Well, what else would you expect from a book called They Both Die at the End?
"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."
—Steve Jobs
Shortly after midnight on September 5, Mateo and Rufus both get a call they've never wanted to receive. It's from Death-Cast, the company that lets people know they're scheduled to die sometime that day.
Mateo recently turned 18, and while he was too scared to go away to college, he has a lot of plans and dreams—he's going to attend school online, and hopefully become an architect some day. He's really only close to his father, who raised him, and his best friend Lidia, and he spent a lot of his life being too shy to do the things he imagined doing, to be the person he wanted to be, and live the life he knew he should. But that doesn't mean he's ready to die.
"Because I refused to live invincibly on all the days I didn't get an alert, I wasted all those yesterdays and am completely out of tomorrows."
Rufus is three weeks from his 18th birthday, and although his life has been marked by serious loss, he knows who matters—his foster parents, his two foster brothers/best friends, and his ex-girlfriend Aimee, who Rufus still can't believe has left him for another guy. In fact, when Rufus gets the call from Death-Cast, he's in the process of beating the crap out of Aimee's new boyfriend, even though that is totally out of character for him.
Both boys know they don't want to die alone, yet they know that they don't want their deaths to traumatize those they're close to. Using the "Last Friend" app, Mateo and Rufus meet. They're both very different—there's nearly no challenge that Rufus is afraid to tackle head-on, while Mateo spends so much time alone, fearing the unknown and worrying people will deceive or laugh at him. But when they meet, each vows to help the other live the best End Day they can—live it to the fullest, no regrets.
The boys will face some challenges, share secrets with one another that they've never told others, and deal with their fears, together. They'll say goodbyes to those they care about, and do things that they've always dreamed of. And at the same time, they'll both realize how much you can live in just one day.
Between this and The Immortalists (see my original review), my reading taste has skewed a little morbid lately. But while They Both Die at the End certainly is an emotional read, kudos to Adam Silvera for not making it as maudlin as I feared it might be. Did I cry? Well, of course. But I didn't feel like someone punched me hard in the feels repeatedly, which made me enjoy this more.
I'll admit I wanted a little more backstory into the whole Death-Cast thing, especially since this book takes place September 5, 2017 (ironically, the day Silvera's book was released). It saddened me that two young men were scheduled to die at such a young age, and I wish it took a little less time for Mateo to break out of his shell. But those minor quibbles aside, I really loved this book, the relationships the characters had with each other, and the message that life is uncertain, so why not live it to the fullest whenever you can?
With More Happy Than Not, History is All You Left Me, and now this book, Silvera has rapidly joined my list of authors I would follow almost anywhere to read their work. (That never avoids sounding stalkerish, but don't worry.) I love the way his mind works, I love the emotion, heart, and beauty he brings to his books, and I love the way he respects his characters, because it really shows.
You can always count on me to recommend books which will give you a good cry. They Both Die at the End is tremendously affecting and really unforgettable, and yeah, it will give your tear ducts some good exercise, too.
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