As I wrote yet another glowing review for a Rachel Lynn Solomon book, I wondered if there’s any other author that I consistently rate as high. Taylor Jenkins Reid is up there. Anyone else? Katie Cotugno? I started thinking about this and decided to roll through all of the authors I’ve read and figure out which ones I’ve rated the highest in my years of book blogging. It was a little tedious but my parameters were the following:
(1) I needed to have read three or more books by the author to count them for this experiment, since two books can sometimes be a fluke. Novellas or short stories in anthologies did not count as “one book” in the totals to determine if the author should be included, but…
(2) …I did include novella book ratings in the rating calculation. For example: I read four books by the author, one of which was a novella, so that was counted for ratings purposes. I didn’t include short stories within anthologies because then I’d have to go into the review post and find the individual story rating.
(3) I did not include authors where I’ve only read one series by them (3+ books). Saying I loved the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy doesn’t necessarily mean that Holly Jackson herself is on my highest rated author list, since I’ve only fallen in love with one series by her. For all I know, her next series may not hit me as hard. I did include authors where I’ve read two series, or one series plus 1-2 other books, since it’s a better sample size.
Highest Rated Authors
I went with the fifteen highest ratings overall – not the fifteen top authors – because some authors came in at the same average rating. You’ll see plenty of ratings with multiple authors featured and highlighted below.
Emery Lord – 4.7 stars
Alone at the top we have Emery Lord – shocking to absolutely no one. The three books above are the ones I’ve rated five stars. Her other books all range from 4-5 stars, which is why she easily has this high ass rating. Her books just hit differently than any others. She also has short stories in two anthologies that I really enjoyed but didn’t include the ratings.
Emma Lord, Trish Doller, and Adam Silvera – 4.67 stars
This tier is really interesting because it’s not super surprising, but also kind of is. Let’s go one by one. Emma Lord – not a shocker here. I’ve adored her books. TWEET CUTE got 5 stars and her two following releases got 4.5 stars. I know it’s a small pool, but a strong pool. Same could be said for Adam Silvera and Trish Doller – I’ve read only three books from each of them and they were all really good. Adam Silvera is not someone I would consider a favorite author though, for whatever reason – these were good books when I read them but I’ve never gone out of my way to read more for some reason. Trish Doller is a new fave because the two books in her adult contemporary companion series earned 5 stars and the YA book of hers I read was good (4 stars – WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE). All in all, these are some authors to watch. I would consider Silvera a fluke here TBH.
Jenny Han – 4.63 stars
I’m not surprised Jenny Han is up here. I somewhat fudged the numbers because I didn’t include each individual rating in the SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY books. I only reread the first book in the last few years and never wrote a review, so these three books are the only ones on my blog. I rated them 5, 5, and 4.5 stars, respectively. I added in a quick 4 star rating to sum up the SUMMER Books, which is what landed me at this overall rating for her books. Fair enough, I think.
Taylor Jenkins Reid and Libba Bray – 4.57 stars
I adore both of these authors but it’s funny seeing them here together – they’re so different from each other. TJR is definitely considered a top author for me and all of her books are lovely. The lowest rating is 4 stars and I’ve read 7 books of hers – crazy! I still have one backlist title to read that I’ve been saving for a rainy day. Libba Bray is an OG favorite of mine since I initially read the Gemma Doyle books. They’re included in this overall rating since I reread them a handful of years ago. Between that series and the DIVINERS books, she’s top of my list.
Emma Mills, Rachel Lynn Solomon,
Julie Buxbaum, and Suzanne Young – 4.5 stars
Another rating with a lot of heavy hitters. Julie Buxbaum is the only one here where I’ve read exactly three books and they were all lovely, exactly 4.5 stars apiece. Emma Mills has 4 amazing books I’ve read (missing one) and she’s totally underrated. FOOLISH HEARTS is the only one I rated 5 stars and the others are mostly 4.5 stars with one 4 star to balance it out. Suzanne Young is one of my most-read authors so it’s kind of amazing that after reading *ten* books by her, I still have this high of a rating! And finally, Rachel Lynn Solomon – the author that sparked this post for me. I’ve rated one adult and one YA book by her 5 stars and the rest fall in the 3.5-4.5 star range.
Jenny Holiday – 4.4 stars
Jenny Holiday is a newer author for me but she’s been cranking out excellent books for a few years now. I’ve adored all of them… and still have an entire series to read by her on my TBR! I’m more partial to her Matchmaker Bay series but the Christmas books she’s released lately are still 4 stars each. These three books in the trilogy are 4.5 stars and the middle book earned 5 stars from me.
Leigh Bardugo and Katie Cotugno – 4.38 stars
Another rating with an interesting pair of authors here. I love both of them but they write very different books! I’ve rated most of Leigh Bardugo’s books highly but the two pictured above (both in the Grishaverse but from two different series) earned 5 stars from me. 9 DAYS & 9 NIGHTS is actually a sequel to 99 DAYS and I loved it enough to give it 5 stars.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes – 4.36 stars
JLB is an auto-buy and auto-read author for me, easily. All of her series and standalones have been excellent so far and she writes across multiple genres. Can’t lose! I even have one whole series to read by her still (THE NATURALS). The majority of her books fall in the 4.5 star range – THE LONG GAME (above) is the only that’s earned a full 5 stars. LITTLE WHITE LIES is here to show the variety of series/books she’s written but that one got 4 stars.
