Book Review | The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out.

But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

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For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #3: Title starts with the letter “M”)

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The Reason

I’m not kidding, I just found it in my borrowed books on Libby one day. I didn’t click on this book, I didn’t even know about this book, it was just there. Then I saw the narrator was Julia Whelan and I love her so I thought I’d give it a try.

The Quotes

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day.”

“The great American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, ‘It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.’ You don’t need a long lifetime to make an impact on this world. You just need the will to do so.”

“Once you know something, you forget what it was like to not know it.”

“We segment ourselves based on race or class or religion or whatever fucking distinctions we decide to make up, and then we insist on treating each other differently.”

The Narrator(s)

Julia Whelan. The only reason I read this book without knowing a single thing about it. And I’m glad I did!

My Thoughts

This book has such an interesting premise; people all around the world are receiving a special box with a string inside that supposedly measures their lives. They start to separate themselves based on their short or long strings, they start Other-ing each other, a lot of philosophical questions are asked and discussed. We see the stories of a select few people whose lives intersect, and we come to care about them.

Coming into this story with zero expectations, I ended up really enjoying it. It felt so dystopian and sci-fi, but also down-to-earth in a way, and horrifying in other ways. I love that it explores the value of a person’s life regardless of how long or short that life is. I hate that the Other-ing and fear-mongering is so true to life. The first part of the book was really intense and exciting, but the ending seemed a little flat, like the author wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen. It was still a very well-written book, and a fine exploration of the premise, and I enjoyed it overall.

In a way, it also tracks that ending wasn’t clear-cut and tied up nicely in a bow. It fits the theme that we don’t know what happens next and that it’s up to us what we want to make of the story, what we want to get from it and what we want to make of our own lives from here on out.

I mostly find it curious that I found this book on my borrowed list without ever hearing about it or clicking on it. It’s almost like the characters having those boxes of string just appear out of nowhere. It’s spooky and weird and it’s very possible that aliens have sent this book to me as a gift. 😂 Still, I’m grateful for it because it turned out to be a great story and I really enjoyed it!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?