The Hunger Games vs The Road: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Apocalyptic Fiction, Novels, Fiction
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is a 2008 dystopian novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the perspective of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the future, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North…
1 film adaptation
vs
The Road
“When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.”
Cormac McCarthy's tenth novel, The Road, is his most harrowing yet deeply personal work. Some unnamed catastrophe has scourged the world to a burnt-out cinder, inhabited by the last remnants of mankind and a very few…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Readers rate The Hunger Games highest: The Hunger Games 4.4 · The Road 4.0.
- The Road is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for The Hunger Games.
- The Hunger Games has the widest readership — 10244159 ratings behind its score.
- The Road runs the darker storyline; The Hunger Games stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Want a one-evening read?
The Road
≈ 3h vs 6h for The Hunger Games
Want the crowd-tested pick?
The Hunger Games
10244159 ratings vs 1083070 for The Road
Just want the better-reviewed one?
The Hunger Games
4.4 vs 4.0 from readers
New to the genre?
The Hunger Games
Light vs Moderate for The Road
In the mood for something dark?
The Road
a darker storyline than The Hunger Games
Scores by source
| The Hunger Games | The Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.3 (10244159) | 4.0 (1083070) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (1) | 4.0 (2406) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (326) | 4.0 (33) |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (5419) | 4.5 (3581) |
Reception
| The Hunger Games | The Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 10244159 | 1083070 |
| Editions | 142 | 84 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 1955008 | 736911 |
| Reading it now | 111903 | 24785 |
| Written reviews | 277078 | 79100 |
| Wikipedia attention | 21759 | 39682 |
| Pages | 374 | 210 |