The Best Rainbow Rowell Books Ranked 2025

Last updated on 9 December 2024

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There are lots of authors who I love and will read pretty much whatever they write. And Rainbow Rowell is one of them. Even though I’m in my 30s now, I still love picking up a Young Adult novel by Rowell, and even venturing into her new adult and adult novels, too. I think I’ve read nearly all of her books, so I thought it would be fun to dive into the best Rainbow Rowell books as they are ranked on Goodreads.

I did this for VE Schwab, and we looked at a list in a similar way: I headed to Goodreads* and found the top Rainbow Rowell books as called by the bookish people of the world. Coz they know, ya know? They’re a mix of her different genres, too. We’ve got Young Adult, Adult, Graphic Novel and Short Story in this list.

I don’t think I was that surprised by the list, but there are probably a few changes that I would make if I were making my own ranked list. Let’s get into it!

The Top 10 Best Rainbow Rowell Books Ranked

1. Eleanor & Park (2012)
2. Fangirl (2013)
3. Carry On (Simon Snow #1) (2015)
4. Attachments (2011)
5. Landline (2014)
6. Wayward Son (Simon Snow #2) (2019)
7. Pumpkinheads (2019)
8. Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow, #3) (2021)
9. Kindred Spirits (2016)
10. Almost Midnight (2017)

Let’s check these out, starting with number 10 and working our way up to the best Rainbow Rowell book according to Goodreads.

10. Almost Midnight (2017)

Almost Midnight is actually a combination of two short stories: Midnights and Kindred Spirits. You can read more about Kindred Spirits below, but Midnights is the the short short of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year’s Eve party every single year and fall a little more in love each time they meet. It’s super cute and I really enjoyed reading it. It was originally part of the My True love Gave to Me compilation of short stories put together by Stephanie Perkins, which has 12 Christmas/festive stories in it.

9. Kindred Spirits (2016)

Kindred Spirits is a super fun short story. And it’s geeky. Which I love. It’s the short story of Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan, in line. What she thought would be a fun time lining up with other Star Wars fans turns into slightly more than she bargained for. Kindred Spirits was written for World Book Day.

8. Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow, #3) (2021)

The first novel in our list is Any Way the Wind Blows which is the third in the Simon Snow trilogy.

This wasn’t actually meant to be a series at all; Rainbow Rowell wrote Carry On and called it a day – which was mega sad for those of us who were big fans – but then low and behold 4 years later she released Wayward Son which continued the story. Then in 2021, the third book came out, and I believe now she is done. I did enjoy Any Way the Wind Blows but I did find that over the course of the series, I was just wanted to go back and read the first one because I loved it so much.

You can read more about that first book a little further down the list.

7. Pumpkinheads (2019)

I will never not rave about Pumpkinheads. It’s a graphic novel written by Rowell and illustrated by the very talented Faith Erin Hicks. This is one that I re-read every year now in October because I love it so much.

It’s the story of Deja and Josiah who are on their last-ever shift at the pumpkin patch at Halloween. They’re seasonal friends, which means when the holiday is over, they go their separate ways until the next Halloween/Fall season. But this is their final one, and Josiah has spent years pining after Fudge Shoppe Girl, and Deja makes it her mission to get him to talk to her on this final day. The story follows the two around the park, trying to find Fudge Shoppe Girl.

If you’re not a graphic novel person, then this is still the book for you. It’s a big enough story that you can get really engrossed in it, but short enough that it’s not a mammoth mission to read it, especially if you’re not that familiar with graphic novels. The artwork is beautiful – I really love Faith Erin Hicks’ style of art, and it makes the whole experience so enjoyable. Look out for funny background things that are happening as the story goes on, too.

6. Wayward Son (Simon Snow #2) (2019)

The second in the Simon Snow what-became-a-triology, Wayward Son follows on after the events of Carry On, as expected. I definitely enjoyed this one more than Any Way the Wind Blows but less than Carry On, which I can remember reading for the first time so vividly. I still would have put this one higher up in the ranking order than Landline and Attachments, but feel okay with it sitting here at number 6.

5. Landline (2014)

Here’s where we get to Rainbow Rowell’s adult books. She only has a couple, and Landline is one of them. It’s the story of Georgie McCool, whose marriage is on the rocks. Despite really loving her husband, Neal, two days before a Christmas trip, she tells him she can’t go because of work. So Neal takes the kids and Georgie stays behind. While they’re away, she discovers that she can use the old landline phone to ring Neal … in the past.

