How to Read V.E. Schwab Books in Order (2025 Edition)

Searching for the correct V.E. Schwab book order? If you’re new to her work or you’ve read some of her books and loved what she writes, this article will help you continue reading V.E. Schwab’s books in order, by series, reading sequence, and publication date.

V.E. Schwab—who also writes under Victoria Schwab for middle grade and young adult titles—is a bestselling author known for her fantastic storytelling, morally complex characters, and richly imagined universes. Her books span fantasy, science fiction, and supernatural fiction, appealing to readers of all ages.

Some of her most popular works include: The Shades of Magic series, The Villains series, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, among others!

With so many series, standalone novels, and crossovers across age groups, figuring out where to begin can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve created this easy-to-follow guide to help you read V.E. Schwab’s books in the best possible order—whether by publication date, series chronology, or your preferred genre.

Scroll down to explore all V.E. Schwab books in order—and start your journey through the works of one of the best female voices in fantasy fiction.

V.E. Schwab’s Villains Series in Order:

0.5. Warm Up (2013) – Prequel Story

It’s been 297 days since David died–and came back. He may have survived the avalanche, but the aftermath has been far worse. His wife moved out, taking his son with her, and a devastated David hasn’t left his house since, terrified of the mysterious new power that followed him home from the ill-fated expedition.

After months in seclusion, David’s ready for a fresh start and ventures out, determined to keep his power in check. But David’s power isn’t the one he needs to worry about!

1. Vicious (2013)

Victor and Eli started as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person he can find, aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will.

Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

1.5. ExtraOrdinary (2021) – Graphic Novel

ExtraOrdinary follows the tale of a teenage girl named Charlotte Tills who, following a fatal bus crash, seemingly dies only to wake up to discover she has become an EO—a person with ExtraOrdinary abilities.

In Charlotte’s case, it’s the ability to see people’s deaths, but when she looks into her future, she sees her murder at the hands of the self-proclaimed hero and notorious EO killer Eli Ever, who is currently in prison for the murder of Victor Vale. Refusing to accept her fate, Charlotte sets off to find—and change—her future before it comes for her.

2. Vengeful (2018)

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her newfound power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her sidekicks and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity—and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic Series in Order:

1. A Darker Shade of Magic (2015)

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons – Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now, perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

2. A Gathering of Shadows (2016)

It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, back into Black London.

Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do.

As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London comes back to life. After all, a shadow gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.

3. A Conjuring of Light (2017)

The precarious equilibrium among the four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

Once assumed to be the last surviving Antari, Kell begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

Once a commonplace—but never common—thief, Lila Bard has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.

V.E. Schwab’s Threads of Power Series:

1. The Fragile Threads of Power (2023)

Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power, and connected by a single city: London.

The magic grew too fast, forcing the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew rarer as time passed, and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory―Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk of White London.

But barely a glimpse of them has been seen in the last seven years―and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland’s absence.

The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own, but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown them instead. And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, which is determined to correct the balance of power by entirely razing the throne.

Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds. Her name is Tes, and she’s the only one who can bring them together―or unravel it all.

Victoria Schwab’s Standalone Novels:

1. The Near Witch (2011)

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely and always looking for company. And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

2. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020)

France, 1714: In desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore, and he remembers her name.

3. Gallant (2022)

Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal, which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant.

Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them.

The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now, Olivia sees what has unraveled for generations of her family and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

4. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025)

This is a story about hunger. 1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice.

This is a story about love. 1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. An invitation from a beautiful widow sweeps away Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage. 2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, present, and future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers and revenge.

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