Matilda vs The war in the air: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Fiction

Matilda Roald Dahl · 1988 ★★★★☆ 4.3 242 pages · ≈ 4 h 29 m · Moderate

Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

1 film adaptation

Materiales en español Écoles Cuentos humorísticos Translations from English

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The war in the air H. G. Wells · 1908 ★★★★☆ 3.6 375 pages · ≈ 6 h 57 m · Challenging

Following the development of massive airships, naive Londoner Bert Smallways becomes accidentally involved in a German plot to invade America by air and reduce New York to rubble. But although bombers devastate the…

Aeronautics English Adventure stories English Science fiction British and irish fiction

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate Matilda highest: Matilda 4.3 · The war in the air 3.6.
Matilda is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 6 for The war in the air.
Matilda has the widest readership — 27951 ratings behind its score.
The war in the air runs the darker storyline; Matilda stays the lighter read.

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Matilda ≈ 4h vs 6h for The war in the air Want the crowd-tested pick? Matilda 27951 ratings vs 1270 for The war in the air Just want the better-reviewed one? Matilda 4.3 vs 3.6 from readers New to the genre? Matilda Moderate vs Challenging for The war in the air In the mood for something dark? The war in the air a darker storyline than Matilda

Scores by source

	Matilda	The war in the air
Goodreads	4.3 (27951)	3.6 (1270)
Hardcover	4.3 (993)	2.5 (1)
Google Books	4.0 (3)	—
Apple Books	4.5 (868)	4.0 (42)
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Reception

	Matilda	The war in the air
Ratings	27951	1270
Editions	149	54
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	381368	2172
Reading it now	—	258
Written reviews	27951	139
Wikipedia attention	18873	1417
Pages	242	375
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Matilda or The war in the air?

Matilda has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Matilda 4.3/5, The war in the air 3.6/5).

Which is shorter to read: Matilda or The war in the air?

Matilda is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Matilda (242 pages, ≈ 4 h 29 m); The war in the air (375 pages, ≈ 6 h 57 m).

Which is harder to read: Matilda or The war in the air?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Matilda: Moderate; The war in the air: Challenging.

Have both books been made into films?

Matilda: 4 film adaptations; The war in the air: no film adaptation on record.