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lovelymisanthrope's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"The First to Die at the End" follows Valentino and Orion, two young men who meet on the day Death-Cast launches, technology that alerts you if you will die within the next 24 hours. Valentino is excited to start his life over in New York City with his twin sister. He was not super interested in signing up for Death-Cast, until his sister almost dies in a car accident. Now he wants to know if his end is coming. Orion does not want to sign up for Death-Cast because he needs a heart transplant, so he already knows his death is imminent. When Death-Cast goes live at midnight, one of them gets a call, and they decide to live one more day together, even though they know how their story will end.
It was really interesting to get more of an origin story for Death-Cast because I think it opens up more discourse about whether this technology is really as great as the creators hope it is. On the one hand, knowing when you will die will definitely light a fire under you to live like it is your last day. However, it can also make your last day completely unbearable because you will inevitably keep waiting for death. I think this idea makes for a great story, but I definitely hope this technology remains as fiction.
Adam Silvera has an amazing ability to write characters that I absolutely swoon over. Both Orion and Valentino are such good-hearted people, and even though I knew the ending from the beginning, I held out so much hope that their story would be happy. Maye Death-Cast has some errors and will be inaccurate at launch.
Orion and Valentino were perfect for each other. They were the person the other needed and I loved seeing them support each other through 24 hours. Their's was a love story that I ached for.
I 1000% will read more from Adam Silvera in the future, and I hope he writes more of this Death-Cast world.
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Homophobia, Death, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual content
_happilyeverafter_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Medical content and Terminal illness
iremesu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Violence
ewarde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content and Medical content
ashsparrow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Death, Chronic illness, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Sexual content
mmm_reads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
mild character spoiler:
Moderate: Death of parent, Homophobia, Violence, and Death
Minor: Toxic relationship and Injury/Injury detail
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really loved the second half of the book when you start to realize how the different POVs are connected or how things are connected to the previous book. In fact, every time details from book one were mentioned, I had tears in my eyes because I am still so emotionally invested in that story and the characters.
And here is the problem: I did not feel much for the 2 protagonists in this book. I liked Valentino a lot at the beginning. How innocent and naive he was and his relationship with his twin sister. But this all mostly disappeared the moment he met Orion. And I didn't feel it, I didn't feel any chemistry between them. While I fell in love with Rufus and Mateo in book one, I was not invested in Orion and Valentino. Sadly. Because in these kinds of books, the chemistry between the two main characters is kind of the point.
However, I was there for all the side characters. They managed to stand out, even if we got little time with them. I was rooting for them, feeling for then, was heartbroken for them.
But I also think there were 1–2 choices where it felt like the only reason they were there was for the shock factor/forced emotional reaction. They definitely accomplished it, but it felt cheap to me in retrospect.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content
emburke's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia
rachelizx's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Medical content, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The tension in this book is interesting because, unlike the characters, we know that the DeathCast system (that warns people on their last day, that they are about to die), is real and works. Nobody can predict that there will be a hiccup on its first day of use and that some of the people who are going to die that day have not been told, and even that is only revealed to the populace half way through the day.
For those who have read the other book first, there are revelations that are very obvious (we know what the creative app programming endeavours of one character are likely to culminate in), and some things that are much less obvious, such as a character making a phonecall from a pay phone, which are going to be phased out and trashed shortly.
My absolute favourite thing about Silvera's imagined world is that he has replaced a leading popular fantasy franchise with something I can really totally get behind. The major popular magical fiction series in his world is called Scorpius Hawthorn; and it's a magical story with prophecies and wizards and things. There are major movie spinoffs and the child actors are treated wonderfully, getting to play and have fun around film-shooting in Brazil, while their special dietary needs and health are supported by caring handlers. The author of the original book series is Poppy Iglesias and she's a lovely caring person who is also a Queer Latina Trans-woman. I would love to live in this fantasy where the most popular magic franchise is also ethical.
This book is a serious tear jerker. It has homophobia in it. It has sex in it; there are condoms, explicit consent, and not a lot of other detail. It's there as a celebration of love rather than to be titillating. There is also domestic violence, and gun violence, grief about losing parents in the 9/11 destruction, and apocalypse cults, and scary dudes in skull masks. The intended audience is probably 14+ but mature readers younger or older than that will probably enjoy it. Some of the coincidences seem ridiculously contrived and unlikely, but that's just the style of story, and is similar to the other book as well. I was caught in frisson several times when reminded of things like 9/11 or when I realised that throw away details experienced by one character were more relevant to the story of another character.
Fans of the original book will likely enjoy this one as much.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Blood