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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
krod97's review against another edition
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.
🧵🪢🫶🏻
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.
🧵🪢🫶🏻
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Gun violence, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War
mrsjoellebell's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Outing
wolfcorrin's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, and Medical trauma
jmkendall0218's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
stijlwaters's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Outing
ivi_reads_books's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
The book talks about what makes a life worth living, the level of pain you are willing to endure for the sake of yourself and others. It discusses discrimination, change and solidarity in light of the new information that the mysterious strings that showed up on everyone's doorstep brought up.
I enjoyed every charachter and storyline. They showed the individual struggles but also had a connection to the bigger picture.
Julia Whelan is a great audio book narrator!
I enjoyed every charachter and storyline. They showed the individual struggles but also had a connection to the bigger picture.
Julia Whelan is a great audio book narrator!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Outing, and War
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
lazstearns's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
The Measure begins with an interesting concept: One day, everyone over the age of 21 receives a box containing a string, its length indicating the length of your life. The book itself takes on many of the issues that have always plagued society—racism, discrimination, anti-LGBT, etc—and frames them in a new context.
However, the story itself gets bogged down by too many perspectives and too many heavy handed attempts at the same message. We get it. Whether your string is long or short, you should live every day like it’s your last. Ultimately the story drags too long as Erlick tries to weave each narrator together.
However, the story itself gets bogged down by too many perspectives and too many heavy handed attempts at the same message. We get it. Whether your string is long or short, you should live every day like it’s your last. Ultimately the story drags too long as Erlick tries to weave each narrator together.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mass/school shootings, and Classism
Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Outing
emilywemily6's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was incredible. I could not put it down! This book contains many deeper themes that are reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made this book feel very personal for me and almost triggering as I remembered the strife of that global event. So if the pandemic is a hard topic for you still this book might be difficult emotionally because of the parallels. But this book was reflective and meaningful and emotional, and I have no regrets that I went on this journey. Told through multiple POVs that intersect at moments throughout the book, this book made me feel for and love every character. This book was surprisingly human and realistic; I forgot I wasn’t living the string reality they faced. The societal issues related to the divisive nature of the strings were portrayed really well through the lens of the multiple POVs. I loved the discussions on discrimination and prejudice and the ties with both history and current examples of discrimination. This book was beautiful and heartbreaking and gave me a lot to think about my own life and what it would mean to know how long I have to live, or how long my family has. If you need a good cry with some hope, this book is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
khaben31's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Outing, and War