What would happen if everyone wakes up one day to find a box with a string inside for each person. And what if the length of that string predicted how long you have left to live. Would you open it? How would your loved ones react? How would your significant other act? Would they leave you? And how would the politicians use this information for their benefit?

This story tells us exactly what could happen and many of the scenarios she lays out before us are not that unbelievable in the world we live in today. This book will be great for book clubs or share a copy with your friends so you can discuss it later.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

What would you do if you knew when you would die? Would you swallow some pills and possibly avoid a painful death if your death was predicted to be soon? Would you close yourself off from everyone around you not wanting to cause undue pain when you died? Would you run from it, deny it, or embrace it? What about other people whose lives are predicted to be long? How will these two groups react to one another?
One morning, all over the world, everyone twenty-two and older wakes up to find a box on their doorstep. On the top of each box is an inscription that says “The measure of your life lies within.” What exactly does this mean? Those who are curious open the box and find a string within. According to scientists, this string tells you how much longer you have to live. Others don’t want to open their box – they don’t want to know how much time they have left.
The story revolves around a group of people and those they love. Each person will react in their own way. Some people in the government seize on this opportunity to further their political careers. They declare the short-stringers, as they refer to those less fortunate, should be monitored. After all they are unpredictable and may cause violence in their anger at their misfortune. On the other hand, you have the people who look on the positive side – that we are all connected in life and in death. What would you do?

I liked this book. It really made me think. What would I do? Curiosity would make me look at the string but no matter what, I think I would move forward and live my life to the fullest. This book reminded me of the 1960’s. Lots of turmoil in that decade – protests against the war in Vietnam & the flower children preaching peace, love, and harmony. The ending of this book was sad, sweet, and heartfelt. I highly recommend it.

I love a high concept story and The Measure delivers. One day every person in the world (over the age of 22) receives a box that contains a string that’s length corresponds to the length of your life. Would you open the box and if you did, how might it impact how you live your life? The Measure follows a group of characters through the immediate after effect (and beyond) and examines how life, relationships and society grapples with this knowledge as politicians try to pit “short-stringers” against “long-stringers.” It’s a really interesting and creative book and I was rooting for all of the characters (except for one and you’ll know which one I’m talking about.)

Imagine being over the age of 22 and waking in the morning to find a small box. Inside that box beneath a thin piece of cloth is a string. Now you find out that everyone has received one, and furthermore the length of the string tells you how much longer you will live.

So this one left me a bit unsettled. Not so much in an awful way but more in an introspective contemplative sort of way. First is the idea of fate. Regardless of the actions of the people in this book, their string length is the end all be all. There is no hint as to how it will happen, only that it will happen. So faced with this, what do you do? Do you hold up and make the most of your time? Do you lose yourself in the idea that you know how much you have of your life? Do you seek out others like you with similar string lengths to find support? Do you continue in denial? Do you simply not open the box at all? Do you use the situation to your advantage? These are a lot of the same questions that the characters have to deal with. It really is an uncomfortable thought, and one I don’t think I really know the answer for myself.

Erlick explores these ideas while moving through various characters and how they feel when faced with the certainty of their life span. She presents us with the fear and heart break of a couple who find that one of their strings is much longer than the other. We go through the fear, love, and uncertainty of these characters. We are also introduced to other characters whose strings are very short. They have found their way to a support group to help them deal with their future. Long string individuals resent the shorter stringed. Some toss their box and string away unable to deal with the reality. Erlick really explores how each character really deals with what has happened.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s been some time since I’ve read a book that really made me contemplate the various themes. It really made me think. I think this is a great title that would lead to a lot of discussion with fellow readers or even a book group.

The characters are very life-like and I found myself following along with them, feeling their emotions. I felt sadness, fear, and the overall confusion that was expressed. Interspersed with the fear and confusion is also hope. The point of view jumps around several characters and while I normally have difficulty following or enjoying multiple point of view books, I found that it didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. Like I pointed out, the book really makes you think.

My only difficulty with this book is there really isn’t a concrete answer, if at all, to how these boxes came to be. While it doesn’t really seem necessary to the overall intention of the plot, I think it would have been really nice to have closure in that area.

Overall, a really good read and one I would recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARc and the opportunity to read and review this very thought provoking book.

I really tried with this one, but found it a little lackluster and was not engaging with the characters so I DNF at 41%. I will likely pick it up later or listen to the audiobook. The concept is very interesting. Everyone 22 or older receives an individual box which contains a string that notes how long their life will be. Short strings you will die soon and vice versa. How do we act when we know what our life span will be? Will we take more risks? How will the government respond if something like this happened? If acting as a public servant, what knowledge is owed to the public? I enjoyed pondering some of these things and will try to finish this book later.

Thank you William Morrow for providing this ebook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I loved this book. It was engaging and an easy listen. The author did a really good job of making you feel as if the characters could be your friends or family members making those decisions. As a reader you got to develop a real emotional connection to the characters and their stories because the decisions they face are decisions that we, as readers, face on a daily basis.

