A review by ptstewart
The Measure by Nikki Erlick

5.0

By all accounts, The Measure should have too much going on. Too many characters, too many storylines, too many tragedies. Its brilliance, therefore, lies in Erlick’s choice to confront an entire world with an unfathomable question. The result is both intrapersonal and interpersonal, minute and grand, joyful and disastrously painful. Erlick examines the results of possibility she creates from countless angles via characters who battle the news differently due to both circumstance and personality. The villain is awful but believable, and his inclusion is a bold and important choice. The joining of two apparent fringe characters (initially), the death of someone in whom we were just becoming invested. The sacrifices, prejudices, fear, and celebrations the people and world encounter at this development are gut wrenching and grounded in a reality we could see developing. There is many a mark of a good book: a book that leaves the reader wondering what they might do in that situation, and all the ways it could go right or wrong, is undeniably successful.