Book Review - The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Title: The Measure
Author: Nikki Erlick
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2022
 
Description: Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.
 
It seem like any other day. You wake up, pour a coffee, and head out.
 
But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.
 
From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. Is an instant, the world thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?
 
As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: do they which to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?
 
Review: If you could know how long you will live, would you want to know it? And if you knew the answer, what would you do with that information? This is the dilemma that the characters in “The Measure” have to deal with. One day, each person , 22 and over, receives a box. Within this box is a single string. The length of this string is different for everyone. This string tells you how long your life is.
 
At the start of the story, know one know what the strings mean. And nobody is forced to look at the inside of the box. But people are curious by nature, so most people do. And quickly society is split in two: the ones with the long strings and the so-called ‘short stringers’.
 
Author Nikki Erlick tells the story through several different perspectives. And this way you get to see how different people are dealing with a similar situation. Much like John Marrs’ books “The One” and “The Marriage Act”. For instance, we meet someone who finds out their string is short and how they try and cope with that information. We read from a couple where one of them gets a short string and the other doesn’t want to know. And also a long string politician, who is using it to his advantage for his campaign as a presidential candidate.
 
Many political, societal and ethical themes are touched upon. Like the aforementioned political candidate using it to gain more votes, for his opponent is a short-stringer. The army that doesn’t allow short-stringers, to up their odds. Mass shootings become even more ‘normal’, people breaking up with their partners because they don’t want to live with someone that will die within a few years and people with short strings that are denied health care.   
 
“The Measure” is a unique premise that gives you a lot to think about, raises questions and makes you try to put you in the position of the characters. What would you do if you received the box? Would curiosity win? This book was so amazing, it’s thought provoking, unique and interesting to read from all the different perspectives. How something that is brought upon an entire society makes everyone respond to it so differently. A book I would recommend. For sure!
 
Rating: 5/ 5