If you could find out the length of your life would you choose to know?

THE MEASURE has a fascinating premise and explores this exact question. One day, a package mysteriously shows up on the doorstop of everyone in the entire world. Inside the package is a string and the length of it corresponds to the length of your life. Lives all over the world are abruptly upended as people grapple with their new reality.

I was initially invested in this storyline and how this truly unprecedented occurrence would play out. Unfortunately, the story lost its momentum and didn’t land with me as well as it might with other readers.

The author chose to focus on a bird's eye view of how the strings impacted multiple people. As a result I had a hard time feeling invested in the characters. I wish she would have honed in on a fewer number of characters and developed the plot at a faster clip. I will say that this book will likely make for interesting book club discussions. It raises many interesting questions that would be fun to unpack with other readers.

RATING: 3.5 (rounded up to 4 stars)
PUB DATE: June 28, 2022

A big thank you to NetGalley and William & Morrow for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted to www.instagram.com/kellyhook.readsbooks in advance of publication date

4 1/2 stars. What a clever idea! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. What I thought sounded like an episode of The Twilight Zone turned into so much more. I found myself smiling as I flew through the pages.
Everyone who reaches the age of 22 years old receives a box with a string inside. It tells you how long your life is going to be. No one knows where the boxes came from or who sent them. Some people open the box and some don’t.
But it is so much more than having a short string or a long string. Discrimination is widespread on the short stringers. Who wants to hire someone that they know will die soon? The scientists are able to measure the strings and give a pretty accurate lifespan.
I loved the main characters in this book. Because it’s really all about your priorities and how you choose to live your life. This book made me feel happy even though I had tears in my eyes.
Thank you to #BookClubGirlEarlyReads and #NetGalley for my early ebook copy.

This is one of the buzziest books you’ll be hearing about this summer. The plot grabs you immediately. It’s just out of reach, but if you squint you feel like something very similar could happen. I jumped at the opportunity for an early read courtesy of @BookClubGirl and @WilliamMarrowBooks via @Netgalley. This drops 6/28/22.
On an otherwise unremarkable day everyone on earth aged 22 and over receives a small wooden box inscribed “The measure of your life lies within.”, containing a string of various length. Over the next several months it becomes clear the length of the string correlates with the length of your life, and boxes continue to arrive for everyone as they turn 22 years old. As humans do, sorting occurs, fear of the other, discriminatory practices and policies are enacted, support groups formed, relationships are tested and broken. People are known as ‘short stringers’ or ‘long stringers’.
This is going to be an outstanding book club book and buddy read as there’s so much to discuss and unpack. I was dying to talk about this just a few chapters in! Erlick does a great job weaving in so much to think about from so many perspectives. The cast of main characters is large and interwoven, diverse in age, gender, socioeconomic, orientation, career. I had to keep notes to try to keep track everyone. The different perspectives gives the book breadth, but I wanted more depth.
An excellent choice for book clubs and buddy reads if you’re looking for something highly discussable. If you’re an audiobook fan, Julia Whelan narrates that format.

Wow, this is an incredible book - in so many ways! This book starts on a morning when the entire world wakes up to little boxes outside of their doors. Each box contains a string that is a unique length, from very short to very long. The world soon realizes that these strings tell you how long your life will be, and we get to witness the madness that follows.

The author tells this story through several different POV - I think it's 7 different characters. This has the potential to make the story choppy and unsatisfying when it comes to character development, but the author blends these characters stories together so beautifully. I honestly do not know how she managed to pull that off! I loved getting to see the consequences of the strings unravel through so many different perspectives and felt that each character had so much depth to them. It was so incredibly done.

Gosh, this book was just fantastic. I can't say enough good things. I felt so many emotions and loved how the author tied so many little details into the ending. It was so beautiful! This was an incredible debut and I sure hope we see more from this author in the future!

What a dynamite premise! I was hooked from the get-go with this interesting speculative novel that had me turning the pages at lightning speed even as it pondered a profound philosophical question: how would your life be different if you knew exactly when it would end? And would you even choose to find out that information, if you could? I really enjoyed the broad cast of characters, and watching how Erlick slowly brought them into each other's orbits. We dedicated a special bonus episode of our podcast What Should I Read Next to this book (though unfortunately for you reading this, that is members-only accessible to our patreon supporters).

One morning in March, everyone ages 22 or older wake up to find small wooden boxes on their doorstep, containing a single string. A single string that represents the measure of one's life. This book explores the human reaction to this knowledge, knowing if you have a short or long string, and therefore a short or long lifespan. Does having a short string mean one has any less of an impact on the world than those with a long string?

Over the span of this novel we are presented with multiple narrators, both short and long stringers alike, who explore their own lives and the meaning behind having a shorter or longer string, and how they relate to others around them. Of course, humans being human, not everyone handles short stringers as well as they should, and this book truly captured what felt to be an honest and accurate portrayal of how some would perpetuate short string discrimination.

