The Best Leigh Bardugo Books Ranked 2026

Last updated on 7 January 2026

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One of my favourite duologies is in this list. But you’ll have to read it to find out. 😉 I think I discovered Leigh Bardugo in 2016, just a few years after her first book came out. And this was actually good news for me, because it meant that i could essentially binge-read everything she had out at the time. Bardugo has since gone on to write a bunch more books, so we’re going to take a look at the best Leigh Bardugo books ranked by you (or rather, ranked by the people of Goodreads).

You’ll have to note before going into this list that a lot of the time the rankings haven’t quite caught up with the books released. Which means given that the first few on the list have been out for longer, they’ve had more time to gather votes on Goodreads. But! It’s still an interesting look into what people think are the best Leigh Bardugo books!

Let’s get into it!

The top 10 best Leigh Bardugo Books ranked

Six of Crows (2015)
Shadow and Bone (2012)
Crooked Kingdom (2016)
Siege and Storm (2016)
Ruin and Rising (2014)
Ninth House (2019)
King of Scars (2019)
Rule of Wolves (2021)
Hell Bent (2023)
The Familiar (2024)

10. The Familiar (2024)

Kick off with one of the only Leigh Bardugo books I haven’t read yet (at the writing of this blog post – and the next one, which you’ll see in a moment). But I have this on my bookshelf waiting for me and I’m hoping to pick it up soon. This is one of her most recent books and is a historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age.

9. Hell Bent (2023)

Okay so I actually haven’t read this one yet (as of writing this post), but it’s on the list. I’ve read Ninth House which is the book that comes before Hell Bent, and enjoyed it, but I’ll let you know when I’ve read it and what I thought.

8. Rule of Wolves (2021)

Coming in at number 7 is Rule of Wolves which is the second in the King Nicolai duology. Nicolai is one of my favourite characters from the Shadow and Bone series, so when it was announced that Bardugo was writing a duology with Nicolai at the heart of it (and other epic characters from her other series), I was well excited! It didn’t disappoint, and I really enjoyed both Rule of Wolves and King of Scars, the first one.

7. King of Scars (2019)

Speaking of which, it was wonderful to be able to jump back into a character’s storyline, with also some of the other brilliant characters. I’d definitely put King of Scars above some of the others that come after it in this list.

6. Ninth House (2019)

Taking a completely different turn, Ninth House was Leigh Bardugo’s first New Adult book, and it was a change of pace and genre for sure. I don’t often read dark academia, or stories with a bit of a horror aspect, but I really enjoyed Ninth House and gave it 4 stars.

5. Ruin and Rising (2014)

The second book in the Shadow and Bone series is Ruin and Rising and it continues on from the first story, almost straight away. We learn more about the characters as they grow in who they are throughout the series, but also about the world, and the different places, settings, and Grisha magic that is everywhere.

4. Siege and Storm (2016)

Okay coming in at number three on the best Leigh Bardugo books ranked by you, the people of Goodreads, is Siege and Storm which is the third book and final book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy. This is, of course, followed by the King of Scars duology, so we don’t completely say goodbye to all these characters.

3. Crooked Kingdom (2016)

The second in my favourite duology, possibly of all time, is Crooked Kingdom. We follow on from the events in Six of Crows and the team has another heist on the go, with storylines from the first one still very much evident. This book is everything. And needs to be higher up the list haha.

2. Shadow and Bone (2012)

The book that started it all! Shadow and Bone was Leigh Bardugo’s debut novel and was the beginning a great young adult fantasy series. I did really like this book and the ones that follow, but then Six of Crows came out and quickly overtook this one for first place, in my opinion.

1. Six of Crows (2015)

And my favourite book from Leigh Bardugo comes in at number 1, which is where I could put it. I absolutely love this duology and have read it multiple times. Whenever I think about it, I wanna re-read it. Did I love the show, too? Mmmm well, it was okay, but the books are so much better. If you have read the Six of Crows duology and you like heists, fantasy, great characters, banter, a bit of romance … this is the book for you!

Would I change any order in this list?

So what do you think? I would mostly agree with this list, but I would move, as I mentioned, Crooked Kingdom up to second, as I absolutely love the Six of Crows duology. Shadow and Bone would then become number 3 on this list, but then I’d move King of Scars and Rule of Wolves up probably. I just love those characters more than I like Alina and Mal.

Tell me! Do you agree with the Goodreads list of the best Leigh Bardugo books ranked? What would you change?

*I looked at Leigh Bardugo’s author page on Goodreads and sorted the books she’d written by popularity to get this list.