Book Review of They Both Die at the End

“You may be born into a family, but you walk into friendships. Some you’ll discover you should put behind you. Others are worth every risk.”

Imagine a world where something called the Death-Cast exists, a company that calls to warn you that you’re going to die in the next 24 hours. On the 5^th of September, two boys named Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio get this call a little after midnight, and they now have only a day to live their lives. In a weird turn of events, the two end up crossing paths via an app called the Last Friend, that lets you meet people on your End Day. Will Mateo and Rufus’ last day be the adventure they both deserve?

Firstly, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2017, mainly because I absolutely loved History is All You Left Me, and that’s why it thoroughly disappointed me when I struggled to get through the first few chapters of this book. But once I got invested in the story, it became easier to fly through it. The pacing is definitely slow initially, but Silvera manages to balance it out with his effortlessly effective and almost poetic writing. He not only gives us two strikingly different and immensely amiable protagonists, but also a bandwagon of diverse characters who manage to bring the eclectic touch the literature of today desperately needs. The alternative, first-person narration intermingles with the third person narrative of the other characters sharing similar fates, and herein lies the brilliance of the writer in putting together these jumbled pieces of the puzzle. I did have an issue with some of the passages with overly long dialogues, and perhaps the development of Mateo and Rufus’ relationship could have been worked on a little more.

Adam Silvera is famous for his heartwrenching stories, and this one was no different. Throughout the novel, we’re slowly introduced to the individual worlds of Mateo and Rufus while they get to know each other better, and just when you get emotionally attached to these vulnerable beings does it hit you that you have to say goodbye soon, and that in particular is a punch your heart isn’t prepared for. You root for their new experiences, cry over their last bits of goofiness, and can’t help but pray that these boys had more time than they got. Kudos to Silvera for blatantly stating the ending in the very title and yet spinning a story of friendship, hope, and life out of it; one that actually makes you want to read through it all just to see how the events pan out.  

Rating: 3.5/5.