In the Dream House vs The Chronology of Water: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Women authors, Women authors, Biography & Memoir
In the Dream House
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In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado’s engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the…
The Chronology of Water
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This is not your mother's memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch expertly moves the reader through issues of gender, sexuality, violence, and the family from the point of view of a lifelong swimmer turned…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- In the Dream House has the widest readership — 169930 ratings behind its score.
- The Chronology of Water runs the darker storyline; In the Dream House stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| In the Dream House | The Chronology of Water | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.4 (169930) | 4.2 (19498) |
| Hardcover | 4.4 (392) | 4.2 (23) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (2) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (407) | — |
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Reception
| In the Dream House | The Chronology of Water | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 169930 | 19498 |
| Editions | 9 | 8 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 44927 |
| Reading it now | — | 1411 |
| Written reviews | — | 2931 |
| Wikipedia attention | 2167 | 27827 |
| Pages | 296 | 296 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: In the Dream House or The Chronology of Water?
In the Dream House has the higher combined reader rating across sources (In the Dream House 4.4/5, The Chronology of Water 4.2/5).
Which is shorter to read: In the Dream House or The Chronology of Water?
In the Dream House is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: In the Dream House (296 pages, ≈ 5 h 29 m); The Chronology of Water (296 pages, ≈ 5 h 29 m).
Which is harder to read: In the Dream House or The Chronology of Water?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — In the Dream House: Moderate; The Chronology of Water: Moderate.