The 6 Best Books Released Since 2020, According to Goodreads

Launched in January of 2007 and owned by Amazon since 2013, Goodreads is the world’s largest social reading platform and book review website. It’s both a digital database and a community hub for bookworms, where they can—among many other things—rate and review books. Over the course of the 2020s so far, Goodreads users have been entirely unafraid to rave about their favorite books, making it so that there are several masterpieces on the site with remarkably high ratings. These are must-read titles not only for people who already love contemporary literature, but perhaps especially for those who would dare to say that literature throughout the last six years hasn’t been great.

From dystopian prequels like Sunrise on the Reaping to vast fantasy epics like Rhythm of War, the highest-rated books of the decade so far on Goodreads provide undeniable proof that the world of contemporary literature has plenty to offer for bibliophilic palates of all kinds. These are some incredibly varied books that provide remarkably different experiences, though there are most definitely qualities that they all have in common: They’re all admirably entertaining from cover to cover, they’re all delectably creative, and they’re all among Goodreads users’ favorite books of the 21st century.

6

‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ (2025)

Goodreads Rating: 4.49

During a fateful night of channel-surfing on television, Suzanne Collins saw a reality show on one channel and footage of the invasion of Iraq on the other. After both images started merging in her mind, the idea for The Hunger Games came about. The novel ended up being so successful that it spawned a whole new wave of dystopian literature for young adult readers, as well as a hyper-successful series of books and multimedia franchise. Last year, Collins published the second prequel novel in the series, Sunrise on the Reaping, about a 16-year-old Haymitch’s experiences fighting in the deadly Second Quarter Quell 24 years before the events of the first novel.

Not only one of the highest-rated books of the decade on Goodreads, but also the highest-rated in the whole Hunger Games saga.

With the soon-to-release film being one of the most anticipated book-to-movie adaptations of 2026, there is no bad time to experience Sunrise on the Reaping, which is not only one of the highest-rated books of the decade on Goodreads, but also the highest-rated in the whole Hunger Games saga. Goodreads users love it not only because of how it greatly enriches the lore of the series, but also because it’s a legitimately phenomenally-written YA novel with more than enough to appeal to teenagers and adults alike. Dark, complex, violent, impeccably paced, and as politically outspoken as any great dystopian book should be, it’s a must-read for all fans of the genre.

5

‘Project Hail Mary’ (2021)

Goodreads Rating: 4.51

Andy Weir has only published four novels so far, but that has been more than enough for him to have already firmly established himself as one of the best hard science fiction authors currently working. His latest work is the Hugo Award winner Project Hail Mary, about a man who wakes up alone with amnesia on a deep-space starship, only to slowly recover his memories and discover that he is Earth’s final hope to stop a star-eating microbe from destroying the galaxy. It’s one of the best sci-fi books published since 2020, and it’s not even close; a love letter to hard sci-fi unlike any other that the subgenre has seen in quite a few years.

Hard science fiction is all about celebrating the beauty of science and the power of human ingenuity, and Project Hail Mary is full of that spirit, coupled perfectly with a few highly effective doses of softer sci-fi elements. That makes it one of the most universally accessible hard sci-fi novels of all time, and that’s precisely why so many Goodreads users have taken the time to give it a sky-high rating on the platform. They love it for its irresistible sense of humor, its relentlessly comforting and upbeat tone, its complete lack of cynicism or scientific pretentiousness, and the exquisitely fun relationship between protagonist Ryland Grace and his alien buddy, Rocky.

4

‘The Will of the Many’ (2023)

Goodreads Rating: 4.56

As if any more proof were needed that speculative fiction has dominated 2020s literature on Goodreads, there’s also Australian author James Islington‘s The Will of the Many, the first epic fantasy novel in the Hierarchy series. It’s one of those books that are spiritually Brandon Sanderson, set in a fictional civilization inspired by the Golden Age of the Roman Republic. In it, an undercover former prince infiltrates the empire’s elite academy to solve a murder, find an ancient weapon, and destroy the regime that killed his family. The result is one of the most wonderfully expansive and intricate high fantasy books the world has seen in years, with world-building and a magic system that all Brandon Sanderson fans should find absolutely fascinating.

