V. E. Schwab Books in Order (Updated March 10, 2026)

V. E. Schwab is the adult-fiction name of Victoria Schwab, who also publishes YA and middle grade as Victoria Schwab. Her books are not one single sequence, so the key is to separate series, standalones, and shared universes before choosing where to start.

For most readers, the safest recommendation is to read each series in publication order and to read the original Shades of Magic trilogy before moving to Threads of Power.

Quick answer

Start here based on what you want:

• A Darker Shade of Magic: best overall starting point for adult fantasy readers.
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: best standalone entry point.
• Vicious: best for darker, sharper antihero fantasy.
• This Savage Song: strongest YA series entry point.
• City of Ghosts: best middle grade entry point.

Recommended reading order for most readers

1. A Darker Shade of Magic
2. A Gathering of Shadows
3. A Conjuring of Light
4. Vicious
5. Vengeful
6. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
7. The Fragile Threads of Power
8. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

This order gives new readers the cleanest route through Schwab’s best-known adult work while preserving the most important continuity reveal: The Fragile Threads of Power should come after the original Shades of Magic trilogy.

V. E. Schwab books in publication order

Villains series

1. Vicious (2013): Two brilliant, damaged friends turn into enemies after experiments with extraordinary abilities reshape both their lives and their moral limits.
2. Vengeful (2018): The rivalry widens into a bigger, more unstable conflict as new extraordinary figures push the series toward broader power struggles.
3. Victorious (2026): The planned third Villains novel is positioned as the next major stage in the series and should be read after the first two books.

Best order: Read this series in publication order. It is one direct continuity.

Shades of Magic universe

Main trilogy

1. A Darker Shade of Magic (2015): A smuggler-magician who can travel between parallel Londons becomes entangled with a dangerous artifact and a thief who refuses to stay out of trouble.
2. A Gathering of Shadows (2016): Political tension, private ambition, and a high-profile magical competition deepen the world and sharpen the stakes around Kell and Lila.
3. A Conjuring of Light (2017): The trilogy’s central threat fully breaks loose, forcing its characters into the most consequential and costly conflict of the series.

Same universe, later sequence

4. The Fragile Threads of Power (2023): Set after the original trilogy, this novel returns to the same world with familiar figures, new pressures, and a fresh crisis spreading across the Londons.

Best order: Start with the trilogy, then move to The Fragile Threads of Power. This is the most important reading-order rule in Schwab’s adult fantasy catalog.

Adult standalones

1. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020): A woman makes a bargain to live forever but is cursed to be forgotten, turning the novel into a long, identity-driven story about memory, art, and isolation.
2. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025): A dark standalone built around desire, hunger, and transformation, separate from Schwab’s existing series continuity.

These books are not tied to Villains or Shades of Magic.

Victoria Schwab YA books in order

The Near Witch

The Near Witch (2011): In an isolated town ruled by superstition and suspicion, an outsider’s arrival unsettles old fears and draws Lexi into a dangerous mystery.

Optional

• The Ash-Born Boy (2012): A companion novella that adds background and emotional texture to the world of The Near Witch.

Best order: Read the novel first, then the novella if you want the extra material.

The Archived / Dark Vault

1. The Archived (2013): Mackenzie Bishop’s job involves guarding the dead and managing dangerous histories, but private grief and buried secrets make the system harder to trust.
2. The Unbound (2014): The aftermath of the first book begins to fracture Mackenzie’s life as memory, trauma, and pressure from the Archive close in.

Optional

• “Leave the Window Open” (2015): A short companion piece for readers who want a little more from this world after the novels.

Best order: Read the two novels in order. The short story is optional.

Monsters of Verity

1. This Savage Song (2016): In a divided city where violence creates literal monsters, two heirs from opposite sides of the conflict are forced into dangerous proximity.
2. Our Dark Duet (2017): The fallout from the first novel expands the moral and political stakes as both leads confront what survival is making of them.

Best order: Read in order. It is a complete duology.

YA standalone

Gallant (2022): A gothic standalone about a girl, a strange house, a missing family history, and a boundary between worlds that should not be crossed.

Victoria Schwab middle grade books in order

Everyday Angel

1. Everyday Angel: New Beginnings (2014): A quiet, warm middle grade story in which an unusual helper is sent to guide a family through change.
2. Everyday Angel: Second Chances (2014): The second book continues the series’ gentle magical framework while focusing on repair, kindness, and emotional growth.
3. Everyday Angel: Last Wishes (2014): The trilogy closes by bringing its magical helper to another family in need of perspective and healing.

Best order: Read in order, though this series is more episodic than Schwab’s fantasy work.

Cassidy Blake

1. City of Ghosts (2018): Cassidy, who can cross into the world of ghosts, travels to Edinburgh and finds that her gift attracts dangers as easily as it solves mysteries.
2. Tunnel of Bones (2019): A trip to Paris brings new hauntings and stronger supernatural pressure as Cassidy’s abilities are tested more directly.
3. Bridge of Souls (2021): In New Orleans, the series pushes into its biggest ghostly threat yet while deepening the rules and consequences of Cassidy’s world.

Best order: Read in order. These books build on the same characters and supernatural framework.

Graphic novels and comics

Villains universe

ExtraOrdinary (2021): A graphic novel set in the Villains world that expands the universe but is not a replacement for reading the main novels first.

