2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Measure by Nikki Erlick.

Pages: 353 pages

Length: 1 month (August)

Participants: SarahKat, Susan

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

Hi Susan! I've started this and finished "Spring" which is about 120 pages. I'm liking it a lot!

(view spoiler)[I was telling my son the premise of this book and he asked what happens if someone just cuts their string shorter? Or it gets destroyed? Are their lives literally held within the string like the strings of Fate? Or are they for informational purposes only so once you see them they can be destroyed and it doesn't change your fate?
These are questions that have not been answered and I'm curious!
I like the characters and how people are handling the knowledge. Or those who have decided not to know. I don't know which way I would choose. I like to think I just wouldn't look but I don't know if I could stop myself.
I found Hank's insight into why he didn't want to be a doctor anymore in line with my thoughts throughout the book so far. If you know your longevity for a fact and there's nothing you or anyone can do to change it, why bother? You can do dangerous things or not-- you'll die when you die either way. You can get medical help or not-- you'll die when you die either way. Would that be a relief? Or a burden? (hide spoiler)]

Just starting...

this was one of my favorite reads this year

Blagica wrote: "this was one of my favorite reads this year"

I'm loving it so far!

I forgot to come back and update when I finished!

(view spoiler)[When I left my first comment I must have missed the fact that the box and strings cannot be destroyed.

I really enjoyed this book and how everyone reacted differently. I had a feeling Amie's string would end up being short too and they'd die together somehow. I feel horrible for their kids though. I'm glad they live with Nina now but still... losing both parents.
I liked Javi and his friend (whose name I can't remember now) switching their strings. I wonder how they would be able to actually follow through with the law that made those two look if the person has already thrown their string away as it said people were doing at the beginning?

In all I really enjoyed the book and it made me think. I still don't know if I would look or not. Or how I'd handle the knowledge of a short string. (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed reading this and the idea of getting to know how long you'll live is a clever idea. It made me think of doing genetic testing now that my family has been hit by so much cancer. I decided to do it because I want to try and get as many screenings as possible.