A review by onemorepagecrew
The Measure by Nikki Erlick

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I’ve been excited to read The Measure by Nikki Erlick, mainly because I loved The Midnight Library and I am fascinated by novels that have the reader considering what’s important in their lives.  In this debut novel every single person on Earth (over the age of 22) is delivered a small, wooden box with a string that indicates how long their life will be.  No one understands where the boxes came from and every society around the world is processing this new information.  
 
The concept is interesting, and while not the first book to explore this type of societal and personal dilemma, it’s always unique how an author decides to approach the subject.  In this book, there is a lean towards individual characters and the way they process their own mortality.  You meet a few people and learn their stories, along with the stories of their loved ones, and this was my favorite part of the novel by far.  There are a few characters that are easy to connect with and I was invested in their personal journeys. 
 
There are also political and spiritual aspects in the story, which if this were to happen in real life would absolutely be the case.  Nonetheless, this was my least favorite part of the book because it was so surface level that it left me wondering what the message was intended to be from the author.  There was some light acknowledgement of systemic injustices that would be worsened or leveraged in this situation, but it was off-putting to see a new and fictional form of discrimination (having a short string / lifespan) centered as worse than the injustices endured by marginalized people today and throughout the past.  I won’t expand on this too much to avoid spoilers, but arc of this storyline was so buttoned up that it reminded me of when someone says we can solve systemic injustice with love and unity alone. 
 
I know you can only tackle so much in one book, and this was primarily about processing one’s mortality. I understood why author chose to weave politics and religion into each character’s personal contemplations, I just struggled with trying to weave in the broader societal narrative given how dense and complex it is.  It could be an entirely separate novel on just that storyline.  I sat with this one for a few days after finishing the story and I still can’t fully connect with the book.  I suspect it will be a very popular novel though and I might be in the minority of reviews – I’m looking forward to hearing what others think of this one. 
 
Content warnings:  Death, Grief, Mass shootings, Gun violence, Systemic discrimination 
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