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bri_reads23's review against another edition
5.0
Book club, don’t read yet. ;)
This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you for writing it.❤️
This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you for writing it.❤️
panthergirl's review against another edition
4.0
Very different from what I had expected. Sure, it’s about length of one’s life vs quality of life, but it also raises a lot of ethical questions and introduces a theme about discrimination that was really interesting. I had a few minor issues with the story (why weren’t the strings impossible to remove from the boxes, for example?) but overall I thought it was excellent.
afkaplan's review against another edition
4.0
Super interesting and thought-provoking concept....will give any book club a lot to talk about! It's an easy read in terms of the writing, but it occasionally veered juvenile with some schmaltzy emotional shots and some predictability. Also major Crash vibes, but I did use to love that movie. Still, though, I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.
ncbrown33's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that I know I will be thinking about for a long time. The premise of knowing how long your life will be based on a box that was delivered to you is interesting and it seems to be a realistic account of the impact it would have.
sglenewinkel's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the premise of this book. I loved the way all the characters lives intersected in the most nonchalant ways. This was well-written and engaging. I really enjoyed this book.
kathyperry's review against another edition
4.0
“What a peculiar new world these strings had fashioned…”
In one night, everyone in the world aged 22 and over received a box, engraved with their name and a phrase, which contained a string that accurately predicted how long their life will be - “the measure of your life lies within”. And from then on, everyone who turns 22 gets a box. So do you open it or not? And if you do, how do you react to the information you receive? Both about your string and the strings of others?
The strings end up being another unchangeable thing about people that will be used to discriminate against them - just like is done with gender, race, sexuality, status, income, class, nationality… Because suddenly short-stringers are reckless and angry and vengeful, not worthy of relationships, children good jobs or mortgages. Never mind that a small number of long-stringers suddenly become reckless, knowing their life can’t be cut short, but not thinking about the other consequences which they may have to live with for the rest of the long lives.
Obviously there are a few issues that are overlooked or conveniently skipped in this story. We never learn where the boxes come from or why. No consideration is given to the indestructibility of the boxes and the strings now cluttering the world. But more importantly, so many questions are raised that leave you thinking and contemplating… Would I want to know? Could I be forced to look or not look against my will? By a government, employer, doctor, banker, insurer, potential partner? How would knowing or not knowing affect my decisions and my opinions of others? Whether we know or not, how do we balance the importance of living in the present moment and planning for our future? There’s so many ‘what if’s!
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. My rating takes into consideration the thought-provoking premise and the emotions it generated in me around this premise. It overlooks my gripes noted below.
My one gripe:
There’s was just something a little off about some of the language used in my opinion. It seemed quite simple and easy. But then a word would be used that would throw me a little. I found myself wondering if maybe English wasn’t the author’s first language. Or maybe the book was translated from another language in English. But it turns out, the author is a Harvard grad who maybe just gets a kick out of using the synonym look up feature on her word processing software. Who the heck ever says ‘verboten’ or ‘chimera’?!? I don’t mind having to look up unfamiliar words. But I did find a few cases where the word as defined just didn’t quite fit. Perhaps these should have been picked up by the editor.
“trying to maintain some chimera of normalcy in their lives—and for that Maura was usually grateful—but it was actually quite freeing to enter a space where no subject was verboten, where the kid gloves came off”
Okay, just one more gripe but also related to questionable language:
I’m guessing the author is quite young… What the heck is up with this statement?!?
“Nina reached out her hand, where the loose folds of skin had only recently begun to betray her as a woman in her mid-forties…”
Loose fekkin folds?!? Sounds like she has excess skin hanging off her hands, blowing the breeze. WTF!
In one night, everyone in the world aged 22 and over received a box, engraved with their name and a phrase, which contained a string that accurately predicted how long their life will be - “the measure of your life lies within”. And from then on, everyone who turns 22 gets a box. So do you open it or not? And if you do, how do you react to the information you receive? Both about your string and the strings of others?
The strings end up being another unchangeable thing about people that will be used to discriminate against them - just like is done with gender, race, sexuality, status, income, class, nationality… Because suddenly short-stringers are reckless and angry and vengeful, not worthy of relationships, children good jobs or mortgages. Never mind that a small number of long-stringers suddenly become reckless, knowing their life can’t be cut short, but not thinking about the other consequences which they may have to live with for the rest of the long lives.
Obviously there are a few issues that are overlooked or conveniently skipped in this story. We never learn where the boxes come from or why. No consideration is given to the indestructibility of the boxes and the strings now cluttering the world. But more importantly, so many questions are raised that leave you thinking and contemplating… Would I want to know? Could I be forced to look or not look against my will? By a government, employer, doctor, banker, insurer, potential partner? How would knowing or not knowing affect my decisions and my opinions of others? Whether we know or not, how do we balance the importance of living in the present moment and planning for our future? There’s so many ‘what if’s!
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. My rating takes into consideration the thought-provoking premise and the emotions it generated in me around this premise. It overlooks my gripes noted below.
My one gripe:
There’s was just something a little off about some of the language used in my opinion. It seemed quite simple and easy. But then a word would be used that would throw me a little. I found myself wondering if maybe English wasn’t the author’s first language. Or maybe the book was translated from another language in English. But it turns out, the author is a Harvard grad who maybe just gets a kick out of using the synonym look up feature on her word processing software. Who the heck ever says ‘verboten’ or ‘chimera’?!? I don’t mind having to look up unfamiliar words. But I did find a few cases where the word as defined just didn’t quite fit. Perhaps these should have been picked up by the editor.
“trying to maintain some chimera of normalcy in their lives—and for that Maura was usually grateful—but it was actually quite freeing to enter a space where no subject was verboten, where the kid gloves came off”
Okay, just one more gripe but also related to questionable language:
I’m guessing the author is quite young… What the heck is up with this statement?!?
“Nina reached out her hand, where the loose folds of skin had only recently begun to betray her as a woman in her mid-forties…”
Loose fekkin folds?!? Sounds like she has excess skin hanging off her hands, blowing the breeze. WTF!
bjwatson09's review against another edition
5.0
This will be one of those books that I will think about for a long time, if not forever. Especially in the times we are living in now, we all need a reminder to treat others how you would like to be treated. To live, really live, and recognize your blessings while in the moment. If you had the opportunity to know when your time on earth is up, would you want that knowledge?
“Once you know something, you forget what it was like to not know it.”
“That the beginning and the end may have been chosen for us, the string already spun, but the middle had always been left undetermined, to be woven and shaped by us.”
“Once you know something, you forget what it was like to not know it.”
“That the beginning and the end may have been chosen for us, the string already spun, but the middle had always been left undetermined, to be woven and shaped by us.”
hannahcamp's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
akemiwald's review against another edition
5.0
I started this a while back, but didn't get into it very far until this time around, but I got sucked right back in again. It reminds me a bit of Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End, but only with an older crew and with the end being drawn out beyond just a day. Still, a lot of the existential reflections are very similar and this particular books delves more into the inequities that exist between those with different lengths of string. Sadly, it is probably pretty realistic in terms of the ways that people would exploit the situation in order to accrue more power over others. All the same, I quite enjoyed this meditation on what it means to live a life of measure and how that is much less about the length of one's life and more about the ways we choose to live and with whom we choose to spend the time we have.