Throughout my fifteen years of being alive, I never thought I would cry for a book. I was never the one to get deeply emotional for pieces of fiction, yet when I decided to buy a random book at a thrift store, it changed everything.
When people read the title “They Both Die At The End,” they wonder what was going through the author’s head when deciding that. The writer Adam Silvera wrote in his bonus content that, “The ending was never the point of the book. I like to tell people that the big twist in They Both Die At The End is that there’s no major twist at all. I laid out the cards, played the game by the rules, and I never cheated.”
Adam Silvera is a queer Puerto Rican author who has written numerous books focusing on LGBTQ+ themes, including They Both Die At The End. The story takes place on September 5th, 2017. It’s not placed in a crazy fantasy world, but in fact, placed in our own normal society with a twist. In this reality, there is a ‘company’ (one can call it) called Death-Cast. In this world, on the day of your death, Death-Cast will call in advance to tell you that you are going to die sometime during that day. They won’t tell you how, or when, or why; you simply know that you are going to inevitably die that day.
With the world being this way, the story follows two boys, Mateo Torrez, 18, and Rufus Emeterio, 17, who both receive a call from Death-Cast telling them that they will die that day. The two boys must learn to venture through the little hours they have left while grieving what they could’ve had, what could’ve happened, and what they could’ve been.
The story is beautifully written with sadness and love combined, and really makes you connect with each of the characters as if you knew them personally. The story has a unique multi-pov writing style, truly showing all the characters’ struggles and how everyone connects through everyday choices. I personally sobbed throughout almost the whole book, more than I had ever cried for even real people. This book truly makes you value life more and every day you’re in it.
The most special thing about this book, though, is that it’s 368 pages that span through only one day. It’s a heartbreaking, yet almost magical book that I believe everyone should read at least once. It’s “for those who need a reminder to make every day count.” Adam Silvera wrote. The real question is, would you want to live in a world where Death-Cast was real?
