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astoriareader's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
SYNOPSIS
- All over the world, every person over the age of 22 receives a wooden box with a mysterious string inside. The length of the string = how long you’ll live.
- We follow eight people, and how the strings impact them.
MY THOUGHTS
- Excellent premise, but not a fan of the execution.
- The writing felt very basic to me, and I was annoyed how the characters kept popping up across stories & having some random connection.
- Very plot driven & no real character developments
- I didn’t care for any of the characters.
- Ending is mehhh.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent plot, but not a fan of the execution. Read this one instead: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Outing
meganm1587's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Car accident
sk8r2natls's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Okay book - would have been GREAT as a book club book , but I wouldn’t personally recommend it as an independent read. It sparked interesting conversations, but the plot got a little monotonous. The back 1/4 of the book was better because the characters became interwoven with one another and their stories/histories were shared more with the reader, but it otherwise felt a bit repetitive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Gun violence, Violence, and Car accident
meganemarshall's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Be prepared to cry... alot. I bawled my eyes out multiple times while reading. I was gripped in the beginning. This is NOT a sci-fi book!! It isn't about the boxes but about how people react to them. Not only do you read about 8 people whose lives are intertwined, but how the world as a whole deals with the strings. What would you do if you had a short string or a long string? How do people view you if they know the length of your string? Will people discriminate based on string length?
The book is very character-driven well. Erlick did an incredible job at making me emotionally connect to all these characters even though I knew the lengths of their strings, so I knew who had happy endings and sad endings. I also really loved how everyone was connected somehow. A person from Hank's story pops up in other people's stories, and vice versa.
There's a lot of deep conversation in the book about how to live your life, as while as discussions of hope, mortality, faith, discrimination, love, marriage, etc. I think the book showed that all life has meaning, that no matter what you do during your life or how you die or what happens afterwards, you still touch all the people around you, and your live affects their choices which moves others, etc. Hank's storyline really shows this and was my favorite.
The book is very character-driven well. Erlick did an incredible job at making me emotionally connect to all these characters even though I knew the lengths of their strings, so I knew who had happy endings and sad endings. I also really loved how everyone was connected somehow. A person from Hank's story pops up in other people's stories, and vice versa.
There's a lot of deep conversation in the book about how to live your life, as while as discussions of hope, mortality, faith, discrimination, love, marriage, etc. I think the book showed that all life has meaning, that no matter what you do during your life or how you die or what happens afterwards, you still touch all the people around you, and your live affects their choices which moves others, etc. Hank's storyline really shows this and was my favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Gun violence and Suicide
Minor: Car accident and Outing
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, and War
emily98griffin's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Car accident
nightstitch96's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Suicide, Car accident, and Outing
csyip's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Bullying and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Outing
agreen1727's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
There were a ton of characters and story lines to keep straight. I like the overall idea of the book and the messages you can take away from it. The ending had a part that was pretty sad that I didn’t see coming. I feel like the timeline through the book moved at a very odd pace even though all the info needed was there. I’m not really sure how I feel about the book overall. I didn’t dislike it but I also didn’t love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and War
machenn's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Car accident, and Pregnancy