They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera Published by HarperTeen on September 5th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBTQIA
Goodreads
On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.
I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. This does not influence my thoughts on the book or this review.
Despite reading the title of this book, my heart was still not prepared for the roller coaster of emotions. Silvera’s books are guaranteed to be heart-breaking but you’ll still love every single second of the reading experience.
On the day of your death, Death-Cast calls you between midnight and 3AM to let you know. On September 5th (also the release day of this book!), Mateo and Rufus both receive the call under very different circumstances. To make their last day memorable, they both join Last Friend, an app designed to pair up people looking for company on their End Day. They Both Die at the End is a speculative fiction novel that takes place in a single extraordinary last day.
I loved this book, it was just amazing. The premise is definitely rooted in heartbreak and sobbing for the reader, but I promise that it’s so worth it. Rufus and Mateo are characters you will want to root for and their story was phenomenal.
They Both Die at the End is another great book from a phenomenal writer. If you’re looking for amazing fleshed-out characters, a compelling plot and a good cry, I highly recommend this one.
I’m excited for this book, but I’m nervous too. I have a feeling it will destroy me. Great review!
Loved reading this review! This book has been on my wishlist for a while now and reading this review only makes me more excited to read it!!
As always, Adam’s writing style is wonderful. His teens always speak like teens – the excessive but totally realistic amount of times Rufus said “mad” really spoke to the New Yorker in me. He excels in striking the correct balance between depth and comedy, and his talent for dark humor REALLY shined in this book. I didn’t know it was possible to laugh so much on the last day of two boy’s lives, but it happened.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of books that have super insignificant characters as an additional perspective, but I think it worked really well for this book. Throughout the novel, there are maybe 10 people additionally to Mateo and Rufus that get at least one chapter in regards to if they are dying or not today. Though I’m usually not pleased with this sort of format, it was executed extremely well. It gave us a lot of insight into how DeathCast has affected others, and it was interesting to see how so many of these seemingly unimportant character were connected to the larger part of the story.