TITLE: They Both Die At The End
SERIES: None
AUTHOR: Adam Silvera
GENRE: Young Adult, Contemporary
PAGE COUNT: 368
PUBLICATION: September 5th, 2017
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
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 have never read an Adam Silvera novel before this one, but I had been anticipating this book ever since I saw ARC’s on bookstagram. Everybody loved the book, and I have to say that I agree. Going into this book, I did not know that it was #ownvoices—which I didn’t know what that was until I read the book and heard others reviews.
I had been expecting a novel about two boys who spent their last day together as friends, but there is so much more to the story! Although this story was told through less than twenty-four hours, the novel transformed before my eyes. It became more than just a story; I became invested in Mateo and Rufus’s lives! I watched Mateo grow out of his comfort zone and become the man that he wanted to be before he died. I experienced a new side of Rufus; through his actions, he changed my impression of him and that was astounding. I became invested with—not only their individual lives—but their life as a whole, the one single day they spent together. They grew from complete strangers to somewhat more. Their relationship growing was so natural that I didn’t even notice they were getting closer, but if you read in between the lines, you can see them start to flourish.
Another aspect that I had been expecting was the story to be told from ONLY Mateo and Rufus’s perspectives. You were able to read small chapters from the perspectives of friends and strangers, but the cool thing is that the strangers are part of the storyline!
For example: Mateo and Rufus run past two girls on a train, and the next chapter starts of with said two girls talking and running past two boys on a train.
I was very impressed with Adam Silvera for thinking this all through. It must have taken lots of brainstorming to find ways for the stories to connect. With this way of writing the chapters, the book told more than one story without me even realizing it.
The ending did break my heart. I had had so much hope that the novel would end differently than what I had been thinking, but you don’t get everything that you want. I am somewhat unsatisfied with the final chapter, but at the same time, I believe that Adam Silvera ended it with a nice tone.
This book absolutely changed my life. If you’ve read this book, tell me your opinion of it in the comment section below!
As always, check back in later for more content, read a book or two and I’ll see you in the next post! xoxo-Izzy
Perky Books and Reads 