They Both Die At The End

Author: Adam Silvera

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre/Themes/Demo: YA, Contemporary, LGBTQIA+

Release Date: September 5th 2017

Page Count: 384

Format: Hardcover/Audiobook

ISBN: 9780062457790

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Author Website | Amazon | Chapters/Indigo | Goodreads

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Initial Post Reading Thoughts

UGH I WASN’T READY. Okay, I guess maybe I was considering the title of this novel, but oh my gosh this was so emotional. Adam Silvera can do no wrong. This was beautiful.

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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 and to live a lifetime in a single day.

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What I Liked

The characters. Adam Silvera has this ability to write some of the best characters I’ve ever read. Our two lead characters are perfect. They balance each other out wonderfully as one who is more cautious with his last day while the other is more adventurous. Even the side characters are wonderful and all help to tell the story of these two boys and their final day. While we only get to spend a day with them, it feels as though we got to learn about them and who they are. Not to mention basically every single character was diverse in one way or another.

The concept. I found the entire concept behind They Both Die At The End to be very unique! The idea of some sort of technology that has the ability to know the day that a person will die is quite scary but also very intriguing. While we didn’t get a whole lot of backstory on how this technology came to be, it made for an interesting backdrop to this story. With this technology comes other unique tools such as the Last Friend App that let’s you connect with someone on your last day on Earth to keep you company if you don’t have any friends or family to spend it with. Overall, I found this concept to be really fascinating and unique.

The writing. The only other Adam Silvera book that I have read so far is More Happy Than Not and based on how beautifully written that novel was, I was expecting the same from They Both Die At The End. I definitely was not disappointed. This novel is just so beautifully written. It had a way of completely engaging me. I literally could not stop reading it. I absolutely love Adam Silvera’s writing and I can’t wait to read everything he releases from now on.

The message. Yeah, sure this book is called They Both Die At The End, but honestly I don’t think that this book was about death at all. To me it felt more like a book about living your life to the absolute fullest. While the characters in this novel know when they’re going to die, we don’t. We can’t let little things hold us back from living our best lives. We need to get out there and explore the world because we never know when it will be too late. Still pretty grim, but also kind of positive? Let’s just say this book really inspired me to put myself out there and do things that maybe I wouldn’t normally do.

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What I Didn’t Like

The ending? When I say the ending, I don’t mean the inevitable one. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into with an Adam Silvera novel. What I mean is the way that it happened. It felt a little anti-climactic for me personally.

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Overall, this was a beautiful novel and everything that I had hoped for from Adam Silvera! As mentioned, his writing is beautiful and his stories, while heartbreaking, are absolutely wonderful. I can’t wait to read more from him!

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About The Author

Adam Silvera was born and raised in the Bronx. He has worked in the publishing industry as a children’s bookseller, marketing assistant at a literary development company, and book reviewer of children’s and young adult novels. His debut novel, More Happy Than Not, received multiple starred reviews and is a New York Times bestseller, and Adam was selected as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start. He writes full-time in New York City and is tall for no reason.

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Thank you for reading!