Margaret Stohl Books in Order (Updated March 10, 2026)

Margaret Stohl’s bibliography is easiest to read once you split it into lanes. One lane is the co-authored Caster Chronicles world with Kami Garcia. Another is her solo YA work, including Icons, Black Widow, and Royce Rolls. Then there are later collaborations, middle grade books, and comics/graphic-novel work that belong to separate tracks.

For most readers, the key decision is not “publication or chronological?” but which Margaret Stohl lane do you want first. If you want the books she is best known for, start with Beautiful Creatures. If you want her solo YA science-fiction line, start with Icons. If you want Marvel prose rather than fantasy, start with Black Widow: Forever Red.

The simplest reading path

If you want the safest route through Margaret Stohl’s prose fiction, read in this order:

1. Start with the Caster Chronicles if you want the signature series.
2. Read Dangerous Creatures only after that, because it spins out of the earlier books.
3. Read Icons, Black Widow, Royce Rolls, Jo & Laurie, and A Secret Princess separately, because they do not depend on the Caster books.
4. Treat Cats vs. Robots as its own middle-grade sequence.
5. Treat the Captain Marvel work as a separate comics/graphic-novel branch.

Margaret Stohl books by series and continuity

Caster Chronicles / Beautiful Creatures novels

Co-authored with Kami Garcia. Included.

1. Beautiful Creatures (2009): Ethan Wate’s life in Gatlin changes when Lena Duchannes arrives, opening the door to the Southern Gothic mythology and long-buried family secrets that drive the whole series.
2. Beautiful Darkness (2010): The aftermath of book one deepens the curse, widens the world beyond first revelations, and pushes Ethan and Lena into a darker second act.
3. Dream Dark (2011, e-novella): A side story set within the Caster world, best treated as optional extra reading between the second and third main novels.
4. Beautiful Chaos (2011): The series turns more openly apocalyptic here, with Gatlin’s history, family lines, and magical consequences crashing together.
5. Beautiful Redemption (2012): The final main novel resolves the long arc of sacrifice, fate, and the cost of trying to change what seemed fixed from the beginning.

This is the core Margaret Stohl starting point for most readers. Read the four main novels in order. Add Dream Dark only if you want the extra worldbuilding and character texture rather than the fastest path through the main story.

Dangerous Creatures novels

Co-authored with Kami Garcia. Included, but only after Caster Chronicles.

1. Dangerous Dream (2013/2014, e-novella): A bridge story that sets up the spin-off and works best after finishing the main Beautiful Creatures sequence.
2. Dangerous Creatures (2014): This spin-off shifts attention to Ridley and Link, carrying forward familiar characters while building a new arc with stronger post-series spoiler risk.
3. Dangerous Deception (2015): The second book completes the spin-off storyline and pays off threads that start in the novellas and the first Dangerous book.

This is not the place to begin. Because it grows directly out of the earlier Caster books, it is best read after Beautiful Redemption.

Icons series

Solo YA dystopian science fiction. Included.

1. Icons (2013): Four teens who can survive the alien Icons’ killing force discover they are bound to something much larger than survival, launching Stohl’s main solo SF series.
2. Idols (2014): The sequel broadens the resistance story, the emotional stakes, and the cost of what these characters represent in a world already broken.

This duology is separate from the Caster books. Read it in order, but it can be started at any time.

Black Widow prose novels

Marvel YA prose. Separate continuity.

1. Black Widow: Forever Red (2015): Natasha Romanoff’s past collides with a new threat, and Stohl uses a spy-thriller structure rather than fantasy worldbuilding to set up the duology.
2. Black Widow: Red Vengeance (2016): The second novel pushes the conspiracy further outward and finishes the two-book arc with bigger pursuit-and-reckoning energy.

These are prose novels, not comics, and they work well for readers who want Marvel tie-ins without jumping straight into serialized comics reading.

Standalone YA / crossover prose

Separate continuity.

1. Royce Rolls (2017): A satirical LA-set YA novel about Bentley Royce, celebrity-family chaos, and a heroine trying to reclaim her own life from reality-show absurdity.
2. Jo & Laurie (2020, with Melissa de la Cruz): A romantic reimagining built from Little Women, giving Jo and Laurie the alternate emotional path many readers have long imagined.
3. A Secret Princess (2022, with Melissa de la Cruz): Another literary remix, this time blending A Little Princess and The Secret Garden into a companion-style historical YA story.

These are all independent of one another. You can read them in any order.

Cats vs. Robots

Middle grade, with Lewis Peterson. Separate continuity.

1. Cats vs. Robots #1: This Is War (2018): A STEM-heavy, comic-spirited middle-grade opener in which family invention, robot politics, and secret feline agendas collide.
2. Cats vs. Robots #2: Now with Fleas! (2019): The conflict escalates into a bigger intergalactic standoff, with the family trying to stop both sides before the absurd war gets worse.

This series sits apart from Stohl’s YA fantasy and Marvel work.

