I just finished re-reading this trilogy for the first time in like five years, for the first time post-Trump presidency, for the first time since Covid, for the first time in my thirties. And some of the themes hit harder now.

Like the struggle to choose between fighting to change the status quo or fleeing/hiding for your own safety and sanity.

Like how there’s so much gray area in the good vs. evil debate, when each side truly believes they’re fighting for something noble.

Like how it’s easy to stop seeing individuals and merely see a “side” you’re against.

Like how people on both sides of a war (and the tactics and justifications they use) are far more similar than they think.

This series holds up so, so well, especially compared to a lot of other dystopian YA books that came out around the same time. It might even pack more punch in 2021 than it did when it came out in 2008—which is kind of scary. Dystopia, like satire, is getting more and more indistinguishable from reality.

Happy Tuesday!