On Goodreads, users love the way Islington took plenty of tried-and-true fantasy tropes, from dark academia to Roman-inspired empires, and made a literary concoction so diverse in tone that it’s shocking just how concise and creatively even it feels. Propulsed by an addictive sense of pacing and a high-stakes story, it’s praised as a consistently jaw-dropping experience complete with a mind-bending conclusion that makes all 700+ pages of pure epic fantasy worth every single word.

3

‘Fourth Wing’ (2023)

Goodreads Rating: 4.56

The cultural wave and boom in popularity of spicy romantic fantasy is quite a young one, exploding onto the mainstream in the 2020s largely thanks to virality found on BookTok. From this wave, there have come plenty of very highly-regarded novels, but none more highly-rated on Goodreads than Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing. This is the first book in the Empyrean series, and it follows the journey of a physically frail young woman who’s forced by her military general mother to enter a deadly college, where she must survive brutal trials and navigate a dangerous romance. Those who don’t love spicy romantasy likely won’t be converted by Fourth Wing, but those who are already interested in the subgenre are bound to find it irresistible.

They have raved about its exquisitely high-adrenaline plot, crediting it with curing many a reading slump and getting plenty of non-fantasy readers hooked on the genre.

Clearly, Goodreads users think that there aren’t very many fantasy books better than Fourth Wing. On the site, they have raved about its exquisitely high-adrenaline plot, crediting it with curing many a reading slump and getting plenty of non-fantasy readers hooked on the genre. With an incredibly addictive enemies-to-lovers dynamic at its core, spice that’s perfectly slow-burning and never goes overboard, and plenty of snarky and witty dialogue to keep the pages turning themselves, it’s no wonder Fourth Wing is as highly regarded as it is online.

2

‘Rhythm of War’ (2020)

Goodreads Rating: 4.56

Brandon Sanderson has been one of the most popular and prolific speculative fiction writers of the 21st century for many years, his vast Cosmere universe being one of the most foundational fantasy book series of the last 26 years. Cosmere is composed of multiple different subseries, and fans tend to be in agreement on which is the best of the bunch: It has to be The Stormlight Archive, which kicked off in 2010 with the masterful The Way of Kings. The sequels that came after are all among the best fantasy books of the last 15 years, certainly including the fourth book in the series, Rhythm of War. In it, human and singer forces clash in a high-stakes siege that forces our heroes to confront dangerous new weapons and their own internal demons.

Every single chapter in The Stormlight Archive is among the highest-rated fantasy novels in history on Goodreads, and Rhythm of War is evidently no exception. While its gargantuan 1,200+ page length and dense magic system definitely make it daunting, fans on Goodreads nevertheless love it for its massive emotional payoffs, its jaw-dropping reveals, and its masterfully complex portrayal of themes of mental health. Full of exciting moments and grand revelations about the overarching Cosmere universe, it’s a must-read not just for Sanderson fans, but for anyone who loves high fantasy and epic stories as a whole.

1

‘The Women’ (2024)

Goodreads Rating: 4.58

In Kristin Hannah‘s historical fiction novel The Women, a sheltered young nursing student enlists in the Army Nurse Corps to serve in the Vietnam War, only to return home to a divided US that erases and dismisses the heavy trauma and sacrifice of female veterans. Throughout history, military fiction has constantly and amply dived deep into the experiences and trauma of male veterans, but female veterans’ POV is still surprisingly rare. As far as that kind of premise goes, it doesn’t get much more acclaimed than this. Hannah spent around 20 years developing the idea for The Women, and it’s such a beautifully complex novel that it’s unsurprising that it took this long to fully come into its own.

About 67% of users have given The Women five stars, and it’s abundantly easy to see why. Viscerally emotional in its depiction of its subject matter, it not only shines a light on this vital group of forgotten heroes, but also tells a gripping, emotionally cathartic story that makes it impossible not to sob through at least a good portion of the book. The characters and the dynamics between them are all gorgeously written, the story is so well-paced that it’s a page-turner from beginning to end, and the way Hannah never shies away from the harrowing darkness of the narrative makes The Women all the more special.