The opportunity to create a new category of othering arrives overnight for anyone over the age of 22 and prejudices flow amidst the panic.

I wish that there was some closure on some of the (what I consider) plot holes, as well as a couple of characters we grew to know over the 15 years that pass in the book, though I was given enough to be satisfied.  It was a bit predictable and cliche, but I teared up a couple times and definitely cried at the end because thinking about life and death and found family gets me in the feels.

So many people seem to love this book, but I found it so close to reality and depressing. I loved the premise of the book, the question of what would happen if everyone suddenly found out how long they would live. In this case, we meet a few individuals/couples who are each tied to someone with a short string. The world immediately begins a prejudice against short stringers, and we see how these individual’s lives are affected.

So much of the book focuses on all of the difficulties of what happens in this situation. (Mass suicide, shooting, bombings, hospital issues) So many things reminded me of the parts of life that hurt right now - politicians and political processes that hurt people and have to be the right way while taking away freedom from other people. A few years ago, I would have thought people would rise above bad news and chose kindness, but right now, maybe this is closer to the truth. Not to say, there are a few examples of kindness and the idea that kindness keeps trudging forward and making progress (while evil is enjoying the win). 

Nonetheless, there is a lot to discuss.

“…sometimes overwhelmed Nina to think that she could spend an entire lifetime reading and never keep up.” Ch 1

“The mystery was only a few hours old, but some people were already interpreting the message to mean that the string inside your box foretold the ultimate length of your life. But how could that possibly be true? Ben thought. That would mean the world had flipped around, like the ceiling above him, the humans now seeing from God’s perspective.” Ch 2

“And yet no one could find concrete evidence to trust that these strings were anything more than strands of ordinary thread.” Ch 3

“…there was something almost . . . thrilling . . . about the strings’ arrival. Frightening and confusing, of course, but also, perhaps, wondrous?” … 
…this was the first time the world outside of her books had ever rivaled the stories with its very own plot twist.”
Ch 8

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” —Matthew 7 - Ch 9

“Maybe it didn’t matter anymore where the strings had come from. Even if they were sent from heaven, or beamed down from outer space, or traveled back in time from the distant future, it was people who decided what to do with them now.” Ch 15

“…what might have happened if the strings had appeared before WWII?” Ch 18

“And maybe it isn’t even really about children. Maybe it’s the fact that now I can’t stop thinking about all the other doors that might be closing, too.” Ch 24

“Keep fighting, keep holding on, no matter what. But sometimes I think we forget that it also takes strength to be able to let go.” Ch 26

“The president just created two classes of citizens, based on strings.” 
““But this is what humans have always done,” Maura said, her anger swelling inside. “We segment ourselves based on race or class or religion or whatever f-ing distinctions we decide to make up, and then we insist on treating each other differently. We never should have allowed them to start labeling people as ‘long-stringers’ and ‘short-stringers.’ We made it too easy for them.” Ch 30

“The measure of your life lies within. Sure, it’s pointing to the string inside, but maybe that’s not the only measure we have. Maybe there are thousands of other ways we could measure our lives—the true quality of our lives—that lie within us, not within some box. And, by your own measure, you can still be happy.” Ch 54

“…this woman’s life had been lengthened simply because Hank had been alive, and Ben realized that there was more than one way to live on.” Ch 61

“…grateful, to live as much life as possible. And I think that’s as good a measure as any.” Ch 62

“What about all the choices that we make, each day? Who we choose to be, and how we choose to love? Every choice that was made to look, or never look, inside the box.” Ch 72

“The Tree of Knowledge. The reminder that we will all find our ultimate rest beneath the soil, nourishing the life that grows above us.” Ch 73

3.5 stars rounded up