Reviews with content warning for Child death - They Both Die at the End

They Both Die at the End is told through a first person perspective, mainly Rufus' and Mateo's because they are the main characters. There are also a couple chapters told through the perspective of characters they encounter but doesn't play a big part in the story, for instance Andrea and Victor, the people that called from Death-Cast to tell Rufus and Mateo that they were going to die. We get some insight as in how they see themselves and their jobs. Andrea works for Death-Cast so she can pay for her medical bills and her daughters tuition. She has one rule to not let the job get to her, "Deckers are no longer people." Seeing the people she calls as just a job is how she handles the pressure, and she thinks that she does a good job. But Mateo, who got the call from her, just sees Andrea as not caring about him at all, and that her time is more important.

One of the main themes of They Both Die at the End is death, but from another perspective than we have. This book dealt with it differently than books with the theme of someone knowing that they would die usually do. In those the main character often has some kind of illness that they can't survive, but in this book neither Rufus or Mateo are ill. They also get a very small time frame for how long they will live. Death in this case is totally unescapable, unlike an illness, which can be cured even though it seems like there is no hope. From the first couple pages we find out that both Rufus and Mateo are going to die, and then during the book how they handle the news and how they choose to spend their last day alive. Mateo wants to say goodbye to the only people he is close to, his dad, his friend Lidia and her daughter Penny. He regrets all the things he never did and wanted to do in his life that he will never get to now. Together with Rufus he has the opportunity to get out of his life and try new things. Rufus gets the call while beating up Peck, his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend. He doesn't want that to be the last thing he ever did and realizes that he went overboard, so he lets Peck go. Rufus wants to spend his time with his closest friends, but Peck reports the assault and Rufus has to run from the police because he doesn't want the last hours of his life to be spent in jail. That leads him to download Last Friend and meeting Mateo, because even though he can't be with his loved ones Rufus doesn't want to be alone.

I liked the book, the idea of Death-Cast and knowing that you will die was very interesting. The characters could have been less stereotypical, both Rufus and Mateo fit into their separate boxes very well, Mateo was the quiet kid without many friends and Rufus was the troublemaker with a tragic past. They both had very linear character development and never did anything out of character. For example, Mateo did jump down into that pool, which isn't something his character would have done in the beginning of the book, but the story had been building up to him doing that and it wasn't anything that wasn't in line with his character. That combined with the language made the book very feel very similar to a lot of books in the YA genre, the thing that stood out the most was the idea of Death-Cast. I did like the way the author developed the side characters, they had their own motives and lives which we got to see in the chapters from their point of view. The author managed Mateo's language well, I think it was because Mateo didn't have very many friends his age and his language is more grown up, which made it easier for the author because his language is probably similar to Mateo's. I don't think Rufus' language worked as well, the slangs and tone of his language seemed a bit forced, probably because the author wasn't as familiar with that language. I got absorbed into the book while reading it and I wanted to find out what would happen next to Rufus and Mateo, so overall I think that the book was enjoyable. I don't regret choosing it, but it's not something that I will reread and it didn't make me want to read more books by the same author.

They Both Die at the End shows the friendship of two teenage boys trying to make the most of their last day alive, alternating between their perspectives so we can see the story from both of their views along with some side characters that add deapth to the story. It handles death in a new way, showing a perspective different from what we have. Although this book had its flaws I still feel like it was a good book with an unique idea and an interesting storyline.

Content Warnings

a_sleepy_berry's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

The writing style took a while to grow on me but I still really enjoyed it

Content Warnings

loafingdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

storykotori's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Dear Author:

Just because your audience target is 13-14 years old doesn't mean you need to write as if you are also that age.
The audience is aware your characters are dying and do not need you to remind them every three sentences.
Random quotes from famous people that don't specifically relate to your characters doesn't make your book deep.
There is no need to recap song lyrics from every song. This isn't fanficton.

The premise had potential, but the execution was poor; which was further emphasized by the juvenility of the writing style. Unfortunately, the characters weren't likable enough to pull you through.

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dmswack3's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

I loved reading the slow build from strangers to friends from the beginning of this book to the end. I found Mateo and Rufus to be fun and scared and likeable because they were human. I work in education, so I interreact with kids their age on a daily basis, so I spent the whole book rooting for them (even though I shouldn't have), and I of course was hurt in the end. A wonderful read!

Content Warnings

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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adventurous funny reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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pianoplayer279's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

A book that I absolutely loved reading. A perfect sad book. Age 13+

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