Nikki Erlick |  Fiction

2022, 352 pages

One day in March a small box appears on the doorstep of every living adult in the world, age 22 and up.  On the outside, there is an explanation. Each box is inscribed with the message “The measure of your life lies within”.  Inside the box is a string that tells the recipient how long they will live ... from just a few minutes to 70 or 80 years from now. Every character in this book must decide whether they open the box and look at the string; and then, who they tell or don't tell about their string.  The author also explores the private reactions to their string after they look, if they look.

A very interesting premise!  Too bad it is hindered greatly by lousy writing.  I read many reviews before I closed this book up on page 128.  It seems people either love this book, or dislike it immensely, if they could finish it.   But every single reviewer found the premise to be very clever.   One reviewer suggested the author sell the premise to another writer and see where they take it!   The idea is great; the execution was fumbled.

We spend time with about seven characters.  Unfortunately, the characters are carbon copies of one another.  They all live in New York and are about the same age, 30s and 40s. . The characters are shallow, and decidedly not unique. I only see their top layer.  This makes them pretty uninteresting.  I would have liked to also follow a 22-year-old in Dubai and a 75-year-old in Paris or a Black man in Soweto.  For once, this debut is not a great first novel.

I was too bored to finish it. I do not recommend The Measure.  (Sorry, dear friend Leslie.  Thank you for the recommendation anyway!)

March 2026