Be prepared to cry 

What would you do if one day you woke one day to find out that every single adult in the world could know the length of their life? As you can imagine the world could easily fold to chaos. Wow. This book will stay with me. 

Eight people. All wake one day to a world who all have a small chest with a string inside showing how long they'll live. Governments, religions, families, jobs, friends, marriages, all changed overnight. Looking at everything differently. The value of life changing and being argued. 

The different perspectives, and human experiences. The way people's experiences were intertwined. I was gripped, and touched. This reflects SO WELL the world we live in. I'll be thinking of this book for a long time to come. Absolutely brilliant. 10/10 recommend. 

This was easily one of the most interesting concepts I’ve read this year, and up there for most emotional wreckage inflicted 

I really liked this story concept and it was done pretty well. The only issue I had with it that knocked it from being a higher rating is that the story has up to 8 different POV that I can remember to list of (not sure if that is the exact accurate amount) I enjoy multiple POV's however till I really got to know all the character and they started to cross a little bit, it caused me a little confusing at first and I was trying not to mix up peoples stories. Although I did enjoy almost all of the character POVs, if you have read it you probably know how I didn't like reading from lol. But other than the initial confusion I really enjoyed this book and though it was done really well and was a awesome concept (even if kinda terrifying in a way) 

This book is so beautiful and thought provoking. Incredibly interesting premise that perfectly executed with compelling characters and relationships. It’s a lot like They Both Die At The End (similar concept, multiple POVs, everything is connected, overall vibe is the same) except on a larger scale. A perfect book. 

I’ve been excited to read The Measure by Nikki Erlick, mainly because I loved The Midnight Library and I am fascinated by novels that have the reader considering what’s important in their lives.  In this debut novel every single person on Earth (over the age of 22) is delivered a small, wooden box with a string that indicates how long their life will be.  No one understands where the boxes came from and every society around the world is processing this new information.  

 

The concept is interesting, and while not the first book to explore this type of societal and personal dilemma, it’s always unique how an author decides to approach the subject.  In this book, there is a lean towards individual characters and the way they process their own mortality.  You meet a few people and learn their stories, along with the stories of their loved ones, and this was my favorite part of the novel by far.  There are a few characters that are easy to connect with and I was invested in their personal journeys. 

 

There are also political and spiritual aspects in the story, which if this were to happen in real life would absolutely be the case.  Nonetheless, this was my least favorite part of the book because it was so surface level that it left me wondering what the message was intended to be from the author.  There was some light acknowledgement of systemic injustices that would be worsened or leveraged in this situation, but it was off-putting to see a new and fictional form of discrimination (having a short string / lifespan) centered as worse than the injustices endured by marginalized people today and throughout the past.  I won’t expand on this too much to avoid spoilers, but arc of this storyline was so buttoned up that it reminded me of when someone says we can solve systemic injustice with love and unity alone. 

 

I know you can only tackle so much in one book, and this was primarily about processing one’s mortality. I understood why author chose to weave politics and religion into each character’s personal contemplations, I just struggled with trying to weave in the broader societal narrative given how dense and complex it is.  It could be an entirely separate novel on just that storyline.  I sat with this one for a few days after finishing the story and I still can’t fully connect with the book.  I suspect it will be a very popular novel though and I might be in the minority of reviews – I’m looking forward to hearing what others think of this one. 

 

Content warnings:  Death, Grief, Mass shootings, Gun violence, Systemic discrimination 

 5 stars. -- Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Firstly, I have to say, it helps that I have picked up this book at the right time to get the most out of it—I’m aimless and I feel like I’m not living—and this was a good kick up the arse.

I think it's interesting to consider how others will connect with this book depending on their relationship with life and death. It really does do its best to tackle varying responses to the boxes, across a wide range of beliefs and personality types, but it can’t tackle them all; I did, however, see myself in a fair few of them.

I genuinely think the author has done a fantastic job exploring the complications that the boxes present—emotionally, interpersonally and on an international scale. The immediate societal decline into discrimination and the manipulation of fear for political gain was of course upsetting, but very clever and entirely believable. (Unfortunately.)

So therefore... are some of the storylines predictable? Yes. But I think that’s because it’s so realistic, honestly. The things that I guessed before they happened, I guessed them because I was like “ah yes. This is what humanity would do.” And I didn’t mind that, because I enjoyed (I honestly don’t know if this is the right word, given the actual content) reading the fallout.

It was also very interesting seeing how reaction differ across countries (mostly this focuses on America). Italy was most notable for me, barely reacting at all… their culture already so full of art and family and food and passion; already so full of things that make life worth living! Rather than just the grind: work work success money.

I’d say that this book is a character exploration of the aftermath of an event, first and foremost--rather than action. And although there is a very clear end ( I think), as you get closer you start having to fill in narrative jumps, which could make it seem rushed. This almost knocked it down a star for me in all honesty, but the fact that it made me feel so intensely saved it. Damn I’ve shed so many tears over this thing--I couldn't even read it on public transport for fear of snotting all over the person next to me.

Still, the message is really clear: what will you do with the measure of time you have left?

And of course, as the book’s tagline suggests, the biggest question in the back of my mind while reading was consistently… would I look? Would I open my box. And (surprisingly?) after finishing, I think I know my answer.