Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

19 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

let's not talk about how long it took me to finish this ok 
now i will start this off by saying out of the two currently published books in the death-cast series, this one is the best. ill be real tho and say its not by much. 
ill say that i find silvera's writing style a bit... repetitive? not saying its shit because it very much is not shit!! its just not something i prefer
like every so often an inspirational phrase like "im going to live my life, even if i die" or some shit is said and i want to put the book down from annoyance.
help this sounds so mean I DONT MEAN IT TO 😭
i will say orion & valentino are cute, and the added suspense surrounding the validity of death-cast is a nice added feature! i found with the other book in this series, i did not find myself experiencing any tension because you knew the main characters were going to die. i liked the added concern regarding if death-cast is legit or not! i mean it kind of was in vain and i knew that deep down but its fine i was delulu.
what else? most characters felt shallow to me, but i will say i did love love love gloria's story. valentino & orion i was a bit meh on.... but i liked seeing joaquin as well.
i don't know i think im not the target audience for this book. and that's ok! not every book is made for every reader! i held out hope that me not liking [book:They Both Die at the End|33385229] was isolated to that story and my feelings didn't extend to silvera's other stories, but sadly it did :( 
i could see myself reading the third instalment of this series, but other than that sadly i don't think i'd enjoy his other works. to me, they read quite surface level, are repetitive & i find the tone and pacing quite uncomfortable. for me. 
i hate writing negative reviews 

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purplee_rain89's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0



Just like the first book, this story was so heartbreaking, yer incredibly beautiful. I really loved the way it was written; I felt like I was in the situations the characters were in myself and was really able to feel with them. Orion and Valentino's love story might be tragic but in contrast to the first book, it was so beautiful to see one of them live on with the help of the other. I also love how Adam Silvera portrayed the concept of "change the things you can and accept the things you can't change" perfectly, e.g. with Scarlett not being able to see Valentino for one last time and his parents never truly accepting him and loving him as they should. But he still got all the closure he could from their last phone call and the fact that both Scarlett and Valentino found a family with Team Young had something really hopeful about it and I'd like to think that they ho on to heal from his death together.
Another great thing was all the connections you had to the first book! Like Valentino and Orion meeting the younger versions of Rufus and Mateo and even Rufus family, especially his mom who obviously played a big role. Plus, Dalma being the creator of the Last Friends app was beautiful as well.
Just like with the the first book, I found this story to be really inspiring and somewhat motivating to think of life differently and not take it for as granted as we're used to. It really is a whole different perspective to see life through the eyes of someone who knows their death is basically around the corner and it gets you to think about your own views and how maybe you shouldn't wait to do the things you want to do. You need to actually LIVE and to be alive for as long as you can. I could go on and on about how beautiful I think these books are but I'd never finish, so just a huge thank you to Adam Silvera for writing these amazing stories (and also for all the queer and Latino representation in it) <3

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is touching and sweet and incredibly sad all at once. I enjoyed this prequel as it provided some clarity for things that happened later on down the line. I felt like the characters are all written very distinctly so the shifting perspective is never confusing. 

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auggie_reads's review against another edition

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4.5

Made me cry the sh¡t out of me

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navayiota's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I knew I wanted to return to this universe, but I didn't realise just how much until I started listening. Death has been on my mind in general, but this book has helped develop my thoughts more. Thank you Adam Silvera for your heartwarming (and heartbreaking..) romances, and for the bonus storylines that were as engaging as the main characters! My only complaint is that the writing is off sometimes, like it's trying to be flowery but fails to do so gracefully. Regardless, it was enjoyable! 

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4riareads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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bookishmillennial's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

As everyone knows, this is the prequel to TBDATE & it covers the first day that Death Cast launches, which is so intriguing because it rang true to how I thought our current society would treat the service too. There would absolutely be naysayers & doomsdayers galore! I felt Adam did an excellent job in illustrating the many emotions and wonders of the characters when it came to Death Cast's new service and what it meant for their lives.

Was I as wrecked as TBDATE? No, but that's because I fully knew what was coming. My dumbass really thought the title was clever and that the author was trying to trick readers and not actually a spoiler of how that book would end hahaha. However, I did get attached to and root for Orion and Valentino, two boys who deserved to be happy and healthy.

I listened to the audiobook, and thoroughly enjoyed the narration. These books call into question how we shouldn't take our days for granted, and I love those reminders.

ALSO !!! Rufus + Mateo cameos?! Like are you kidding?! BE STILL MY HEART <3

"While Death-Cast can only tell someone when they will die, they can't predict how someone's life will change on their End Day. The Decker must make those discoveries themselves by living with the fullest of hearts, down to the last beat."

"I don't want to mistake another day as ordinary again."

"I understand that the person who gets the Death-Cast call isn’t the only one dying. If you really hold someone in your heart, you die too."

"Life shouldn't be about to end before someone begins living."

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baileyraebooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

3.5 rounding up

every time the 9/11 stuff came up it caught me way off guard. longer than i personally thought it needed to be. 

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bug_lightyear's review against another edition

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4.5

First read in 14 hours about 1 year ago
Second read in 27 hours at 70% speed 

I really enjoyed this book on the first read as I read it over a couple of days and it felt like I was visiting New York with the boys, and it's a super sweet love story despite the fact that it all happens in around 24 hours.

On second read I was more bothered by the violence (guns, domestic abuse, fights) and the visiting New York was shorter than I remembered, but I went to watch some videos about the Highline, Brooklyn Bridge and 9/11 memorial for my virtual trip to New York and it was nice to follow along on their adventures and have some inspiration on what to see next. 

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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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