The Measure by Nikki Erlick
The Measure
by Nikki Erlick
Science Fiction | Fantasy | Fiction
368 Pages
Released June 2022
Rating: ★★ 1/2
Goodreads
Content Warnings
February started off so well but has unfortunately fizzled out with my last couple picks. The Measure was on my TBR for a while and I had to wait several weeks to finally get my hands on it from the local library. I’m glad I didn’t buy this one. Though the premise is intriguing, the book quickly falls flat with a large cast of relatively unmemorable characters.
This book follows several perspectives (at least seven, that I can think of off the top of my head) after a strange incident that occurs all over the world. For some inexplicable reason, one morning, every adult (I think 22 or older) across the globe, finds themselves in possession of a small box. Inside is a string that indicates how long they will live. Life, as they know it, will never be the same.
I’ve never been a huge fan of books where you are following a large cast of characters - especially when they all sound very similar. It was fairly predictable, there were little to no stakes that made it interesting, and the concept of “how does your life change if you know how long you have left to live” is predictably executed. For example, I read The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin a couple years ago which explores the same concept. And while I didn’t particularly love that book either, I think it did a much better job of exploring the complexities of human nature when faced with death.
I feel like the author could have done so much more with this concept and I very quickly felt bored with this novel. There was only one perspective that I really found somewhat intriguing and that was 'Jack’ - the nephew of the book’s “villain” (I am not sure if villain is the appropriate characterization but he certainly is portrayed in a darker light). Towards the half-way point, I found myself skimming several of the perspectives.
Overall, this book was just “meh” for me. However, if you’ve never read a book exploring the concepts of knowing how long you will live, this may be a good starter book.