The Measure: The Instant New York Times Bestseller

Product Information

To celebrate #NationalCookbookMonth, Jacqueline Hodges shares her favourite recipes from her top choice cook books! The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything. conversations examined about life - [how we live it] — our choices, friendships, jobs, passions, adventurous spirit — etc. ‘we’re’ interring to think about.

Nikki Erlick - NYT-Bestselling Author of The Measure

The Measure is essentially a story about love and relationships, and how each character and their loved ones deal with this extraordinary and frightening event. This book has so much potential and could have played out in so many ways, better ways. In saying that, this one chose a political view. The premise of this book was brilliant […] The political plot just overthrows this book. The characters were strong and really built up, and your waiting for this big bomb…and nothing. Three stars for the first few chapters.” a little politics, religion , family, education, longevity, illness, violence, being ultra rich—a little about our comforts of inner peace - our clean house — yummy foods - friends - books - gardens - birds — joy - death - health. Yes, you may see some parallels between the Covid World, we are living in, and the one imagined here, but ultimately THIS story is about the EIGHT main CHARACTERS and the UNEXPECTED ways that their lives will touch one another. From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?Just six inches wide, and three inches deep-each contained a string which revealed the MEASURE of your life. Your FATE disclosed by the length of your string. i also LOVEDDDDD how every character was intertwined someway. it gave me LOVE, ACTUALLY (the movie) vibes and was so fun to see it play out. So many questions and so much uncertainty — I couldn’t help but be reminded of the early days of the (still ongoing) pandemic. Times of uncertainty can reveal people’s true characters. With prejudice comes political strategy. Running for office? Show the length of your string or we won’t vote for you. Should those politicians run on platforms regarding society’s treatment of “short-stringers”? The sociopolitical issues are rampant. This is an interesting, thought-provoking story that really makes you wonder if you'd want to find out how long you had to live if presented with the opportunity. While I wanted to know what would happen to the characters I came to feel invested in, I didn't feel that emotional impact that I really hoped for and expected. There was a moment where I thought it was coming, but it evaded me.

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Imagine waking up one day in a world where everyone age 22 and up has received a small wooden box, that inside, holds a string measuring the length of their life. In the wake of their arrival, questions begin surfacing about the boxes. Where did the boxes come from? And how were they delivered precisely at the same time to every person 22 years of age and older? Fear begins to ravage society as people begin discriminating against “shorter string individuals” and worshiping those with longer strings. My only minor criticisms are that it got a bit ‘long winded’ in spots and I had a hard time relating to Amy. Her views and the choices she made just didn’t fit together. I read a lot and while I enjoy most, in the end many are forgettable. This is not one of those books. It is a creative and thought-provoking debut that will be on my 2022 favorites. It would make an excellent book club selection. I do recommend reading this book as it definitely gives you something to think about. You think about how you are spending your days living, and how you can live on once you are gone…

If you’re looking for something a bit different, with just a hint of a dystopian flavor then I highly recommend this one. It really makes you seriously think! Overnight, mysterious boxes arrive on people’s doorsteps across the globe. The boxes, just six inches wide and three inches deep, contain a single piece of string. In this story, the length of your string is a measure of how long you have left to live. In other words, your fate is sealed by this string.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick | Waterstones

Politicians use their shortcomings for their benefits to turn their democratic regulations into tyranny. Where this story really shines is its focus on the characters. Even though this is speculative fiction, once the premise is established, this feels more character-driven than anything else. We have a large ensemble cast, and we slowly get to know them and watch them grow, even as their lives intertwine and touch each other. The Measure has an interesting high concept pitch... What if everyone could find out how long they had left to live? It does feel like this idea MUST have been done already (?) but if not credit to the author for a nice hook.

The Bottom Line: 5/5 stars

Throughout this I kept thinking of Julia Roberts character, Shelby, from the movie Steel Magnolias where she states, “I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.”… this is how life should be lived regardless of how long or short it turns out to be. The characters stories were woven together very well. I thought that their reactions to the ‘new normal’ was conveyed in a very individual and believable way. The societal reactions/discriminations would’ve felt much less plausible if the past several years had not mirrored it so closely.”