For me 'The Measure' was an extremely thought provoking book. Thank-you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for allowing me to read such an entertaining debut novel. The premise of knowing how long you are going to live and the effects that may/will have on you and your future choices is mind blowing. Multiply that by everyone in the world over the age of 22 being given that choice and you can begin to see the global challenge. Written from several points of view we are given an insight, both rightly and wrongly, into the thoughts and fears of both long-stringers and short-stringers. We get to meet well written, well rounded characters who I will freely admit to laughing and crying with. This novel would make an excellent book club reading choice as the discussions could be endless, but I also recommend it to anyone who just enjoys a good book.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick is a gripping and thought-provoking novel with themes of love, and loss, Set in the future where emotions are carefully measured and controlled, the story follows the journey of protagonist Emma as she struggles with her own desires and what society expects of her.
Erlick also discuss explores themes of autonomy, self-discovery, and the basic human need for connection. The Measure is an engrossing exploration of the human condition, making the reader think and it will stay with readers long after the final page.

One morning boxes arrive worldwide on the doorsteps of everyone over 22 years old. These boxes contain a piece of string seemingly detailing how long each persons life will be.

There are a lot of POV and initially I was starting to lose track but each story remains distinct enough from the next. The Measure is a very thought provoking read about mortality and human relationships. I wanted a little bit more from the ending and I can’t say I was hooked but I loved how much this book made me think about what is truly important to make us happy.

I would recommend to people who have enjoyed the Midnight Library and would also recommend The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin as something similar.

'Your fate arrives in a box on your doorstep. Do you open it?'

Every adult wakes up to a mysterious box on their doorstep, it contains a piece of string, the length of the string measures your lifespan.

Do you open the box? How will knowing how long you have left change you?

I read speculative 'what if' novels with a FOMO fuelled curiosity, while a lot of them don't really work for me, but I don't want to miss out of the occasional ones that do.

This was quite a good one, there's a good group of varied characters, a considered and believable reflection on the bigger society issues and plenty going on to keep it emotionally and dramatically involving.

Fans of John Marrs's speculative novels will love it. I thought it was pretty good and it held me interest, and I'm a tough audience for this genre.


Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK

Absolutely adored this book.
Overnight life changes when the boxes arrive. Inside every box is a string - the string determines how long the owner will live. Do they open it and find out how long they have left? Or do they continue to live, oblivious. What follows affects us all - whether you're a 'short stringer' or long.

This is a thought provoking and touching story of hope, love, fate and living life to the full. Its what you do - not how long you live that counts.

"If forever doesn't exist, we'll invent it ourselves"

"the beginning and the end may have been chosen for us, the string already spun, but the middle has always been left undetermined, to be woven and shaped by us'

Devoured it and a book I will remember and recommend for years to come!

The Measure follows the story of several characters in the aftermath of the whole adult world receiving strings in boxes that indicate their lifespan. Some receive reassuring news, others not. Some choose not to open their boxes. I found that not knowing how & why the boxes appeared frustrated me.

One ordinary morning in March the entire world wakes up to a box on their doorstep, inside the box is a string which will tell each person how long their life will be if they choose to open the box.. would you open yours?

The story was told through multiple POVs including a doctor, an architect, a journalist, a teacher, friends, partners and family, some opened their boxes and some chose not to look.

This was such an interesting and thought provoking book, unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I was immediately immersed in the story and eager to see how it would all unfold. Although it could be classed as a dystopian tale, it is very easy to imagine this could happen in real life. Particularly the social consequences of short strings vs long strings and how it changed society for everything from politics to reality tv.

I’ve had many interesting discussions with family and friends while reading this book so this would definitely make an excellent pick for a book club.

My only slight negative was the ending, it felt a little rushed and unsatisfying, so that knocked my rating down slightly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book without really knowing what it was about. Everyone in the world, over the age of twenty two, receives a small box with their name on and a piece of string. Everyone’s string is a different length, and it is proved that the strings show how long you have left to live.

“The measure of your life lies within.”

The story is set in New York and follows quite a lot of different characters, showing how they cope. Some look at their strings and some don’t. It becomes political and those with short strings are discriminated against, not allowed to have certain jobs or adopt children. The strings affect relationships, people’s mental health, and it is a number of years before people adapt to their existence.

I liked most of the characters and some of them are connected, so in a way they link up and the story feels a bit more cohesive. It took me a little while to remember who was who and how they were linked to other characters.

I found the book easy to read and the chapters weren’t too long. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the characters.

The book was thought provoking and it made me wonder what I would do if I got one of the boxes.

“Once you know something, you forget what it was like to not know it.”

The cover for the edition I had didn’t fit with the story for me. There’s a box of matchsticks on the cover, one burned down more than the others. Unless it’s meant to be symbolic, it would probably have been better to have had a wooden box or a box with a string inside for the cover.

Overall, the book held my interest and is certainly a different premise for a story.

3.5 stars rounded to 3.

One day in March, everyone across the world wakes up to find a box outside their home. On the outside it explains that this box contains 'the measure of your life' - inside is a string and the string length corresponds to the total length of the box owner's life. A long string - a long life. A short string - a short life.
This was a very well written story - I particularly liked the way that the author used the idea of long and short strings to develop parallels between the imagined future world and our own world and in particular how it used the idea of 'short stringers' as being somehow different, less trustworthy, less stable to explore the issue of prejudices in our current society. I felt that the links between some of the characters were carefully crafted, whilst others were slightly more clunky. Overall though this I really enjoyed this book and am grateful to Netgalley for providing me with an advance review copy.

This style of storytelling, from multiple perspectives, is one of my absolute favourites. On this occasion, it was slightly more than i bargained for as there were so many people, however after a few rounds and working out who was who, i got totally caught up in the storyline and couldn't wait to read more.

