The Measure

This is one very satisfying read--from the chaotic intersecting lives of complete strangers, to seeing the puzzle pieces snap into place.

I honestly could see the real world upended by knowing when their time is at an end. The opportunities, the helpers, the selfish, the unstable--everyone felt like living, breathing people.

The only fight I have after turning the last page was Amie's decision. Knowing how it would affect everyone around her, she still took what I felt to be the selfish route, but those people are out there too so still very believable.

A lot of questions can be asked about motivation, anonymity, fulmillment and what it means to lead a life well-lived.

Great read.

on pause

Eh. I don't know. I'm not really the audience for this. Some nice moments, but overall not really for me.

3.5 ⭐️

Holy thought provoking! This book likely would have been a 4 star if I didn't put it down and come back to it (I didn't feel as invested after).

This book was ridiculously thought provoking! My head was spinning in the background with what-ifs and intriguing concept throughout this whole read. There were also a couple of surprises that got me in the feels by the end. Weirdly enough I was also drawing some parallels with the book and our political climate right now.

I didn't find it hugely gripping (but again I put the book down and I don't think that helped). Although the story and its points about life were really beautiful!

I'll be off listening to Que Sera Sera and thinking about life for the next couple of days

1.5 stars. Edit to add: I listened to a bit of it as my gf listened because she wasn't done with it and now I'm even more mad about how stupid this book is.

The premise is interesting but she didn't really say much. If she hadn't taken our current reality and just replaced any of the current struggles with equality and division with the strings, I could have been more on board. The Crash like ending was eye rolly and the lack of any meaningful arc left me unsatisfied.

The concept and execution of this was really interesting and went in ways I didn't expect (the political aspect particularly). It wasn't the best or most interestingly written (some overwhelmingly corny and cliche lines), but all of the emotional notes hit for me. Would recommended.

Eh. It was fine. An attempt to examine prejudice without the baggage of existing prejudices; didn't really live up to that though. Just a kind of simple “ensemble cast”-style story of characters in this new world, none of whom particularly grabbed me. Didn't really lead up to much or have a noticeable climax. Just kind of happened. Writing style unremarkable, so it's not one of those literary “nothing happens but it happens beautifully” kind of books.

Interesting concept, original idea. The middle bogged down a little but ending picked up again.

Clever concept but the character development was lacking. Too many cliches and pat endings. Would prob make for a better movie than book.

Five stars because this is a debut novel and it's as close as I can get to reading any book set during the pandemic/height of Covid. It was truly a brilliant “easy read,” offering readers the opportunity for compassion and healing. I thoroughly enjoy books that remind us of how our time on Earth is temporary and the way in which we live our momentary existence deeply matters.

I love writers who can seamlessly weave the lives of characters together. The short chapters highlighting different each character kept everything fresh.

This would definitely be a great pick for a bookclub. There's much to discuss!

I'd love to see “The Measure” as a TV series on a streaming platform. I'm excited to see what Nikki publishes next.

Also, kudos to the amazing audiobook narrator Julia Whelan. She's the best.
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Note: I read the physical book at times and listened to the audiobook when it wasn't possible to read with my eyes. :)

At one point I was doing both and caught a mistake in the audio version. On page 71 it says:

“It was estimated that the number of short-stringers-those whose strings ended before age fifty—hovered between five and fifteen percent of the country's total population.”

But in the audiobook it says it is between ten and fifteen per cent. #strange

Thought provoking!

Book Club Pick #11

Was it perfect? No. But did it make me bawl my eyes out on an airplane? Yes.

Goed boekidee, uitwerking saai. Gestopt.

In short, I really liked this book. I found the concept intruiging and thought-provoking, which is obviously why I wanted to read it, and / but I found that the telling of the stories had both a depth and a lightness to it, which for me made the reading experience very enjoyable.

Dealing with the topic of life and death, it could definitely have been a deeper, heavier read, but it didn't need to be. There is heartbreak and heartwrenching moments, but also kindness and hope. Humanity in different forms.

It could also have been a lot more intellectualized, but there are thoughts and perspectives sprinkled throughout the book and I appreciated that. I let you as a reader think for yourself, and it felt like the author assumed that I as a reader had a mind of my own, and didn't need to explain every single aspect in detail, banging it over my head. Simple mentions of things were enough to get the point across.

