The Measure

Mysterious strings contain the length of your life. They appear in fancy boxes on your 22nd birthday. Why? Nobody knows. This book has a lot of good conversation potential especially as the people in the story divide into “short-stringers” and “long-stringers” and the potential for discrimination arises. Should a “short-stringer” be allowed to adopt? Work in certain jobs? However, the multiple viewpoints are dizzying to keep up with and there’s not much of a conclusion at the end.

Enjoyed the book. Admittedly there were a few times I was starting to waver over the repetitive themes and conversations, however the characters are well written and the human response is seemingly accurate.

The book is science fiction based, but outside of the first chapter's explanation of the strings arrival and their meaning - the SciFi elements cease and the rest of the book is an interesting story of cultural response, and relationships.