False utopia

Discovery of the dystopian truth is a plot frequent and common to dystopian novels. In this plot, the central POV-character/protagonist initially believes they live in a utopia, or at least an okay world. During the course of the work they discover the truth -- that their world is actually dystopian.

Examples

• We by Evgeny Zamyatin
• This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
• 1984 (novel) by George Orwell

Sheri Tepper's The Gate to Women's Country plays with this theme, but the novel is ambiguous about the society.

Many YA and children's books have been written that fulfill this trope. These include:

• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Andra by Louise Lawrence
• Juno of Taris by Fleur Beale
• The Lake at the End of the World by Caroline MacDonald
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman
• Outlanders by Margaret Beames