The Blue Ice vs The Stepson: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Thriller
The Blue Ice
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Ten years after George Farnell's disappearance, two lines of poetry and a lump of mineral ore are found. It's enough to send mineral expert Bill Gansert to Norway. But word of his findings has leaked out and Gansert…
The Stepson
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‘An intensely dark thriller’ Ross GreenwoodWhen your whole life becomes one big lie…The night my mum disappeared, after a panicked 3am phonecall, I knew something was wrong.The police tried to reassure me. There had to…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Blue Ice is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 6 for The Stepson.
- The Stepson has the widest readership — 5873 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Blue Ice | The Stepson | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (449) | 3.7 (5873) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (3) | 3.2 (2) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.0 (13) |
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Reception
| The Blue Ice | The Stepson | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 449 | 5873 |
| Editions | 30 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 179 | 1909 |
| Reading it now | 59 | 992 |
| Written reviews | 31 | 449 |
| Wikipedia attention | 46 | — |
| Pages | 246 | 365 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Blue Ice or The Stepson?
The Blue Ice has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Blue Ice 3.8/5, The Stepson 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Blue Ice or The Stepson?
The Blue Ice is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Blue Ice (246 pages, ≈ 4 h 33 m); The Stepson (365 pages, ≈ 6 h 46 m).
Which is harder to read: The Blue Ice or The Stepson?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Blue Ice: Challenging; The Stepson: Moderate.