Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Measure

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

93 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I found a copy of this book at a Free Little Library and thought it sounded interesting.

“The Measure” is a novel that follows several points of view as they all try to come to terms with the knowledge of how long their life will be. One morning, everyone over the age of 22 wakes up to find a box addressed to them with a length of string on the inside. Every string corresponds to the length of that person’s life. Now, with the knowledge of how long or short their life may be, everyone is left to decide how they want to live.

This novel follows many points of view, and not all of them are connected to all of them. I really enjoyed and appreciated this because it gives the reader such diversity in experiences. Some of the characters have short strings and some have long, some do not want this to define them, while others do not want to know the length of their string. Everyone brings a different experience to the table and I think as a reader, seeing so many people react to this, really made the story feel more plausible. I think if something like this were to actually happen, people would react in the very same way. We would have people who would think short stringers are not worth as much because they might die. In the novel, one thing people pushed back on was that politicians with short strings should not be elected because they will not be able to serve their people well. I 100% think people would react much the same way.

I think the idea of this book in general is interesting. Would knowing how long your life is going to last change how you choose to live it? Would knowing you have less time light a fire in you to live unapologetically? Would knowing you would live a long life bring you peace? I feel like part of what makes beautiful is that we do not know how much time we have, and I think knowing is such a double edged sword. Once you know, you cannot erase that knowledge.

I found this novel to be extremely well-written. With so many points of view, it would be easy for the reader to not feel connected to certain characters, but I felt invested in everyone’s stories. The author really fleshed out all of the characters, and I felt drawn to everyone, almost, equally. Additionally, I felt like the messages behind this story were well said without being heavy-handed. My one critique is that I felt like some of the character’s stories were rushed at the end.

I really enjoyed this thought-provoking work of fiction, and I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys analyzing human behavior.

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ittywitty's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

SYNOPSIS

All over the world, every person over the age of 22 receives a wooden box with a mysterious string inside. The length of the string = how long you’ll live.
We follow eight people, and how the strings impact them.

MY THOUGHTS

Excellent premise, but not a fan of the execution.
The writing felt very basic to me, and I was annoyed how the characters kept popping up across stories & having some random connection.
Very plot driven & no real character developments
I didn’t care for any of the characters.
Ending is mehhh.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent plot, but not a fan of the execution. Read this one instead: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.

Content Warnings

acobbva's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

cayleybp's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

krod97's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The ending really solidified the 4⭐️ for me! I cried and had goosebumps multiple times! I think everyone should read this at least once in their life.

The themes in this MASTERPIECE of a book are so important for everyone at any stage of life to read and to be reminded.

•What will be, will be. No need to fret over things that are yet to happen. It is all planned out already and no amount of worrying will change God’s future plans.

•Your life and actions matter. It is interconnected with everyone else’s in some way.

•It’s not the length of your life that matters, instead it’s what you do with your time on Earth that causes the most difference.

🧵🪢🫶🏻

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