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emilywemily6's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was incredible. I could not put it down! This book contains many deeper themes that are reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made this book feel very personal for me and almost triggering as I remembered the strife of that global event. So if the pandemic is a hard topic for you still this book might be difficult emotionally because of the parallels. But this book was reflective and meaningful and emotional, and I have no regrets that I went on this journey. Told through multiple POVs that intersect at moments throughout the book, this book made me feel for and love every character. This book was surprisingly human and realistic; I forgot I wasn’t living the string reality they faced. The societal issues related to the divisive nature of the strings were portrayed really well through the lens of the multiple POVs. I loved the discussions on discrimination and prejudice and the ties with both history and current examples of discrimination. This book was beautiful and heartbreaking and gave me a lot to think about my own life and what it would mean to know how long I have to live, or how long my family has. If you need a good cry with some hope, this book is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Bullying, and Cursing
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Suicide, Alcohol, Racism, Sexism, and Hate crime
Minor: Classism, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
karinreadsalot's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Death, and Gun violence
mj_86's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, and War
Minor: Outing, Car accident, and Suicide
pensandpicks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Suicide
caribbeangirlreading's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I'm glad I chose the audiobook because, as usual, Julia Whelan is an outstanding narrator. I enjoyed the premise of the mysterious boxes arriving all at once. I loved the theme that measure of one's life is about a life well lived. BUT . . . the book is just so superficial. The sci-fi and dystopian themes were never fully pursued. Character development was never fully pursued. It's just your run-of-the mill commercial fiction book that celebrity book clubs want to sell to us as life-changing, and they are not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Mass/school shootings
maryhannawilson's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is such a great book to cultivate discussion for a book club. I am grateful that a friend read it simultaneously so we could discuss it.
Overnight, every adult (over 22) receives a mysterious box on their doorstep. Inside the box is a string and the length of that string represents the number of years you have left to live. The boxes send the world into an overnight frenzy. No one knows where they came from and people are left wondering if they want to know the length of their string. Soon society begins to fraction as people disagree on how to handle this knowledge. Friends and family have to find ways to handle the big questions that come with knowing when your life is going to end.
The book follows 8 individuals as they make their choices to handle this bizarre and unique situation. I enjoyed all of the characters and the various ways they handled the decision about whether or not to look at their string. Each of the 8 individuals has unique circumstances and it allows for the story to show a variety of ways people are impacted.
Eventually, politicians begin to use the strings to "other" the short-string individuals. They begin to question how safe it is to hire a "short-stringer." Media outlets began to publicize stories of short-string owners who hurt themselves or others. Suddenly the owners of short strings become "dangerous."
This entire storyline reflects how easily we dehumanize the "other" in our society - for whatever reason they are different than us. It shows how quickly and easily we default to this as individuals and as a society. YET, there was hope as well. People begin to band together to fight the dehumanization of the other group. They encourage others to look at every human life as valuable again.
I loved the way this book made me think - about what I would do, about the value of every person, and the importance of every single day. Highly recommend it, especially to read with a friend or in a group.
Overnight, every adult (over 22) receives a mysterious box on their doorstep. Inside the box is a string and the length of that string represents the number of years you have left to live. The boxes send the world into an overnight frenzy. No one knows where they came from and people are left wondering if they want to know the length of their string. Soon society begins to fraction as people disagree on how to handle this knowledge. Friends and family have to find ways to handle the big questions that come with knowing when your life is going to end.
The book follows 8 individuals as they make their choices to handle this bizarre and unique situation. I enjoyed all of the characters and the various ways they handled the decision about whether or not to look at their string. Each of the 8 individuals has unique circumstances and it allows for the story to show a variety of ways people are impacted.
Eventually, politicians begin to use the strings to "other" the short-string individuals. They begin to question how safe it is to hire a "short-stringer." Media outlets began to publicize stories of short-string owners who hurt themselves or others. Suddenly the owners of short strings become "dangerous."
This entire storyline reflects how easily we dehumanize the "other" in our society - for whatever reason they are different than us. It shows how quickly and easily we default to this as individuals and as a society. YET, there was hope as well. People begin to band together to fight the dehumanization of the other group. They encourage others to look at every human life as valuable again.
I loved the way this book made me think - about what I would do, about the value of every person, and the importance of every single day. Highly recommend it, especially to read with a friend or in a group.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Gun violence
khaben31's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
Minor: Terminal illness, Outing, Gun violence, War, Suicide, Car accident, and Cancer
chrisxmaverick's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
An amalgamation of too many characters that killed off the most interesting and involved storyline way too soon
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mass/school shootings
Minor: Death and Suicide
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
The opportunity to create a new category of othering arrives overnight for anyone over the age of 22 and prejudices flow amidst the panic.
I wish that there was some closure on some of the (what I consider) plot holes, as well as a couple of characters we grew to know over the 15 years that pass in the book, though I was given enough to be satisfied. It was a bit predictable and cliche, but I teared up a couple times and definitely cried at the end because thinking about life and death and found family gets me in the feels.
I wish that there was some closure on some of the (what I consider) plot holes, as well as a couple of characters we grew to know over the 15 years that pass in the book, though I was given enough to be satisfied. It was a bit predictable and cliche, but I teared up a couple times and definitely cried at the end because thinking about life and death and found family gets me in the feels.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Grief, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Cancer, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, Emotional abuse, Medical content, War, Car accident, Confinement, Murder, Suicide, and Xenophobia
convivialcatch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Outing, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Chronic illness and Car accident