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Maria Smith's Reviews > The Measure
The Measure
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** spoiler alert **
It seems that everyone loves this book but me, so I expect it to be a big hit. I had high hopes for this one as the premise of the story hooked me in; people all around the world wake up to find a box on their doorstep with a piece of string inside that determines how long they are going to live. From that point on it just goes through various short string characters, or friends of short stringers all wondering when they were going to die. The characters weren't particularly memorable or interesting, and overall the storyline fell flat for me. Nothing transpires about where the boxes came from, or why. To be honest I felt like a short stringer reading it and struggled to keep going through this one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book.
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Reading Progress
November 3, 2021
–
Started Reading
November 3, 2021
– Shelved
November 4, 2021
– Shelved as:
netgalley
November 8, 2021
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 74 (74 new)
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Holly
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Jan 07, 2022 12:58PM
Good to know, Great review
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Maria, thank god! I thought it was just me. I feel guilty that I have actually given up on this book. Half way through and the only reason I was carrying on was to find out where these damn boxes have come from. But as I'm not going to find out, I don't feel so guilty any more. This was so disappointing. I couldn't connect with any of the characters whatsoever. There was no escape from strings being mentioned. Was a bit political. This would probably be a good disaster style movie like Whitehouse Down. Storyline fantastic. The way it is written.... Rubbish!
The same. As a Black Mirror fan, I had hopes of this playing out like one of their great episodes. As it happens, I really struggled to power through to the end, hoping that the big finish would make up for a disappointing read. Nope.
Yep. Same. I just finished this one but found it largely boring and hard to connect to. I loved the Black Mirror type plot setup but it ultimately just felt about 200 pages too long.
Thanks. I am going to pass on this one. Glad I borrowed from the library and did not purchase it!
Right there with you. A better version would have focused on Aimee & her sister and Aimee $ Ben. The constant coincidental meet-ups of two characters was beyond cringey. And those characters were stereotypes. Bleh. Such a good premise wasted.
I was also waiting for a twist or reveal which never materialized....
I'm about halfway through. While the idea is an interesting one, the author tries too hard. She's explaining all the moral and ethical dilemmas various people encounter, which I think we could all figure out with a lot more subtle writing on her part. Let us work through the what is. Anyway, I'm losing interest. And while I'm being crabby... why do most people start their reviews by stating the plot, which is already noted up at the top? See? I'm cranky 😀
Totally agree. I came on here to read reviews as I’m struggling to finish it.
Glad to see others feel the same way. Struggled to finish. Characters fell flat for me.
I felt the exact same way. Disappointed.
I only finished it because of my book group tomorrow, and judging from the reviews here I assume many of them will love it. Not me. I found it stereotypical
I was beginning to think I was the only one that didn't love this book. I struggled, but ultimately gave up!
I didn’t make it past page 40, just didn’t grab my attention. Glad others enjoyed it, just wasn’t for me.
I'm reading this now and feeling the same way. I think I'm going to DNF
I agree with you. Didn't feel like sci-fi at all and I was bored with the characters.
I couldn’t agree more. Didn’t care about the characters and it felt like reading one long news article.
I tried to read this book because it was the next book for discussion at my book club. Boring. It’s so far fetched and just so unbelievable. Don’t get me wrong. I love a really good SF story. I couldn’t get into this one. I got to about 1/3 of the way through! I’ll still discuss it at my book club and I’ll be the critic that didn’t care for it.
Totally agree!!! I struggled with finishing it so many times.
I stopped reading 1/2 thru boring and not a good story line, glad I didn't waste anymore time on it
Glad to hear others felt the same way! Such a boring read!
Agree! The plot had such potential but I really had to fight through the end to finish this one. Boring.
Yes!! I kept waiting for where the strings came from and more explanation of why this was happening but it never really came. Boo for that.
I’m glad I’m not alone in thinking this book fell short. The characters all sounded the same when they spoke. And the SETTING???? This was supposed to take place in NEW YORK CITY???It is memorable only for its plot concept.
Couldn’t have said it better myself
My thoughts exactly, I dnf it.
I agree, why is this book so popular?
DNF - 30%. Disappointed considering the hype made around book. The characters just didn’t engage me and I couldn’t force myself to read any further.
Spot on! I forced myself to finish it, hoping to have more answers, but no - it stayed flat and predictable until the very end.
I agree with you. I kept waiting for something to happen
You are not alone. It was depressing, I didn’t warm up to the characters and it was tidied up way to simplistically. Good review. Thanks
The subject is intriguing and I looked forward to a book that challenged thought but I found the book to be trite, ill informed about several subjects and soupy. I am very disappointed. I am listening to the book and have it going on 1.5 x speed valiantly trying to get to the end in hopes there will be a nugget of interest.
Yes!! Your review is exactly what I thought. I wanted so much more and a more connected story instead of what felt like individual vignettes.
I agree! I struggled to finish the book and I flat out thought it was boring.
I agree with you. Luckily for me I detected half-way through that this was going nowhere and just stopped there and won back some of my time (although I had lost the first 50% percent reading this trite).
Same! Starts with a great premise, gets boring fast.
Susan wrote: why do most people start their reviews by stating the plot, which is already noted up at the top?"A thousand times...this!!!
Same. I was struggling to finish. I ended up giving up and reading the last few chapters. I felt that it dragged on and on.
I’m about 40% through. I don’t think I can finish
I’m so glad to see these negative reviews. I couldn’t agree more. I really had to push to finish. Never once did I sit down to read without putting me to sleep. I really wish I’d let myself stop!
Just finished it and could not agree with you more. I wanna know where those boxes came from! When I got to the end I was sooooo disappointed that it was never revealed! Ugh.
