City of Ghosts
#5103.94 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2018–2020 Reading commitment Medium V.E. Schwab Last reviewed 2026-08-30
Overview
City of Ghosts follows Cassidy Blake, a girl who drowned and came back with the ability to cross into the world of the dead, as she and her ghost-hunter parents travel to Edinburgh, then Paris, then New Orleans (each of the three most haunted cities in the world) for their new paranormal travel show. Across the three novels she is guided and needled in equal measure by Jacob, the sardonic ghost she rescued years earlier and cannot leave behind, while a menacing figure known only as the Raven in Red edges closer with each city. A complete middle-grade paranormal trilogy, published 2018-2020, blending light scares with a steady focus on grief, friendship and the ethics of a gift Cassidy never asked for. It comes from V. E. Schwab, an author already represented in this canon by several adult and YA works spanning fantasy, science fiction and horror-adjacent territory.
Urban fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
Cassidy Blake V.E. Schwab
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | City of Ghosts | 2018 | 1 | core | 3.87 (78,709 ratings) |
 | Tunnel of Bones | 2019 | 2 | core | 4.02 (36,036 ratings) |
 | Bridge of Souls | 2020 | 3 | core | 4.02 (24,287 ratings) |
Complete middle-grade paranormal trilogy following Cassidy Blake, a girl who can cross into the world of the dead, across Edinburgh, Paris and New Orleans.
Quick answers
- How many books are in City of Ghosts? City of Ghosts's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for City of Ghosts? Publication order, starting with City of Ghosts. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is City of Ghosts finished? Complete (2018–2020).
- How much reading does City of Ghosts take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~576 pages).
- How is City of Ghosts ranked? #510 in this site's official ranking, based on 139,032 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #510?
Ranked #510 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.94 across 3 core books.
- Backed by 139k reader ratings.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 3 rated core books rate within 0.15 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #509, Children of the Red King (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 3 books · Complete · 139k ratings · Ranks #510 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- City of Ghosts (2018)
- Tunnel of Bones (2019)
- Bridge of Souls (2020)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.94 across 139,032 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit City of Ghosts (V.E. Schwab) accepted 2026-08-30
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-30
Rule: Core Canon is the complete trilogy: City of Ghosts (2018), Tunnel of Bones (2019), and Bridge of Souls (2020).