I really liked the mix of people, characters I guess, but I think of them as people, which I think is a good thing, and different kinds of relationships. There were singles, couples, flirtation, old friendship, siblings, new aquaintances, colleagues. And I really liked the way the stories intertwined. When there are different perspectives like this, I usually find some of them less interesting, to the point where I almost want to skip chapters, but that wasn't the case for me here.

Before reading it, I kind of expected there to be more of “let's quit our jobs and move to a tropical island”-kind of thinking, and that was briefly mentioned in passing, but the stories we follow are not that. Good thing.

I wouldn't say it's life-changing, but it did make me think about life and how I want to spend it, and the memory of the book is a warm and positive one. Would definitely recommend.

What started as a simple dystopian and contemporary ethical novel, ended up having such a strong message and reminder about accepting, living, respect, love, support, friendship, family and much more. Definitely a great read for me and would recommend.

A really interesting concept with some cool ideas. I wish the story had been slightly less schmaltzy though.

I didn't finish this, but I'm still giving it a 2.5 because the idea is very interesting and the execution isn't too bad. However, it started getting boring about halfway through.

I didn't finish this, but I'm still giving it a 2.5 because the idea is very interesting and the execution isn't too bad. However, it started getting boring about halfway through.

Great plot idea, terribly executed. It was service level and felt like a complaint of politics rather than a sci-fi type story. Super disappointing since this was on so many best seller lists. I'm not sure what I'm missing.

<i>”The measure of your life lies within.”</i>

Imagine you had a box whose contents would tell you almost exactly how long your life was. Imagine <i>everyone</i> did. Would you look? How would you react? Would you treat people with shorter lives differently? Would it change your outlook on life? This book explores those questions through the points of view of several people, who all come together, either directly or indirectly, through a support group for people with shorter lives ahead of them. We get to know the (large) cast, and essentially this book tells each of their stories through their own POV chapters and their experiences with this huge experience.

I loved all the things this book decided to explore. Personal things like love, loss, death, how to live your life knowing when the end is coming, and much larger things like how the world would react, societal divides, and political impacts. Getting to know the cast of characters as they navigate this weird world they’re in now is the point of the book, and if you go into this expecting some sort of action-y payoff you’re going to be disappointed. The characters are the point of this story, not the boxes themselves. I especially like how “interconnected” the characters feel, where someone referenced early on in the book comes to have their own POV chapters later on. It made the whole thing feel like “we’re in this together”, which I guess is also the point.

I see lots of low reviews about the inclusion of politics/agendas, the fact that it has sad moments, and that it’s a slow burn character piece. I guess, then, fair warning that all of this exists, but I think the point of the book is that it can all be overcome. There’s a lot of parallels here for living with a terminal disease, where you know your clock’s ticking, so what do you do? The boxes in the story don’t change when you die, it just lets you know ahead of time, if you choose to look. Sure there’s sad moments, but that’s life, and I appreciated how the book handled them.

5-star easy favorite this year. For the record, I don’t think I’d look in my box.

this is the most beautiful, heartbreaking book i've ever read. i cried through the whole last 20% of this

This is one of those thought experiment sort of novels where something fantastic happens and the story explores how different people and society at large responds to the change. See also The Power.

This is not my typical read, but it was an easy accessible library listen. It kept me engaged, and thinking about mortality, predestination, and a life well lived. It definitely requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but I was impressed with all of the permutations and possibilities that the author anticipated and explored. It was contrived, of course, but if you like time travel, this is a bit similar. Also, I wish that an editor had told this young author to recalibrate how children of a certain age play, but otherwise, she did a good job also with themes that come out of Covid, politics today, and current debates about our rights and what divides us.

Great premise for a story as everyone at the age of 22 is suddenly able to find out when they will die. Of course the world loses its mind. The participants in this novel are in the US so they act even more irrationally and seek to marginalise those with shorter strings (the measure of a persons life).

Could have been great but ultimately loses its way an£ doesn't explore the bigger story within. Why?

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Can't really say much without giving too much away, but read this if you want a little perspective shift on things, and a good dose of “huh? wonder what I would do...”