way it mirrors a recurring pattern in literature: civilizations rely on shared stories to create order. Without these stories, cooperation becomes fragile, meaning begins to fray, and identity itself can feel uncertain. But stories, by necessity, simplify. They smooth contradictions, minimize uncertainty, and quietly remove perspectives that do not fit the larger arc. And what disappears is often invisible to those living comfortably within the story.

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