A Little Princess vs What I Was: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Boarding schools, Schools, England, Young Adult, History, Children's fiction
A Little Princess
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This is a story about a different kind of princess than one might imagine; a princess that is an orphan - lonely, cold, hungry and abused. Sara Crewe begins life as the beloved, pampered daughter of a rich man. When he…
What I Was
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In the 1960s, off the coast of East Anglia, a disgruntled boarding school student develops an obsessive friendship with a boy living by himself at the edge of the sea.
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate A Little Princess highest: A Little Princess 4.2 · What I Was 3.5.
- A Little Princess has the widest readership — 334852 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| A Little Princess | What I Was | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (334852) | 3.5 (4705) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (307) | 3.5 (8) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (3) | 4.0 (3) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (1284) | 4.0 (8) |
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Reception
| A Little Princess | What I Was | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 334852 | 4705 |
| Editions | 305 | 16 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 3826 |
| Reading it now | — | 68 |
| Written reviews | 2 | 573 |
| Wikipedia attention | 11069 | 112 |
| Pages | 298 | 224 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: A Little Princess or What I Was?
A Little Princess has the higher combined reader rating across sources (A Little Princess 4.2/5, What I Was 3.5/5).
Which is shorter to read: A Little Princess or What I Was?
What I Was is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: What I Was (224 pages, ≈ 4 h 09 m); A Little Princess (298 pages, ≈ 5 h 31 m).
Which is harder to read: A Little Princess or What I Was?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — A Little Princess: Moderate; What I Was: Light.
Have both books been made into films?
A Little Princess: 5 film adaptations; What I Was: no film adaptation on record.