THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END

*read at your own risk of spoilers

It has been a long time since I reviewed a book on the site. But, I'm back! And I want to take more time to share with you all the books that I have been reading!

My most recent read was They Both Die At The End by. Adam Silvera. I read this book after it was recommended to me many months ago by @totallybookedforlife (check out her page!) It sat on my TBR because I have been trying to transition into more Adult/New Adult novels. A few weeks ago it stuck out to me on a Barnes & Noble display so I picked it up for the hell of it.

I have not sat down with a book and just cried the whole way through in a really long time. I am not sure what I was expecting when I first sat down to read this book. Maybe some dramatic teenage soap opera? Instead I got something so much more. This book was emotional and intense, its pages filled with witty humor and heartbreak. I laughed and I cried... and then I cried some more.

The story follows two teenage boys, Mateo and Rufus, who have both received calls from Death Cast, an agency that calls "deckers" to inform them that day that they will die. Both cannot believe that it is their time to die because they are so young. They meet one another through an app called "Last Friend" and decide to spend their last hours together. While they make various stops around New York to say goodbye to the world and their loved ones, they learn along the way what it truly means to live and be alive.

I'm not sure how other people feel about the title, but I actually love how the title spoils the entire book. I think it was really powerful at the end that they didn't somehow miraculously survive, even though I was secretly rooting for them. I found myself wishing alongside the boys that they would have more time and mourned what would be lost, not only for them but also their loved ones.

What I appreciate about this book, is that I feel Silvera wrote a book to give the characters and their stories justice. He wrote the stories the way they ought to be written instead of giving a happy ending to the audience.

Another thing I really appreciated was having other point of views come into the story. It taught the audience that even when you think you are alone, even though you will die alone, you have touched the lives of so many others without realizing it. You never know how you may have affected someone else's life. Or how someone else, even a stranger could have changed yours.

I read the book in about two days. The book is written in a very clear way for any audience to understand and follow the story. I especially recommend this book to people who need a reminder of how they are not alone and how they can change someone else's world too.

Especially given the current situation with COVID, this book reminded me to call whoever I've been thinking about, tell my mom I love her, hug my sister tight, and live every moment to the fullest because tomorrow isn't promised.

In the words of Mateo, go for it!

Lots of love to the readers:)