BookRank

Reading order

The Selection Series reading order

Kiera Cass

  1. The Selection2012
  2. The Elite2013
  3. The One2014
  4. The Heir2015
  5. The Crown2016
7.47.4 / 10
1,917 ratings
Score
5 volumes
Volumes
2012–2016
Published
about 30 h
Reading time
Completed
Status
Romance#31
Genre

Quick answer

The Selection
Start withThe Selection2012 · Volume 1 of 5
Open the volume →Buy the first volumeListen to the audiobook

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Publication order

5 volumes2012–2016Completed

  • The first three books are America's story and they are one arc: The Selection, The Elite, The One, in that order, with the competition running from the first page of one to the last of the third.
  • The Heir jumps a generation and starts a new selection with a new narrator, so it is a fresh entry point as much as a sequel — but its whole premise is what the first three left behind.
  • The series runs one book further than our list.

A plan for the whole series

5 volumes, 1,685 pages, about 30 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 6 weeks.

38%

Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: medium

  • Readers scored volume 2, “The Elite”, below its predecessor (7.2 after 7.6). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.

Stages

2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 13, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.

  1. Stage 118 habout 3 weeksby November 22, 2026
  2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 26, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  3. Stage 213 h17 daysby December 13, 2026
  4. The end of the series
    December 13, 2026
In one goDecember 9, 2026about 6 weeks
In stages, with breaksDecember 13, 2026about 6 weeks · +2 h of other books

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.

Does the series hold up

7.07.58.0
7.67.6 / 10
7.27.2 / 10
–Not ranked yet
7.17.1 / 10
–Not ranked yet
20122013201420152016
7.07.58.0
20122013201420152016
7.67.6 / 10
7.27.2 / 10
–Not ranked yet
7.17.1 / 10
–Not ranked yet
Score per volume5 volumes on a timeline, 2012 to 2016 · Best-rated volume: The Selection

Shape of the series: best at the start. Readers scored the first volumes (7.6) above the last ones (7.1).

Best volume: The Selection (7.6, 945 ratings). Weakest: The Heir (7.1). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.1) scores close to the series average or above it.

How this plan is calculated

The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →

Every volume in order

Read: 0 of 5
  1. The Selection
    The Selection2012 · 945 ratingsStart here
    7.67.6 / 10
  2. The Elite
    The Elite2013 · 615 ratings
    7.27.2 / 10
  3. The One
    The One2014 · 32 ratings · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  4. The Heir
    The Heir2015 · 357 ratings
    7.17.1 / 10
  5. The Crown
    The Crown2016 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet

Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

The Selection books ranked, best to worst

  1. 1.The SelectionBook 1 · 20127.6
  2. 2.The EliteBook 2 · 20137.2
  3. 3.The HeirBook 4 · 20157.1
Top Romance series →

Frequently asked questions

Which Selection book is the best?

By reader score, The Selection (7.6/10). The lowest-rated is The Heir (7.1/10).

Which The Selection Series book is the longest?

“The Heir” is the longest at 360 pages; the shortest is “The One” with 323 pages.