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Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
In a harsh, divided world, a young midwife delivers babies to a privileged Enclave—until a single act of defiance exposes a labyrinth of secrets. Tense and imaginative, Birthmarked blends survival, science, and the courage to redraw the lines of a broken society.
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In Birthmarked, did you enjoy ...
... a young heroine defying a stratified, brutal regime to protect her family and her people?
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
If you rooted for Gaia Stone as she crossed the Wall to challenge the Enclave after her parents were seized and the truth about the “advanced” infants came to light, you’ll click with Katniss stepping forward for Prim and then daring the Capitol in the arena. Like Gaia’s resistance to the Protector and the enclave’s genetic mandates, Katniss’s defiance exposes how a system survives on fear and scarcity—and what it costs to fight it.
... razor-sharp class warfare between a privileged inner elite and an exploited outer populace?
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The divide between the Enclave and the poor sectors outside—where Gaia delivers babies only to have the first three taken—mirrors Darrow’s world of Golds and Reds. If the stark inequity of the Wall and Gaia’s infiltration into elite halls hooked you, Darrow’s infiltration of the Gold Institute and his subversion from within will scratch the same itch, with the same fury at a system built on stolen lives.
... a fierce young woman crossing a harsh wasteland to rescue family against oppressive powers?
Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Gaia faces deserts, walls, and a ruthless authority to free her parents and unravel her mother’s coded midwifery records; Saba storms a sun-blasted frontier to save her twin from slavers. If you loved Gaia’s grit, her scars, and the way she refuses to bow to the Protector’s demands, you’ll be right at home with Saba fighting cage matches and outwitting warlords to get her brother back.
... uncovering corruption at the heart of a powerful institution and challenging its rules from within?
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Gaia’s clashes with the Enclave’s leadership—and her uneasy alliance with Leon as she learns how power is really exercised—echo in Citra and Rowan’s discovery that the Scythedom’s noble ideals have been bent by ambition. If decoding Gaia’s mother’s ledger and confronting the Protector gripped you, watching apprentices navigate factions, loopholes, and deadly politics in the Scythedom will do the same.
... teens deciphering hidden records to expose their city’s secret and save their people?
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
If you enjoyed Gaia sifting through her mother’s ciphered birth logs to unravel the Enclave’s genetic crisis—and the race against time after her parents are imprisoned—you’ll love Lina and Doon piecing together a damaged set of Instructions to uncover Ember’s escape route. That same blend of coded clues, civic rot, and a desperate plan to rescue a whole community drives the mystery forward.
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