In the end, whether we know the "measure" of our life or not, we all have to live one life and this book was a moving slice of life that shows the importance of being in the moment. Yes, at times it was a bit schmaltzy, but at the same time, it felt like the author knew what she was doing, and I admire the execution.

Solid 5 stars for me. I can see this book spawning many discussions.

Thank you to Book Club Girl, William Morrow and Custom, and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

What would you do if a strange box appeared on your doorstep one morning, along with the rest of the world, and it contained a string denoting how much life you had left to live. Would you open it, store it unopened in a closet, how would you live your life if your string was short? And how will you be viewed by society if your string is short? These are all questions asked and answered in this unusual well written novel.

The Measure presents a simple act of knowledge in such a profound way. One day, everyone over the age of twenty-two wakes up to the delivery of a string, a string that tells them just how long their life is going to be. While this concept may seem a little corny, the implications it shows of people being able to know their lifespan plays out in both unexpected and expected ways. Perhaps I've become more than a little bit disillusioned with society today, so it was easy to anticipate all the negative that come to fruition. Long stringers begin distancing and discriminating themselves from short stringers. A politician sees an opportunity with his long string to stoke fear, create dissension - and naturally his own approval ratings. People begin to look at their relationships and decisions in different ways. Should a couple stay together when one has a short string and the other a long one? Should someone be excluded from pursuing their dream because of a short string? Should someone decide not to have children because they know they won't be there to see them grow up? These are all questions that the various narrators in the story face and are forced to confront. It's easy to look at a long string and think it's okay to be reckless because apparently you're going to survive it. But it's also pretty amazing to be reminded that brief lives can be tremendously impactful. There are also characters in the book that never want to know the length of their string, including Amie, one of the narrators. Why? Why know that your life is predetermined no matter what you do? After losing one of the most important people in my life to a short-string life, the thought of knowing life could be short is somewhat unbearable - but also means living your life with meaning and without regrets. The most important lesson of this book to me is that if you had the opportunity to know how long your life is going to be, it should be your choice to know or not, and to live your life to the fullest, however long it's going to be. I really loved this book and the messages it sent. Erlick doesn't hesitate to show the problems that come (and discrimination is inevitable any time you can divide the world up into the 'haves' and 'have nots') and the silver linings that are there when you choose to see them. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What would you do if you received a box with a string inside that supposedly measures how much time you have left in your life? Would you open it? Would you look at the string? What if someone told you that you had to, and your future worth was based on that? The Measure poses these questions and so many others as we follow the lives of just a few of the people impacted by the strings' appearances.

An intriguing premise, masterfully executed. What would you do if you could find out how long you would live? Would you want to know? How would it change your choices in life, and how would those around you—and the government—respond? These questions are regarded from so many different angles and scenarios, and it is so well done. At first I thought there might be too many characters to keep track of, but the author does such a good job of giving each a distinct personality and story and enough information every time a particular thread is revisited that I found it easy to follow each character's story and become invested in each one. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator, Julia Whelan, was absolutely wonderful. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Harper Audio and NetGalley for an audio e-ARC of this fabulous book.

The Measure is an amazing read that takes you down a path of unexpected turns as you follow several people who all have a different approach to receiving a mystery string that measures their lifespan. The story is based on a fantastical element that is introduced in a contemporary world with real characters facing difficult questions. You will savor The Measure and then contemplate your own fate. What would you do to change the world if you found out you only had a month, a year, a decade to live?

The Measure is sure to be one of the best books of 2022! I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. I think the author did an amazing job tying together all of the narrators at the end of the book. I have already been recommending this book and know it will be a huge hit. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This book was a real delight, a wonderful treat that took me several days to finish only because things like work, sleep, and life stuff kept getting in the way. I could easily have finished it in a day if I’d had a free day to spend.

The set-up is basically this; one day every adult on the planet gets a box with a string in it, the string is the total measure of their lifespan. No one knows where the strings came from or what they mean, the one thing the world can agree on are the strings impeccable accuracy. Scientists compare and study the strings and are able to calculate (to within a month or so) the exact age at which you’ll die based on your string.
This of course throws the whole world into upheaval, as suddenly, one of the most pressing questions “when will I die?” can have a definite answer. The book explores this world changing development with remarkable skill and depth. The book follows eight vaguely interconnected characters, of different backgrounds and string lengths, as they try to lead meaningful lives in this new, frightening world. The author juggles these perspectives and stories with charming skill, each character has an interesting perspective to explore and seeing how they work together was truly interesting and remarkable.

This book was, of course, rather heavy at times. I could see it being a great book to discuss with a group pf friends or a book club as everyone will have different opinions about the strings, about what constitutes a full life. In the end, this book was a lot of fun to read and very moving and thought provoking, I’d recommend it to almost anyone.

A+ for the concept, but the executions fell short of my expectations. I found there were too many story lines and that they become somewhat predictable and trite.