Unraveller
#3854.07 adjusted 4.04 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2022 Reading commitment Low Frances Hardinge Last reviewed 2026-11-02
Overview
Unraveller is a standalone fantasy novel by Frances Hardinge, published by Macmillan Children's Books in 2022. It is set in Raddith, a country where the marshy coastal Wilds are home to strange creatures known as the Little Brothers, who give people curse eggs that let them curse an enemy once. Kellen is an Unraveller, able to lift curses. With Nettle, a girl he once freed from a curse, he travels the Wilds helping the cursed and tracking down the people who cursed them. When a Chancery official hires them to look into a conspiracy, they are drawn deeper into the Wilds and into trouble, and Kellen learns that he too is under a curse. The book has no sequels.
Dark fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Unraveller Frances Hardinge
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Unraveller | 2022 | 1 | core | 4.07 (3,521 ratings) |
A standalone fantasy novel set in the country of Raddith.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Unraveller? Unraveller's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Unraveller finished? Complete (2022).
- How much reading does Unraveller take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Unraveller ranked? #385 in this site's official ranking, based on 3,521 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #385?
Ranked #385 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.07 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (3,521 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #384, Lyonesse (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 1 book · Complete · 4k ratings · Ranks #385 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Unraveller and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Scholomance Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.05
- Where the Dark Stands Still Dark fantasy / Fairy-tale retelling · Complete · Low commitment · 4.04
- The Old Kingdom Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Medium commitment · 4.20
- Abarat Portal fantasy / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Medium commitment · 4.14
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.07 across 3,521 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 29 universes; Inda widened to Sartorias-deles; 5 candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-02
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Unraveller (novel) Tier 2
- Book Trust Tier 2
- Pan Macmillan Australia Tier 2
- The Bookseller Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
Rule: Core Canon = Unraveller (2022).