Morgan Matson and Jenn Bennett – 4.3 stars
Both of these authors consistently earn high marks from me and are considered pretty popular YA contemporary authors. The first two covers here are my favorites from each author and SAVE THE DATE also got 4.5 stars. Overall, I highly recommend these authors and all of their books without hesitation.
Cynthia Hand and Abby Jimenez – 4.25 stars
Cynthia Hand is an interesting one and truly only made it on this list because of THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE, which earned 5 stars from me. Her other books are all in the Lady Janies companion series with two co-authors (neither of those ladies appear on this list). I adore that series too. Abby Jimenez has become a new go-to author and her most recent releases have been even better than her first two.
Kieran Scott aka Kate Brian – 4.23
I decided to lump Kieran Scott and her pseudonym Kate Brian in the same category to calculate the rating, for obvious reasons I’m sure. I love her books under both names! Her adult fiction debut (mystery) just came out and I really enjoyed it. She’s written series under Kate Brian (Shadowlands and Private) and I’ve loved both of them. I think this rating is somewhat inflated because I rated all of the Private books “5 stars” for the purpose of rating a review when surely they are not that high. Oh well!
Miranda Kenneally – 4.21 stars
Miranda Kenneally wrote a very long Hundred Oaks companion series, which I loved overall. These three books (5, 5, and 4.5 stars from left to right) all were in that series. There were a few books I didn’t quite as much and that probably factored into the rating. Her first book out of the series was pretty good but not a favorite. Overall, I will reach for a Miranda Kenneally book 9 times out of 10! Fun fact: I actually read this series out of order because I didn’t realize BREATHE, ANNIE, BREATHE was in the same series since it had a different cover design from the rest at the time. I read CATCHING JORDAN next to start the series in order and also rated it 5 stars… so technically those two books set the bar super high for MK!
Kasie West, Stephanie Perkins,
Kody Keplinger, and Maggie Stiefvater – 4.2 stars
Another interesting category with some strong authors! All of these authors (except Maggie) have had some hits and misses, but clearly a few strong books to allow for such high ratings. The majority of Kasie West’s books have been 4 stars for me but the PIVOT POINT duology stands above the rest. I almost didn’t want to include Kody Keplinger simply because I haven’t read one of her books in a number of years, and some of my favorites of hers would likely not rate as highly today. All things considered, the books I’ve read still are highly rated and she deserves a spot here. Steph Perkins is on here because the Anna, Lola, and Isla books are some of my all-time favorites, but her two horror books rated 4 and 3 stars, respectively. All of Maggie Stiefvater’s books have been rated either 4 or 4.5 stars by me so she’s very solidly in this category.
Dahlia Adler and Leila Howland – 4.17 stars
Dahlia Adler has written a few different series across YA and NA and I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of them. I have a few more of her books to read but she’s become a go-to in general. I think JUST VISITING is my favorite overall but her two series each had one book rated 4.5 stars as well, like RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL here. Leila Howland is one that sneaks on the list – two of her three books I’ve read are in a duology (both rated 4 stars) and then HELLO, SUNSHINE brings the average rating up because I rated it 4.5 stars.
Sandhya Menon and Sarah Dessen – 4.14 stars
Sandhya Menon is definitely one of those authors that I always gravitate towards – she’s had some amazing books and some so-so ones that have balanced her out to be right at this rating level. I haven’t even tried her adult contemporaries because I haven’t heard the best things. I’ll never forget the magical reads featuring Simple and Sweetie, though! Sarah Dessen is a tricky one! I decided to only average the star ratings from the books of hers that I’ve reread and highlighted since I started blogging. There are sooo many other books of hers, like THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER, that I haven’t read in years but would have given 5 stars back in the day. I only focused on the books I recently read or reread, which includes her new releases. I consider Dessen one of my all-time favorite authors but I won’t be able to finalize her overall “rating” until I reread more books!
Honorable Mentions
Outside of the top fifteen overall ratings are some other people I would largely consider “favorite authors” of mine! I only focused on authors/books with an overall rating of 4 stars or higher. I thought they would be worth the mention here. Below you’ll find my favorite book or highest rated book by each author plus their overall book rating.
Just Above 4 Star Average
Beth O’Leary – 4.13 // Annie Rains – 4.11 // Ally Carter – 4.1
Marissa Meyer – 4.08 // Holly Black – 4.08
Gayle Forman – 4.08 // Beth Kendrick – 4.07
Exactly 4 Star Average
The authors with average ratings of exactly four stars are: Lauren Layne, Amie Kaufman (likely also with Jay Kristoff but she made it this high because I’ve read one other book by just her), Brigid Kemmerer (oddly enough rated ALL of her books exactly 4 stars), Jennifer E. Smith, Rachael Allen, Lauren Oliver (this book was a 5-star read so it’s interesting her others were not quite as good for me but I still have so many on her backlist to read someday), and Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (also included her books as L.E. Flynn).
[…] – I haven’t gotten to those yet) and it’s no surprise she’s one of my highest rated authors at 4.36 stars […]