Best Leigh Bardugo Books
Leigh Bardugo built her reputation on morally complicated heist crews and the kind of dark, glittering prose that makes grimdark feel glamorous. Six of Crows and its sequel Crooked Kingdom are her masterwork — a tightly plotted caper set in a Venice-meets-Amsterdam underworld, populated by thieves and con artists you'll root for despite yourself. Her Grishaverse, introduced in Shadow and Bone, established a Russia-inspired fantasy world rich enough to sustain years of expansion. With Ninth House she pivoted to Yale's secret societies and adult horror-adjacent territory, proving her range extends well beyond YA. Bardugo writes with sharp wit, precise pacing, and an instinct for ensemble dynamics — her casts bounce off each other with the crackle of a great heist film. Readers who love character-driven fantasy with bite and atmosphere will find her essential.
Where to Start with Leigh Bardugo
- Best entry point → Six of Crows
- Start the Grishaverse series → Demon in the Wood
- What readers keep coming back to → Shadow and Bone
- Highest rated by readers → Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)
Best Leigh Bardugo Books
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Crooked Kingdom
Six of Crows • Book 2
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Betrayed and broken after their heist, Kaz's crew faces enemies from all sides while planning their most impossible con yet. Bardugo's finale delivers emotional payoffs and explosive action sequences.
★ 4.57 Goodreads (779.9K ratings) - 2
Six of Crows
Six of Crows • Book 1
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Seventeen-year-old crime boss Kaz Brekker recruits five dangerous outcasts for a heist that could make them rich—or get them killed in Ketterdam's magic-soaked underworld.
★ 4.46 Goodreads (1.2M ratings) - 3
Shadow and Bone
Shadow and Bone • Book 1
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When cartographer Alina Starkov manifests rare light-summoning powers crossing the monster-infested Shadow Fold, she becomes both Ravka's salvation and its most valuable prisoner.
★ 3.91 Goodreads (1.1M ratings) - 4
Ruin and Rising
Shadow and Bone • Book 3
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Hiding in underground caverns, a weakened Sun Summoner must choose between zealots who worship her as a saint and a broken nation under shadow rule. Bardugo sticks the landing on her complex magic system.
★ 3.97 Goodreads (595.9K ratings) - 5
Ninth House
Alex Stern • Book 1
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Yale's secret societies practice actual occult rituals, and Alex Stern—sole survivor of a multiple homicide—monitors them for the university. Bardugo crafts a dark academia where privilege literally costs blood.
★ 4.00 Goodreads (407.3K ratings) - 6
Hell Bent
Alex Stern • Book 2
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Alex Stern defies Yale's Lethe Society to mount a rescue mission into hell itself, determined to save Darlington from purgatory. Bardugo's sequel dives deeper into occult academia with higher stakes and bloodier consequences.
★ 4.10 Goodreads (183.8K ratings) - 7
Demon in the Wood
Grishaverse
by Leigh Bardugo, Dani Pendergast
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Before the Shadow Fold and Ravka's Second Army, the future Darkling was just a boy fleeing with his mother — the rarest and most feared Grisha alive.
★ 4.09 Goodreads (51.7K ratings)