by Adam Silvera
Published on September 5, 2017 by HarperTeen
Pages: 368
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, LGBTQ+, Young Adult
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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.
They Both Die At The End was one of my most anticipated fall releases this year. It was also my first Adam Silvera book and I was so excited going into it. I had heard about so much heartbreak and my heart was ready for it. Maybe that was my problem. All over social media there was so much hype and I think I had way too high of expectations. I was relying on that promise of heartbreak so much that I didn’t fully enjoy the actual story.
Even though I didn’t connect with the story as much as I thought I would, I did like a lot of things that Silvera did with it. For example, the character voices. Both Mateo and Rufus had completely different voices and I loved that. Mateo was so sweet and caring. I connected with him immediately. I too have felt my anxiety grip my heart so tightly that I couldn’t bring myself to do the things I truly wanted. But also like Mateo, I have found people like Rufus to give me the courage to live my life to it’s fullest. Their friendship and love made me smile from ear to ear every time.
I also loved all the nerdy references. Every time I came across one it warmed my heart.
I think another issue I had with this is that since it took place in 2017 it felt a little too modern for what should have felt futuristic. In my opinion, The Both Die at the End should have taken place during a future year and not this year. It might have helped me connect just a tiny bit more.
I was a little disappointed in how Mateo and Rufus died. I guess it might have been Silvera’s intention to end it that way since the point of life and death is that we don’t get a choice in when, where, or how it happens. It just does. But I still wish I had gotten a little more.
Altogether I would say that while I was a little disappointed I still think that this is a good read for anyone who loves contemporary novels with a lot of feels.
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