Shades of Magic prequel comics

1. The Steel Prince, Vol. 1 (2019): A prequel story exploring an earlier era of the Shades of Magic world.
2. The Steel Prince, Vol. 2 (2020): Continues the prequel arc and adds background for readers already invested in the universe.
3. The Steel Prince, Vol. 3 (2020): Concludes the prequel run and works best as supplementary reading rather than as a starting point.

Best order: Read these after the original trilogy, even though they are prequels in timeline terms.

Optional short fiction and separate continuity

• “Warm Up”: A Villains short story that works best after Vicious.
• “Common Ground”: Another Villains short piece best saved until after the main novels already establish the world and its tensions.
• Broken Ground (2015): A contribution to the multi-author Spirit Animals universe, which is separate continuity from Schwab’s own series.
• “First Kill”: A separate short work and not part of the core reading path through Schwab’s main book series.

Publication order across the full bibliography

1. The Near Witch (2011): An isolated-town fantasy rooted in folklore, suspicion, and the danger of old fears turning active again.
2. The Ash-Born Boy (2012): A companion novella that adds material to the world of The Near Witch.
3. The Archived (2013): A fantasy about memory, the dead, and the institutions that try to control both.
4. Vicious (2013): A dark rivalry story about power, obsession, and the damage caused by trying to master either.
5. The Unbound (2014): A direct continuation of The Archived, deepening its emotional and supernatural consequences.
6. Everyday Angel: New Beginnings (2014): A gentle middle grade novel about change, family, and quiet intervention.
7. Everyday Angel: Second Chances (2014): A follow-up focused on healing and emotional repair.
8. Everyday Angel: Last Wishes (2014): The third Everyday Angel book, closing the trilogy’s warm episodic arc.
9. Broken Ground (2015): A separate-universe contribution to the Spirit Animals line.
10. A Darker Shade of Magic (2015): The opening novel of Schwab’s best-known adult fantasy series.
11. “Leave the Window Open” (2015): A short companion piece connected to The Archived world.
12. This Savage Song (2016): A YA fantasy about monsters born from violence and the people caught between them.
13. A Gathering of Shadows (2016): The second Shades of Magic novel, broadening the world and the political stakes.
14. Our Dark Duet (2017): The second Monsters of Verity book, darker and more escalatory than the first.
15. A Conjuring of Light (2017): The conclusion to the original Shades of Magic trilogy.
16. City of Ghosts (2018): The start of the Cassidy Blake middle grade ghost series.
17. Vengeful (2018): The second Villains novel, expanding the conflict outward.
18. The Steel Prince, Vol. 1 (2019): A collected prequel comic in the Shades of Magic universe.
19. Tunnel of Bones (2019): The second Cassidy Blake novel, moving the ghost-hunting framework to Paris.
20. The Steel Prince, Vol. 2 (2020): The middle part of the Shades of Magic prequel comic arc.
21. The Good Turn? Not applicable here; removing pattern overlap and sticking only to Schwab titles.
22. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020): A standalone centered on being forgotten, except by one person.
23. The Steel Prince, Vol. 3 (2020): The closing volume of the prequel comic sequence.
24. Bridge of Souls (2021): The third Cassidy Blake novel, raising the scale of the supernatural conflict.
25. ExtraOrdinary (2021): A graphic novel extension of the Villains universe.
26. Gallant (2022): A gothic YA standalone with a house, a family mystery, and a dangerous threshold.
27. The Fragile Threads of Power (2023): A return to the Shades of Magic world in a later period.
28. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025): A dark adult standalone separate from her earlier series.
29. Victorious (2026): The announced third Villains novel.

Chronological order

A full chronological order is not very useful across Schwab’s catalog because most series are separate. The only place readers usually mean chronology is the Shades of Magic universe:

1. The Steel Prince comics: Prequel material set before the main novels.
2. A Darker Shade of Magic: The best actual entry point despite coming later in the timeline.
3. A Gathering of Shadows: Continues the main storyline directly.
4. A Conjuring of Light: Concludes the original arc.
5. The Fragile Threads of Power: Takes place later in the same universe.

Chronological order is not the recommended first-read path here. Publication order preserves introductions and character impact better.

Where to start with V. E. Schwab

• Start with A Darker Shade of Magic if you want the clearest introduction to her adult fantasy.
• Start with The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue if you want a standalone.
• Start with Vicious if you want a darker, more aggressive character dynamic.
• Start with This Savage Song if you want YA first.
• Start with City of Ghosts if you want middle grade first.

Latest release status

The most recent V. E. Schwab novel is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. The next confirmed major release in her main adult bibliography is Victorious, the third Villains novel.

FAQs

Do I need to read V. E. Schwab and Victoria Schwab separately?

That is the clearest way to organize the catalog. The names mostly separate audience categories rather than one shared continuity.

Can I start with The Fragile Threads of Power?

You can, but it is not the best choice. Read the original Shades of Magic trilogy first for the strongest context.

Is Addie LaRue a series?

No. It is a standalone.

Is Gallant connected to any other Schwab novel?

No. It stands alone.

Are the comics required?

No. They are supplemental.

Final recommendation

For most readers, A Darker Shade of Magic is still the best starting point. Read the original trilogy first, then move outward into Vicious, Addie LaRue, or later universe material depending on whether you want more series fantasy, darker character conflict, or a standalone.