They Both Die at the End (They Both Die at the End Series, 1)

Such a good read, heartbreaking, read it in a day, just couldn't put it down.

"They Both Die at the End" has quickly become one of my new favorite books. From the moment I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. The premise is unique and thought-provoking—two strangers find out they’re going to die within 24 hours and decide to spend their last day together. The concept immediately hooked me, and the way the story unfolds is both heart-wrenching and beautiful. Adam Silvera’s writing is raw and emotional, and I was completely invested in the characters from the start. Rufus and Mateo are such well-developed and relatable characters. Watching them form a bond as they navigate their final hours made the story both uplifting and devastating. Their personal journeys really make you reflect on life, death, and the importance of human connection. Despite the title giving away the ending, I found myself hoping for a different outcome, which is a testament to how deeply the story pulls you in. Their relationship feels genuine and reminds you how precious every moment is. What I love most about this book is its ability to evoke such a wide range of emotions. It’s not just a story about death—it’s about living fully, even when time is limited. It’s a powerful reminder to take chances, make meaningful connections, and appreciate the time we have. They Both Die at the End is the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s emotional, thought-provoking, and absolutely unforgettable.

I chose this book as part of a 30 Days of Pride Book Review project. This is that review. “Hello, I’m calling from Death Cast. I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-four hours you’ll be meeting an untimely death. On behalf of everyone here at Death-Cast, we are so sorry to lose you. Live this day to the fullest, okay?” Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio are strangers… strangers with one big thing in common. They are both going to die today. They don’t know how or exactly when, just that their numbers are up and an invisible clock somewhere is counting down. Not wanting to spend these final hours alone, they find each other on the Last Friend app, and set out to live as much life as they can squeeze into their final hours. This is, in my opinion, not Silvera’s best work. There were a lot of things I liked about it. I liked both the main characters. I liked both their voices and the way the trajectory of their day took them from being kids who were wasting their time, waiting around to live life fully later, to being people dead-set on scraping the most out of the end of their lives. And rather than a bleak nihilistic end-day landscape, the protagonists experience themes of the redemptive power of friendship and of death being the force that makes people really live. I wanted to root for Mateo to be adventurous and get life experiences before it was too late, and I wanted to root for Rufus to forgive himself for his mistakes and to let his last hours have meaning. It was a bittersweet story of two people being just the right instrument to turn the other’s life in a better direction...but only at the last possible moment. This was not a bad book, by any means….But I feel like Silvera has written better. In this book, Silvera uses a shifting point of view, sometimes telling the story from Mateo’s POV sometimes from Rufus’ and then again sometimes from a handful of seemingly random people, whose stories all ultimately end up being connected. I know that the idea here is to weave a big picture of the interconnectedness of fates… but I would rather have had the whole story from one or two perspectives. I didn’t feel like these random asides ultimately added anything to the experience and instead just pulled me out of the story at hand. Even switching back and forth between Mateo and Rufus as often as it did was jarring for me, especially since the boys spent the whole day together, so we are just changing narrators but not necessarily inhabiting a different place or time. Also, I just struggled a bit with the pacing. What can you ask for in a book that takes place in less than twenty-four hours and promises to end in the main characters’ demises… I didn’t expect to feel so many places where the story kind of dragged. Silvera has a way with vulnerable characters and weaving heartache. He also has a way of building worlds that are perfect vehicles for that particular pain to shine through. But something in the chemical composition of these particular characters and this particular world didn’t quite gel as well as the other books of his I read….Making this a perfectly enjoyable Young Adult novel, that didn’t quite meet my expectations of his previous work. So do I recommend it? Yes, actually. Despite my above complaints, this is still an enjoyable read, and still a touching story of friendship, mortality and love. It still promises heartbreak and then delivers. It’s definitely worth the read for all you introspective Young Adult Fiction fans. Okay, let us end this review with my Pride Book Project scales. It does pretty okay on the Queer Counterculture Visibility scale. This scale measures how much a book shows less visible members of the community. Silvera’s intercity world has a diverse cast of characters. A point of view character, Rufus, is bisexual and everyone is perfectly comfortable with that. People are more complicated than their race and class and immediate behavior might suggest. 4 out of 5 stars On the genre expectation scale it also does pretty okay. This scale measures each book against others from its genre. And, like I said, it is a perfectly enjoyable Young Adult Novel. His other works impressed me more, but this work didn’t fall below the expectations of the genre in general. 3 out of 5 stars

They Both Die at the End actually made me contemplate how I would spend my final day if I knew it was my last. Part of the reason I adored it so much is because I saw a lot of myself in Mateo – I’d be that kid who was afraid to leave the house and who would (let’s be honest here) turn to the Internet to find someone to talk to before my day had ended. And then I probably would have let someone like Rufus convince me to go have some fun. That anxiety struck a chord with me like few books do. Maybe it’s because we are alike. Maybe it’s because I’m literally afraid of death. Either way, this felt real to me, and I appreciate this representation in the book. I identified a bit less with Rufus, but the explicit bisexual representation with his character was something I most certainly welcomed. I loved how open and comfortable he was with his sexuality as well. He’s someone who feels comfortable taking risks and going out on limbs and it’s just a wonderful contrast to Mateo’s character, and the way in which Silvera manages to keep the two of them in sync despite their differences worked beautifully. One kind of weird thing about this book is that it switches perspectives between characters every chapter, and for any chapter that isn’t from Mateo or Rufus’s perspective, they’re written in the third person. It’s a little strange to get used to, but for me it works because the two first-person characters we’re reading about are the ones we’re forming attachments to, and while we don’t really need to get attached to the third-person side characters their perspectives do add another layer to the story. Like with the spoiler title, every time we meet a new perspective character we’re immediately told whether or not they’re going to die later that day, and every single character impacted Mateo and Rufus’s day somehow. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it. The lack of explanation of Death-Cast and how they know that people are going to die when they do is a little frustrating, but the thing is it’s frustrating for everyone, including all of the characters in the book (even the ones who are making the calls). Though you’ll genuinely want to know why this is a thing by the end of the book, you have to keep in mind that this book isn’t meant to be a mystery. It’s meant to be a love story (a tragic, Silvera-eque love story). Something this large in this society isn’t something that’s likely going to be figured by two teenagers within 24 hours, especially ones who know that they’re going to die and want to spend their last day not solving that mystery. It’s frustrating, but I get it. If it were your last day, would you spend the whole day trying to figure out how they knew to call you? I wouldn’t. I don’t cry while reading very often, but this book definitely had me shedding a few tears. This book is a sad book – something that you can figure out from the title alone – but it’s one that’s filled with love and excitement and thrills. It’s one that made me question what I’m doing in life. It’s one that’s worth a few teardrops to read. Final rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really really good book!

Honestly, this has to be one of the best books I have read in the last 3 years! The concept is so unique and it made me feel so many different emotions at once, I loved the representation of the LGBTQIA+ characters and how their appeal in this book didn't feel forced, this book depicted the most exciting and thrilling yet gut wrenching story, and I felt connected to the story and those within it. The only thing I'd have to say is that I think some of the characters were unnecessary and didn't need to be there, but I found their existence easy to ignore whilst immersed in this world. I am so excited to be able to read the prequel and hopefully feel the same way as I did with this book!

Great read 💯

Love this such a page turner

En general bien, esperaba muchísimo de este libro por las recomendaciones, esta entretenido y tiene buena lección