Title: They Both Die at the End
Author: Adam Silvera
Age Group: High schoolers and above
Rating: 2.5/4 Stars
Synopsis: “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—to live a lifetime in a single day” (Amazon.com).
It took quite a long time for me to surrender to my friends and read this book. I had misgivings, which seems pretty understandable considering the off-putting title. I mean, did the author seriously just spoil the entire story before I even read the synopsis? What is this? Knowing that the characters are going to die does not make me want to read it and get invested in them. Despite being unsure, though, I decided to give it a try since it did seem like a very original concept.
Surprise! I wasn’t disappointed and ended up enjoying the experience of reading it even though there were aspects that weren’t my favorite. I think this book is a beautiful, thought-provoking story overall, and was well written. There are two wonderful things that make this book very much worth it.
Firstly, the characters were very well developed! Both of them changed so much throughout the story and these changes were inspiring to see. I also really think that their personalities at the beginning were integral for the plot to develop and become so wonderful by the end. The importance of their characterization made up for the fact that I personally would put them both on my do-not-become-best-friends-with list.
The other amazing thing about this book is the romance. Oh my, the romance made my critiques go away while I was reading! This was the most perfect love story I have read in a while. Yes, I would’ve loved it if it had bloomed a little earlier and I could’ve spent just a few more minutes in those happy loving chapters, but it was wonderful nonetheless.
I know I said that the critiques went away after the romance, but there is one thing that is hard for me to ignore. The idea of the Death-Cast system is, honestly, so horrifying and also the reason I gave this book a lower rating. Obviously, this is extremely important for the story to even exist, but it is not the kind of idea I would normally enjoy reading about. I just love happy endings!
Overall, if you don’t mind a book with a fairly dark theme, then definitely give this one a try!!
Happy Reading 2018–Let’s fly together!
Mayah XO
I love this book so much, beautiful and as you said, very thought provoking.
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