A beautifully told story, spanning over many years, that shows us just how important it is to treasure those around you and to make the most of every day.

How would you feel if you knew exactly how long you had to live? Nikki Ehrlich’s electrifying debut novel The Measure catapults the reader into a strange world where every individual above 21 on Earth receives a box containing a string indicating the measure of one’s remaining lifespan. Politicians, scientists, commentators, press, medicals – everyone is caught in a frenzy in trying to understand, analyze and validate. You’ll find those who choose not to open the boxes, those who do and compare, those who run to the hospital, those who attend support groups organised according to the length of the thread. The novel does an amazing job at capturing the mass hysteria and the sensation of living through times of inexplicable phenomena that go beyond our understanding and reminded me of Tim Morton's elusive hyperobjects, which would serve as a good interpretive framework. Told through multiple perspectives, it does not really focus on grasping the phenomenon – way too mysterious and all-encompassing to be grasped -- but it is primarily focused on the interactions and reactions of an interesting, vibrant cast of characters. Deeply engrossing and immersive.

A thought provoking dystopian romantic drama. This book is well written and is a story that will certainly make you wonder what you would do... FYI I would definitely be opening my box, I have no control!
I enjoyed the different view points of how people reacted to their strings and what that would mean for them, it made me realise that in some ways you may be better off having a short string. I think there were probably too many characters without enough really happening for me to truly get into this book but i did like how they were all interwoven and that felt like another piece that was making it feel so realistic.
The politics of it were going to be a make or break and whilst I dont think they could have been left out, there's just no way in this story there wouldn't be politics and politicians playing with people's lives and trying to manipulate how something like this can either bring people together or divide them but it was my least favourite part and my least favourite character, I'm not sure if that is the character or politicians in general though

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

All around the world everyone over 22 gets a box delivered with a string in. This is soon revealed as how long each person has left to live. But for the characters in this book life will never be the same again.

Oh wow this book was good. The idea for this was fantastic - ive not read a book like this before and the idea isn’t too far fetched in my opinion. This book was multi POV from so called short-stringers and those that had long strings. I really struggled to put this book down and I wanted to know exactly what was going to happen. The ending shocked me too - I just wasn’t expecting it at all. The stand out thing for this book was how life can change in an instant and how people change. Such a great read.

I really wanted to like this book, it's a great idea and would probably prompt much discussion at a book group. But there was something about the writing style that put me off, I didn't care for any of the characters so I found it hard to keep track of who was who. I admit, I gave up about halfway through.

How long is a piece of string? It turns out that it is as long as the length of your life. One morning all of the Earth’s population wakes up to discover they have an individual box outside their door. Inside the box is a piece of string that measures the length of their life. What would you do with this knowledge? How would this information change society? Would you even choose to open your box and find out how long you’ve got left to live? Does depth of life matter more than length and can that be measured? These are all questions explored through the lives of a cast of characters within this novel.

I really enjoyed reading this and was gripped to the story from the beginning to the end. Despite there being quite an array of characters I found myself able to sympathise with each one in turn. The book is really well written treading the line between dystopian, philosophical conundrums and yet remaining a light enjoyable book to read perfectly.

This is the authors debut novel and I hope, having read this book, that she will go on to write many more!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely devoured this book and couldn't put it down. It's set in the future when one day everybody over the age of 22 receives a box with a piece of string inside, which is the measure of their life. They are either long or short strings and they both measure how much longer you have to live
I thought this was such a thought provoking idea and made me wonder what I would do faced with the same predicament. The length of a string brought up so many issues in society including discrimination, politics, revenge, hate, love etc
Would you want to know how much longer you had to live and would it change how you approached your life?
It made me think of a quote "In the end, it's not the years in your life that counts. It's the life in your years"

Dystopian novel where at the age of 22 a box with a length of string is found. It’s made of diseases and predicts your life span. Told via a few people it’s a strange and solemn tale. Very good and read in 2 sittings.

“Live each day as if it’s your last”, “You never know how long you’ve got so make each day count”, but what if you could know exactly how long you have left? Would you want to know and what would you do with the knowledge? And how would it affect us if we all knew exactly how long our lives would be?
One day; every single person on the planet aged over 22 finds a box on their doorstep. Inside the box is a string which is the measure of their life. The strings are indestructible and can’t be lengthened or shortened - what you’ve got is your destiny.
The book explores how this knowledge changes society. Short-stringers face discrimination on top of their struggles to accept their shorter life expectancy. Long-stringers take more risks because they know they have many years ahead, forgetting that quality of life is also important.
At the beginning of the book, I found it difficult to read because it brought up a lot of difficult questions. It’s definitely a thought-provoking read that leaves you pondering the meaning of life. It ends on a much more uplifting note. A life well-lived doesn’t need to be a long life. We can fill our days with meaning, however long we have on this planet.

If you could know how long you had left to live, would you want to know? Would you do things differently? Would you be prejudiced against people with shorter lives? Maybe not hire them? Or not date them perhaps?

The Measure asks many of these questions. The eight or so main characters are in different phases of their lives, with different priorities and backgrounds, whose lives are affected by the arrival of strings that indicate how long you have left.

The story was good, with many interesting questions posed, but I felt the writing was too loose and rambling. Nothing a good edit couldn't have cleaned up, but I did find myself heavily skimming towards the end.

Really glad I read this, it's a book that makes you think.

If you received a box with a piece of string inside that is the length of your life would you look.

Would it it them determine how you lived the rest of your life.

Interesting read about a group of people where some open theirs and some don't. Following how it affects themselves mentally, their lives, their relationships, their jobs.