20 Most Reviewed Books On Goodreads

Goodreads is kind of a necessary evil in the book world. There are plenty of alternatives out there, but Daddy GR already kind of owns the market. I recently came across an interesting Instagram reel by beloved bookstagrammer @James_Trevino where he went through a list of the most rated books on Goodreads. I did some googling, and it turns out (like best-seller lists) there are a lot of different ways to quantify “most reviewed books on Goodreads”, each with different results. Here are some of the recurring entries on these lists.

Heads up: I’ve personally chosen to exclude Harry Potter books from this list, because J.K. Rowling keeps espousing garbage. Besides, if you don’t already know that they’re among the most reviewed books on Goodreads, I don’t know how to help you.

Most Reviewed Books On Goodreads

20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

2,106,021 ratings

Average rating: 4.14 stars

Blurb: Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War. Read my full review of Little Women here.

19. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

2,246,404 ratings

Average rating: 3.97 stars

Blurb: Sixty years after its original publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before. Read my full review of Fahrenheit 451 here.

18. A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

2,374,386 ratings

Average rating: 4.44 stars

Blurb: Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Read my full review of A Game Of Thrones here.

17. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2,393,632 ratings

Average rating: 4.39 stars

Blurb: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Read my full review of The Book Thief here.

16. Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

2,420,877 ratings

Average rating: 3.88 stars

Blurb: They are an unlikely pair: George is “small and quick and dark of face”; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a “family,” clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California’s dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. Read my full review of Of Mice And Men here.

15. The Fellowship of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

2,704,909 ratings

Average rating: 4.38 stars

Blurb: In The Fellowship of The Ring, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

14. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

2,761,234 ratings

Average rating: 3.96 stars

Blurb: Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just The Girl On The Train… Read my full review of The Girl On The Train here.

13. Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

2,765,481 ratings

Average rating: 3.69 stars

Blurb: Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart. Read my full review of Lord Of The Flies here.

12. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

2,830,977 ratings

Average rating: 3.90 stars

Blurb: Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations. Read my full review of The Alchemist here.

11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

2,905,373 ratings

Average rating: 4.12 stars

Blurb: Who are you? What have we done to each other? These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy’s friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn’t true. Read my full review of Gone Girl here.

10. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

2,983,265 ratings

Average rating: 4.34 stars

Blurb: 1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption. Read my full review of The Kite Runner here.

9. The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

3,346,163 ratings

Average rating: 3.80 stars

Blurb: The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind. Read my full review of The Catcher In The Rye here.

8. The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

3,522,518 ratings

Average rating: 4.18 stars

Blurb: Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. Her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

7. Divergent by Veronica Roth

3,746,041 ratings

Average rating: 4.15 stars

Blurb: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. Read my full review of Divergent here.

6. Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

3,990,032 ratings

Average rating: 4.28 stars

Blurb: Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work “her own darling child” and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.” The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen’s radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England. Read my full review of Pride And Prejudice here.

5. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

4,258,687 ratings

Average rating: 4.19 stars

Blurb: The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of “negative utopia”—a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions—a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

4. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

4,821,366 ratings

Average rating: 4.15 stars

Blurb: Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. Read my full review of The Fault In Our Stars here.

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

4,897,924 ratings

Average rating: 3.93 stars

Blurb: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s. Read my full review of The Great Gatsby here.

2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5,753,350 ratings

Average rating: 4.27 stars

Blurb: The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic. Read my full review of To Kill A Mockingbird here.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

8,058,782 ratings

Average rating: 4.33 stars

Blurb: Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in The Hunger Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love. Read my full review of The Hunger Games here.

Most Reviewed Books On Goodreads: Honourable Mentions

• Dracula by Bram Stoker (1,187,712 ratings, 4.01 stars)
• The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1,241,447 ratings, 3.83 stars)
• Paper Towns by John Green (1,274,488 ratings, 3.72 stars)
• The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1,394,437 ratings, 4.12 stars)
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (1,472,225 ratings, 4.32 stars)
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1,487,818 ratings, 3.85 stars)
• The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1,680,387 ratings, 4.22 stars)
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1,701,056 ratings, 3.88 stars)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1,755,074 ratings, 4.23 stars)
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1,759,353 ratings, 3.99 stars)
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1,914,445 ratings, 4.13 stars)
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1,951,400 ratings, 4.32 stars)
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1,993,980 ratings, 4.14 stars)

How many of the most reviewed books on Goodreads have you read? Let me know in the comments!