With the recent increase in popularity of dystopian science fiction novels targeting young adults (YA), academic interest has veered towards the themes and roles that these novels discuss, with the most frequent approaches ranging from feminism to education and from economy to sociology. This study focuses on YA dystopian fiction using a double, yet complementary, approach based on cultural dimensions and human needs and motivations with the aim to examine reader engagement. The four trilogies analysed, published before, during or after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis, are Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Veronica Roth’s Divergent and B. Revis’ Across the Universe. On the one hand, a cultural analysis of the societies depicted in the novels using Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture helps to establish the differences and similarities, first, between the different societies within the same novel, and, second, between these societies and the cultures of three western countries: Spain, the UK and the USA. On the other hand, using Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs as a basis, the satisfaction –or deprivation– of these needs in the aforementioned societies is analysed, establishing connections between the events narrated and the circumstances of the three real countries in the context of the years following the onset of the 2008 economic crisis. Thus, by linking these circumstances in fiction and reality I aim to offer insights into possible determinants of reader engagement of dystopian fiction among adolescents in this period. The results contribute to research on reader response and engagement, while offering a new perspective on the protagonists’ basic and higher needs, from hunger to self-actualization. Regarding the topics analysed, the results offer insights on the problems of food distribution, new dietary trends, immigration and othersiation, supremacism, sacrifice, romantic love, the importance of family, depression and suicide, self-esteem and peer support, and academic achievement, among others. These topics are discussed considering not only the results of an annotation process, that is, the results of the analysis of the novels, but also the cultural characteristics of the societies. In this regard, cultural features prove to be an important factor in the interpretation of motivations and decisions made by the heroines.