It’s this sort of slightly time-travel-esque story, which is also quite beautiful. I really did enjoy this one – I think I read it via audiobook actually – and if you haven’t read any of Rowell’s adult novels, then definitely give it a go.

4. Attachments (2011)

It’s the late 1990s in Attachments and someone is monitoring Beth and Jennifer’s work email. Well, it’s company policy, but they two women make the most of it, not taking it very seriously at all, and send each other hilarious personal emails, often. The person who is monitoring the emails? Lincoln O’Neill, who is just super stoked that he has a job called ‘internet security officer’. And while Lincoln should probably report their email use as it’s not work-related, he gets drawn into their lives via email and starts falling for Beth.

This is a hilarious concept, and I really enjoyed it. Attachments ritten both in the third person from Lincoln’s perspective and also in email form between Beth and Jennifer and while I don’t like letter or email form in books, it obviously was the right choice for this one. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my faves (more on that below), but I did enjoy it.

3. Carry On (Simon Snow #1) (2015)

And now we’re getting to my faves. Carry On is actually an interesting one – it’s sort of fanfiction from a character in Fangirl. In Fangirl, Cath is writing fanfiction of a well-known character named Simon Snow, where, in her version, he falls in love with Baz, a vampire. So in Carry On, we get that story. Or some resemblance to that story.

In Carry On, we meet Simon, who is the chosen one in his final year at Watford School of Magicks. Despite his status, he’s not excelling. His mentor avoids him, his girlfriend has left him, and his nemesis, Baz, is absent. Simon is determined to uncover the truth behind these mysteries. When Baz eventually returns to school, Simon seeks answers about his whereabouts. As their relationship improves, Simon, Baz, and their friend Penny delve into solving the murder of Baz’s mother and his transformation into a vampire, a fact he denies for like, half the book.

It’s a joy of tale. It’s magic, it’s teenage drama, it’s friendship and romance, and it’s fun. Like a lot of fun.

2. Fangirl (2013)

In Fangirl, we follow twins Cather (Cath) and Wren (named as such because their mother like the name Catherine but when she had twins just split the name in two), and while Wren thrives in the social arena, Cath struggles with her eccentric roommate Reagan, and Reagan’s boyfriend Levi who is always around. Cath’s main focus is writing her Simon Snow fanfiction before the series concludes. We follow Cath’s journey through university life, discovering true friendships, managing family and friend dramas, and navigating love. Ooh lala.

I’ve been meaning to reread this book since I read it the first time. I remember absolutely loving it, the characters, and the fact that Cath is so geeky. I really need to pick this one up again as I reckon it’s still in my top 5 Rainbow Rowell books.

1. Eleanor & Park (2012)

And the winner according to Goodreads popularity for the best Rainbow Rowell book goes to: Eleanor & Park. And I get it. I get why this is the top of the list. It’s not my favourite but it’s definitely in the top 5 books, for sure.

Eleanor is a slightly larger-than-average red-headed teenage girl with a crazy dress sense and no home life, who falls in love with Park, a half-Korean comic book geek who only wears black. They could not be more opposite if they tried. But their friendship and their blossoming romance is so stinkin’ adorable the entire book, and it’s full of geeky references, and I found myself really drawn into the story when I first read it.

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What would I change about this list of books?

I would actually change a few things about this list. Namely, I think my favourite Rainbow Rowell book is Carry On, followed closely by Fangirl and Pumpkinheads. I re-read Pumpkinheads every year in October, and while I have only read Fangirls once so far (as of early 2024), I’ve read Carry On and its sequels all twice I believe.

Eleanor & Park is also a fave of mine, so I would keep that near the top, too. So I think my order would be (from 1 – 5): Carry On, Pumpkinheads, Fangirl, Eleanor & Park,  and then the other Simon Snow books.

There are also a lot of Runaways comics that are not on this list, but Rowell has written a bunch of them. She’s also written more short stories than the ones listed here, and I have the compilation of Scattered Showers, which is short stories, to read, yet. Planning on reading it this year!

So tell me! What do you think of this list of best Rainbow Rowell books, as ranked by Goodreads?

Do you agree with the order? What would you change? Perhaps you’d add some of her other books in here and subtract others?

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