Margaret Stohl books in publication order

Here is the clearest prose-book publication order across her main bibliography:

1. Beautiful Creatures (2009): The opening Caster novel and still the default place to begin for most readers.
2. Beautiful Darkness (2010): The mythology grows denser and the consequences become more personal.
3. Dream Dark (2011): An optional e-novella for readers who want extra Caster-world context.
4. Beautiful Chaos (2011): The series moves into a broader magical crisis.
5. Beautiful Redemption (2012): The main Caster arc reaches its conclusion.
6. Icons (2013): Stohl’s solo dystopian duology begins with alien occupation and resistant survivors.
7. Dangerous Dream (2013/2014): A short bridge into the Caster spin-off sequence.
8. Dangerous Creatures (2014): Ridley and Link move into the foreground.
9. Idols (2014): The Icons duology closes with larger-scale consequences.
10. Dangerous Deception (2015): The Dangerous Creatures arc concludes.
11. Black Widow: Forever Red (2015): The Marvel prose duology begins.
12. Black Widow: Red Vengeance (2016): The Black Widow prose story finishes.
13. Royce Rolls (2017): A sharp tonal shift into contemporary YA satire.
14. Cats vs. Robots #1: This Is War (2018): Middle grade, humorous, and fully separate from the YA lines.
15. Cats vs. Robots #2: Now with Fleas! (2019): Direct continuation of book one.
16. Jo & Laurie (2020): A historical romantic retelling with Melissa de la Cruz.
17. A Secret Princess (2022): Another co-written literary remix, intended as a companion rather than a sequel.

Recommended reading order

For a new reader, this is the most useful practical order:

Route A: the signature Margaret Stohl path

1. Beautiful Creatures
2. Beautiful Darkness
3. Beautiful Chaos
4. Beautiful Redemption
5. Dangerous Dream
6. Dangerous Creatures
7. Dangerous Deception

Choose this if you want the books most associated with her name. It preserves reveals and keeps the spin-off in its proper place.

Route B: the solo-books path

1. Icons
2. Idols
3. Black Widow: Forever Red
4. Black Widow: Red Vengeance
5. Royce Rolls

Choose this if you want to skip the co-authored Southern Gothic books and go straight to Stohl’s solo YA work.

Route C: the later standalones path

1. Jo & Laurie
2. A Secret Princess

Choose this if you want her later collaborative retellings without committing to a longer series first.

Do you need a chronological order?

Not across the full bibliography. Margaret Stohl’s books are mostly series-based or standalone, not one interconnected universe. Inside each individual series, publication order is the right order. The only place where placement matters beyond numbered sequence is the Caster line, where Dangerous Creatures should come after the main Beautiful Creatures books.

Comics and graphic novels

Optional, separate branch.

If you want Stohl’s Marvel work beyond the Black Widow prose novels, the main collected-book route is:

1. The Mighty Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: Alien Nation (2017): Carol Danvers returns in an energetic new run that starts Stohl’s Captain Marvel comics era.
2. The Mighty Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Band of Sisters (2017): The run continues with more pressure on Carol’s public and private roles.
3. The Mighty Captain Marvel, Vol. 3: Dark Origins (2018): The final collected volume closes out that sequence.
4. The Life of Captain Marvel (2019, collected edition): A more introspective Carol Danvers story focused on family history, identity, and what heroism has cost her.
5. Spider-Man Noir: Twilight in Babylon (2020): A separate Marvel graphic-novel lane with no reading-order dependency on Captain Marvel.
6. Super Visible: The Story of the Women of Marvel (2021, with Judy Stephens): A nonfiction Marvel history project rather than a novel sequence.

These are optional for “books in order” readers, but worth separating out because they are collected editions and graphic/nonfiction work rather than the prose-novel line.

Where to start

Start with Beautiful Creatures if you want the best-known Margaret Stohl entry point.

Start with Icons if you want her solo YA fiction first.

Start with Black Widow: Forever Red if you want Marvel prose and a shorter two-book commitment.

Start with Jo & Laurie if you want a standalone-style retelling rather than fantasy or sci-fi.

Latest release status

The latest prose novel I could reliably confirm is A Secret Princess from 2022. I also found later book-format work in the broader bibliography, including Super Visible: The Story of the Women of Marvel from 2021, but I did not find a reliably confirmed newer prose novel or an officially announced upcoming Margaret Stohl prose release to add here, so it is safest to leave the future-release section blank rather than guess.

FAQ

Do I need to read Beautiful Creatures before Dangerous Creatures?

Yes. The spin-off is much clearer, and much less spoilery, if you finish the main Caster sequence first.

Is Dream Dark required?

No. It is optional, but it fits best between Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos if you want all the Caster fiction.

Are the Black Widow books comics?

No. Forever Red and Red Vengeance are prose novels. The Captain Marvel books belong to her comics/graphic-novel branch.

Are Jo & Laurie and A Secret Princess a series?

Not in the strict sequel sense. They are best treated as companion-style co-authored retellings and can be read separately.

Bottom line

For most readers, Beautiful Creatures is still the right starting point, and the most important reading-order warning is simple: save Dangerous Creatures for after the main Caster books.

Everything else is much easier. Icons, Black Widow, Royce Rolls, Jo & Laurie, A Secret Princess, and Cats vs. Robots all sit in their own lanes, so once you choose the lane you want, the order becomes straightforward.