The Measure
Fiction
William Morrow
June 28, 2022
Hardcover
368
Purchased
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.
My review:
A new favorite of the year! This book was amazing and I flew through it waiting to see how it would play out for the people we follow. This has a huge moral dilemma at its core, would you open your box to see how long you had left to live? How would you live your life differently if you knew how long you had left? Obviously you need to suspend belief a bit in how these boxes all came to be in the possession of every person on the planet at the same time (bear with me, you believed in Santa didn't you?). I fleetingly thought about this, but it went completely out of my mind once I got caught up in the resulting stories. There is all sorts of commentary within these pages other than the personal question. There are political stories facing candidates for President, also how some countries dealt with their citizen's boxes. There are employment questions, do you get to ask how long someone has to live before hiring them? Support groups spring up for those who are "short stringers", begging the question who do you tell of your fate (if you chose to open your box)? Are people being discriminated against, what about those in hospitals? So many questions to mull over, making this such an engrossing story! There is a twist at the end that I never saw coming, and I definitely shed a few tears. This is a debut novel, and I couldn't tell by the writing style or cohesiveness of the story.
Interestingly when I linked this post to Goodreads, I read some reviews for this book that were not as complimentary as I have been. If you are on the fence, perhaps seek out more reviews than mine, because I'm giving this all the stars! It will definitely make my best books of the year list!
