How the Light Gets In vs The carnival at Bray: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Teenage Girls, Bildungsromans, Fiction

How the Light Gets In M. J. Hyland · 2003 ★★★★☆ 4.2 329 pages · ≈ 6 h 06 m · Moderate

A powerful debut from an Australian novelist that features one of the most likeable but contrary figures you are likely to meet in contemporary fiction. Lou Connor, a gifted, unhappy sixteen-year-old, is desperate to…

Suburban life Illinois Adolescence Australia

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The carnival at Bray Jessie Ann Foley · 2014 ★★★★☆ 3.9 254 pages · ≈ 4 h 42 m · Light

his promising debut, set in the heyday of grunge, tells the story of Maggie Lynch, a displaced Chicagoan and grunge music fan, living in a quiet town (Bray) on the Irish Sea. Maggie was uprooted from her friends, her…

Young Adult

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate How the Light Gets In highest: How the Light Gets In 4.2 · The carnival at Bray 3.9.
How the Light Gets In has the widest readership — 7084 ratings behind its score.
The carnival at Bray runs the darker storyline; How the Light Gets In stays the lighter read.

How to choose

New to the genre? The carnival at Bray Light vs Moderate for How the Light Gets In In the mood for something dark? The carnival at Bray a darker storyline than How the Light Gets In Want something lighter? How the Light Gets In an easier tone than The carnival at Bray

Scores by source

	How the Light Gets In	The carnival at Bray
Goodreads	4.2 (7084)	3.9 (3080)
Hardcover	4.4 (94)	4.8 (6)

Reception

	How the Light Gets In	The carnival at Bray
Ratings	7084	3080
Editions	10	9
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	—	6114
Reading it now	—	74
Written reviews	—	574
Wikipedia attention	28	72
Pages	329	254

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: How the Light Gets In or The carnival at Bray?

How the Light Gets In has the higher combined reader rating across sources (How the Light Gets In 4.2/5, The carnival at Bray 3.9/5).

Which is shorter to read: How the Light Gets In or The carnival at Bray?

The carnival at Bray is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The carnival at Bray (254 pages, ≈ 4 h 42 m); How the Light Gets In (329 pages, ≈ 6 h 06 m).

Which is harder to read: How the Light Gets In or The carnival at Bray?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — How the Light Gets In: Moderate; The carnival at Bray: Light.