Box Hill vs How We Named the Stars: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Gay, Literary Fiction, Queer, LGBT, Contemporary, Coming-of-age
Box Hill
More
In, a vivid coming-of-age novel, a young man suddenly wakes up to his gay self—on his eighteenth birthday, when he receives the best gift ever: love and sex. In the woodsy cruising grounds of Box Hill, chubby Colin…
How We Named the Stars
More
When Daniel de La Luna arrives as a scholarship student at an elite East Coast university, he bears the weight of his family’s hopes and dreams, and the burden of sharing his late uncle’s name. Daniel flounders at…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Box Hill is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 5 for How We Named the Stars.
- Box Hill has the widest readership — 46 ratings behind its score.
Affiliate links: we may earn a commission on purchases.
Scores by source
| Box Hill | How We Named the Stars | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 3.3 (18) | 4.1 (13) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (46) | — |
| Check price → | Check price → |
Reception
| Box Hill | How We Named the Stars | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 46 | 13 |
| Editions | 4 | 4 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 76 | — |
| Pages | 112 | 304 |
| Check price → | Check price → |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Box Hill or How We Named the Stars?
How We Named the Stars has the higher combined reader rating across sources (How We Named the Stars 3.9/5, Box Hill 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Box Hill or How We Named the Stars?
Box Hill is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Box Hill (112 pages, ≈ 2 h 04 m); How We Named the Stars (304 pages, ≈ 5 h 38 m).
Which is harder to read: Box Hill or How We Named the Stars?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Box Hill: Moderate; How We Named the Stars: Moderate.