The School for Good and Evil Books in Order: The Complete Guide
One of the most popular children’s book series in recent years, The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani, will get a long-awaited adaptation in the form of a movie that will be released on October 19th, next Wednesday, on Netflix. The School for Good and Evil movie excited many fans, especially those who read the book series. Chainani’s series is really popular, and the young audience waited and read the books for years until its conclusion in 2020.
The books follow two best friends, Agatha and Sophie, who lead vastly different lives. The books follow their journey to becoming the people they want to be for their School years until adulthood. In the continuation of this article, you will find out the best reading order for this notable children’s franchise.
The School for Good and Evil reading order (at a glance)
Soman Chainani is an American writer and filmmaker who came to prominence with the children’s book series The School for Good and Evil. The book series is essentially, a hexalogy, meaning that the book series contains two trilogies that follow mostly the same characters. The first novel, The School for Good and Evil, came out in 2013, and since then, five more books have been released, including the companion handbook in between the trilogies.
This next list is the reading order at a glance:
The School Years trilogy:
- The School for Good and Evil (2013)
- A World Without Princes (2014)
- The Last Ever After (2015)
The Ever Never Handbook – companion book (2016)
The Camelot Years trilogy:
- Quests for Glory (2017)
- Crystal of Time (2019)
- One True King (2020)
This list is our recommended reading order since both trilogies are connected, and the second one continues the story of the first group of books. Let’s find out about each book without mentioning the spoilers and conclude the article. If you are interested, stay with us until the end of the article.
The School for Good and Evil books reading order (in detail)
1. The School for Good and Evil (2013)
The book that started it all was released in 2013 and instantly became a favorite amongst young readers. The story follows two girls and best friends, Sophie and Agatha, who live different lives.
Sophie wants to be kidnapped and attend the School for Good to become a princess, while Agatha is a typical example of a future villain who’s a perfect specimen for The School for Evil. Of course, girls’ faiths reverse, and both end up in totally different environments – Sophie in The School for Evil and Agatha in School for Good.
The book follows Sophie’s and Agatha’s journey in depth, and critics praised its characterization and odd fairytale plot.
Official synopsis: “The School for Good and Evil does not give the option for you to fail your fairytale. Sophie, a typical good girl who dedicates her life to good deeds, wants to become the princess from the fairytales and to do that, she needs to be kidnapped and enrolled in the School for Evil. Her best friend Agatha is vastly opposite, and her potential for the School for Evil is out of the charts. The kidnapping occurred, and the girls find themselves in the reverse situation, they must find a way to overcome the change that will affect their whole life. The School for Good and Evil is a great and rich adventure and one must live through it all.”
2. A World Without Princes (2014)
Shortly after the release of The School for Good and Evil, our heroines come back in the sequel book released only a year later, A World Without Princess.
This time, the story follows Sophie and Agatha dealing with the aftermath of the previous book, returning to their village of Gavaldon and trying to deal with new issues and dilemmas, especially Agatha. The girls also reopen the School but decide to change things a bit this time.
Official synopsis: “After dealing with the curse, the girls now need to return to their home village of Gavaldon and fight against the evil forces that took away the princes of the fairytale world. The usual endings and, at first innocent wishes from Agatha become one problem in the ocean of brewing danger looming all over the Endless Woods and Gavaldon. Agatha and Sophie must combine their forces to defeat evil and, once again, reevaluate their original choices.”
3. The Last Ever After (2015)
The trilogy The School Years is concluded with this book and is the biggest of them all – it contains 35 chapters and 704 pages. The girls go their separate ways, but another threat brings them together again. The girls must work together to defeat the Evil that affects their people.
Official synopsis: “In the final installment of Chaninani’s notable children’s book trilogy, Sophie and Agatha fight the past to have a better future and finally conclude their fairytale. The girls went separate ways, but their storybook is rewritten, and they are not the only ones. Once again, the former best friends must work together to save their people and see if this new ending will be their final. Soman Chainani delivers action, adventure, laughter, romance, and more twists than ever in his epic series’ extraordinary end.”
4. Quests for Glory (2017)
We won’t mention The School for Good and Evil companion handbook since that piece is an optional read for those interested. With Quests for Glory, The Camelot Years trilogy begins, and Sophie and Agatha need to complete special Quests for Glory to graduate from the School for Good and Evil. Of course, everything goes wrong for the duo, and they need to combine their efforts to protect the Endless Woods from a new threat.
Official synopsis: “Soman Chainani brings us another trilogy of the bestselling The School for Good and Evil book series, which starts with the book Quests of Glory. If Good and Evil cannot work together, neither side will survive. The new era in the Endless Woods begins, and the familiar faces of Agatha, Sophie, Tedros, and others, are now living in the Camelot Years. The group needs to find a way to work outside the school’s walls, but the required fourth-year quests make our heroes test their Ever Afters once again. Agatha and Sophie have the task of returning Camelot to the former king and queen, but the quest becomes much more complicated, and once again, the test of friendship and their skills is in full force.”
5. Crystal of Time (2019)
The second book in The Camelot Years trilogy came out in 2019, and it follows girls trying to stop the false king ruling The Kingdom of Camelot, who sentences King Tedros to death, and Sophie is forced to be his Queen. Agatha now needs to save her love and her best friend.
Official synopsis: “The second book of The Camelot Years trilogy, Crystals of Time, follows a false king claiming the throne of Camelot. The false king brings chaos to our heroes – he sentences Tedros to death and forces Sophie to be his queen, and only Agatha manages to escape the self-proclaimed king’s wrath. Agatha seeks help from her students at the School for Good and Evil and must find a way to restore the Camelot throne and give it back to its rightful owner… and save her best friend before it’s too late.”
6. One True King (2020)
The final book of the Camelot Years trilogy and The School for Good and Evil series was released in 2020. The events of the book are set after the happenings of the previous entry, A Crystal of Time, and the friends, Sophie and Agatha, need to help King Tedros stop a man impersonating his brother to become the ultimate “One True King.”
The ending of the book series was critically acclaimed and was deemed as the suitable ending to the notable book series.
Official synopsis: “The final book of the Camelot Years trilogy and the ultimate end of the notable, bestselling book franchise, The School for Good and Evil, One True King brings us the suitable and dramatic end of the franchise. The bestselling fantasy series is full of action, and the book will finally decide the final choice of Camelot and Endless Woods rulers. Who will be the One True King, and what will happen to our heroes? Prepare yourself for the End of Ends…”
Do you need to read The School for Good and Evil books in order?
We warmly recommend that you read The School for Good and Evil book series in our order, which is sorted chronologically and by release date. With the main six books, a little filler companion handbook serves as a filler between the trilogies, but that is mostly what The School for Good and Evil offers us.
The characters, plot, world-building, and many more aspects of this series are top-notch, and before the adapted project on Netflix, we recommend reading The School for Good and Evil series as soon as possible.
Netflix is potentially holding a treasure in its hands, and if they do what Soman Chainani did with his writing and rich imagination, we have something to look forward to.
The upcoming movie is coming soon to Netflix, and we cannot wait and see what The School for Good and Evil will offer us in film format.
