Its website states, “Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Our mission is to help people find and share books they love.” Many loved books are rated 4.5 and above by numberless readers on Goodreads.
Goodreads is a great community where people find books and rate and review them. So, here are eleven of the highest-rated books on Goodreads (in no specific order), with an average rating of above 4.5.
#1 Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
About the book
Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Type: Book 3 of The Infernal Devices trilogy
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 567
Goodreads Rating: 4.56/5
A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.
Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.
As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?
Why do we recommend this book?
The first in the list of books above a 4.5 rating on Goodreads is Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. This book has a 4.56 rating, with about 430,000 people rating it. This surely is a very loved book.
Danger and betrayal, love and loss, secrets and enchantment are woven together in the breathtaking finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy.
To buy Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare now:
#2 Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
About the book
Title: Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Type: Book 1 of The Empyrean duology
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, New Adult
Publisher: Piatkus
Pages: 512
Goodreads Rating: 4.69/5
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Why do we recommend this book?
A Fantasy novel with dragons, Fourth Wing has an average rating of 4.69 with more than 97,000 ratings and 22,000 reviews.
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.
To buy Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros now:
#3 Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
About the book
Title: Crooked Kingdom
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Type: Book 2 of Six of Crows duology, Book 5 of Grishaverse series
Genre: High Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Orion Children’s Books
Pages: 561
Goodreads Rating: 4.61/5
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.
A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.
Why do we recommend this book?
With nearly 555,000 people rating it, the final book of the sensational Six of Crows series has a Goodreads rating of 4.61.
When you can’t beat the odds, change the game.
To buy Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo now:
#4 The Way of Kings by Brandan Sanderson
About the book
Title: The Way of Kings
Author: Brandan Sanderson
Type: Book 1 of the Stormlight Archive series
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 1,007
Goodreads Rating: 4.65/5
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.
It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them and won by them.
One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable. Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.
Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at the Knights Radiant’s secrets and the war’s true cause.
Why do we recommend this book?
For starters, there are two books from this series on this list of books above 4.5 Goodreads rating, and this book amassed an average rating of 4.65 with over 433,000 ratings on Goodreads.
The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.
To buy The Way of Kings by Brandan Sanderson now:
#5 Words of Radiance by Brandan Sanderson
About the book
Title: Words of Radiance
Author: Brandan Sanderson
Type: Book 2 of The Stormlight Archive series
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 1,087
Goodreads Rating: 4.76/5
Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status “darkeyes.” Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.
The Assassin, Szeth, is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin’s master has much deeper motives.
Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to prevent somehow the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined.
Meanwhile, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision at the heart of the Shattered Plains. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable.
Why do we recommend this book?
The second book of the Epic Fantasy Stormlight Archive series also makes it into this list with an average rating of 4.76 from over 300,000 ratings and 18,000 reviews.
Words of Radiance, Book Two of the Stormlight Archive, continues the immersive fantasy epic that The Way of Kings began.
To buy Words of Radiance by Brandan Sanderson now:
#6 Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman
About the book
Title: Heartstopper
Author: Alice Oseman
Type: Book 4 of Heartstopper series
Genre: Graphic Novel, LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Graphix
Pages: 384
Goodreads Rating: 4.63/5
Charlie didn’t think Nick could ever like him back, but now they’re officially boyfriends. Charlie’s beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: I love you. Nick’s been feeling the same, but he’s got a lot on his mind – not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder.
As summer turns to autumn and a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick are about to learn a lot about what love means.
Why do we recommend this book?
Volume four of the bestselling LGBTQ Graphic books Heartstopper has an average rating of 4.63 on Goodreads, with about 306,000 ratings and 31,000 reviews. It is indeed an extremely loved series in recent times.
Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.
To buy Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman now:
#7 A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas
About the book
Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Type: Book 2 of A Court of Thorns and Roses series
Genre: High Fantasy, New Adult, Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 624
Goodreads Rating: 4.63/5
Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people. Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court.
As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.
Why do we recommend this book?
With a startling 1.1 million+ ratings, the second book of the ACOTAR series has an average rating of 4.63.
With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.
To buy A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas now:
#8 A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin
About the book
Title: A Storm of Swords
Author: George R.R. Martin
Type: Book 3 of A Song of Ice and Fire series
Genre: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Publisher: Bantam
Pages: 1,177
Goodreads Rating: 4.54/5
Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still, the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world.
And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.
Why do we recommend this book?
A Song of Ice and Fire needs no introduction, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that it is one of the highest-rated series ever. With more than 747,000 people rating it and above 24,000 reviews, the third book in the series has an average of 4.54 rating on Goodreads.
Here is the third volume in George R.R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. Together, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
To buy A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin now:
#9 The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
About the book
Title: The Nightingale
Author: Kristin Hannah
Type: Standalone
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 440
Goodreads Rating: 4.61/5
France, 1939: In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.
Why do we recommend this book?
This Historical Fiction novel amassed over a notable 1,130,000 ratings and 90,000 reviews and has an average rating of 4.61. It also won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction (2015).
In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.
To buy The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah now:
#10 The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien
About the book
Title: The Return of the King
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Type: Book 3 of The Lord of the Rings series
Genre: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 432
Goodreads Rating: 4.56/5
The Dark Lord has risen, and as he unleashes hordes of Orcs to conquer all Middle-earth, Frodo and Sam struggle deep into his realm in Mordor. To defeat Sauron, the One Ring must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. But the way is impossibly hard, and Frodo is weakening. The Ring corrupts all who bear it and Frodo’s time is running out.
Will Sam and Frodo succeed, or will the Dark Lord rule Middle-earth once more?
Why do we recommend this book?
Another series that needs no introduction; the third book of The Lord of the Rings books has above 4.5 rating, an average of 4.56 on Goodreads with about 837,000 ratings and 16,000 reviews.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
To buy The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien now:
#11 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
About the book
Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Type: Book 7 of Harry Potter series
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Pages: 607
Goodreads Rating: 4.62/5
Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous, and seemingly impossible task: locating and destroying Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety, and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him.
Why do we recommend this book?
The final book of the Harry Potter series has the highest number of ratings among all the books on this list, landing at a spectacular 3,490,000 and above. Fun fact: The most-rated book on Goodreads belongs to the first title in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which has over a mind-boggling 9+ million ratings with an average rating of 4.47/5.
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.
To buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling now:
Which high-rated books on Goodreads with above a 4.5 rating are your favorite? Have we missed out on any other notable titles? Leave a comment below!
| 1 | Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare | Buy now |
| 2 | Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros | Buy now |
| 3 | Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo | Buy now |
| 4 | The Way of Kings by Brandan Sanderson | Buy now |
| 5 | Words of Radiance by Brandan Sanderson | Buy now |
| 6 | Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman | Buy now |
| 7 | A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas | Buy now |
| 8 | A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin | Buy now |
| 9 | The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah | Buy now |
| 10 | The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien | Buy now |
| 11 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling | Buy now |
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