Do you really want to know how long you'll live? In our world, that is a purely hypothetical question, and yet, Erlick created a world where it is not. This universe, which resembles our own, has one key difference: Adults over the age of 21 can learn how long they live, if they dare to open the box. Would you open the box? Personally, I do not know if I would, but books that ask about issues like this one are the very novels that make me love science fiction.
Do We Want to Turn the Page?
Warning! This next section may contain spoilers about the book. Also, all ratings are based entirely on my opinion and WILL be biased and subjective.
The Blurb:
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.
Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is a sweeping, ambitious, uplifting story about family, love, hope, and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.
The Author: Nikki Erlick
Nikki Erlick is a writer and editor whose work has appeared online with New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan, Indagare Travel, The Huffington Post, and Vox. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from Columbia University. The Measure is her debut novel.
(From the short bio in Erlick's book)
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