The Giver vs The Great Gatsby: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Young Adult, Fiction
The Giver
“It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.”
At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life.
1 film adaptation
vs
The Great Gatsby
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”
Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate – a marvelous fusion into unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period – which reveals a hero like no other – one who could live at no other time and…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Giver is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 7 for The Great Gatsby.
- The Great Gatsby has the widest readership — 6120259 ratings behind its score.
- The Great Gatsby runs the darker storyline; The Giver stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Giver | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (2894834) | 3.9 (6120259) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 4.5 (2) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (9) | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (453) | 4.5 (806) |
| LiveLib | — | 4.0 (5) |
Reception
| The Giver | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 2894834 | 6120259 |
| Editions | 106 | 1179 |
| Citations | — | 24 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 842935 | 2127185 |
| Reading it now | 34935 | 85180 |
| Written reviews | 92254 | 138625 |
| Wikipedia attention | 30970 | 94574 |
| Pages | 221 | 431 |