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A review by samanthaardenlockheart
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
4.0
This book tells the very moving, heartbreaking story of a world people live in that contains the technology to inform them of the dates on which they will pass away—known as their End Day. When one is living during their end day, they are referred to as Deckers. A company called Death-Cast. I personally find this concept terrifying: I would be paralyzed with fear day by day instead of actually going out to live. I do not think it would be very much of a pleasant world if this technology did, in fact, exist, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
This entire book follows the story of two main characters named Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio all in the time span of one day: September 5th, 2017. It opens with Mateo getting a call at 12:22 am with an operator on the other side of the phone informing him that today he will be meeting an untimely end. I came to learn about him, his personality, and some of his foundation; life experiences. In the second chapter, Rufus is introduced, and he happens to be called at 1:05 am in the middle of a fight with another character (who is not important for this review). They meet on an app called Last Friend, which is essentially a service that connects people to someone on their End Day, either a fellow human or even Decker. Nevertheless, Rufus and Mateo are both Deckers and after being connected through the app, they make a commitment to make their Last Day as memorable and meaningful as possible.
To my greatest happiness… their short (bittersweetly short) friendship blossoms into a romance, which is great because it adds pain and teen angst to the already tense atmosphere. It makes you feel even more heartbroken as you read the story because it’s so clear how much Mateo and Rufus love one another despite their differences in upbringing and personality; you can not think of one of them without thinking of the other. A scene that will forever stick with me is towards the end, when they are laying together in Mateo’s room together, and Rufus steals his glasses. They then take a picture, just like that, and they are as happy as they can be before they fall asleep in each other’s arms.
While I was reading this book, I found so many good playlists on Spotify, as I do for many other books I read. A good theme song for this is Someone to Stay by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, which greatly enhances the many sad and frustrating emotions Mateo and Rufus experience together as they face their End Day together. Reading their story has been so emotional and I did find myself crying at many different instances. You truly do feel everything that they are feeling, and I think that is what should always be at the heart of good writing.
Ultimately, things take a turn for the worst for poor Mateo and Rufus—but I won’t reveal those details here. This story has reminded me that in life, the most important things are people and the ones we love. You never know when your time on this earth will run out, so living each day without regrets is the best way to go. At least I’ve finished this book with one peaceful thought: Mateo and Rufus lived out their day, and they lived it as best as they could have. They made memories, and they loved each other until the very end. At no point were they ever really alone on their End Day. And in the afterlife, I believe that they will find each other again, because souls are never really gone, are they?
This entire book follows the story of two main characters named Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio all in the time span of one day: September 5th, 2017. It opens with Mateo getting a call at 12:22 am with an operator on the other side of the phone informing him that today he will be meeting an untimely end. I came to learn about him, his personality, and some of his foundation; life experiences. In the second chapter, Rufus is introduced, and he happens to be called at 1:05 am in the middle of a fight with another character (who is not important for this review). They meet on an app called Last Friend, which is essentially a service that connects people to someone on their End Day, either a fellow human or even Decker. Nevertheless, Rufus and Mateo are both Deckers and after being connected through the app, they make a commitment to make their Last Day as memorable and meaningful as possible.
To my greatest happiness… their short (bittersweetly short) friendship blossoms into a romance, which is great because it adds pain and teen angst to the already tense atmosphere. It makes you feel even more heartbroken as you read the story because it’s so clear how much Mateo and Rufus love one another despite their differences in upbringing and personality; you can not think of one of them without thinking of the other. A scene that will forever stick with me is towards the end, when they are laying together in Mateo’s room together, and Rufus steals his glasses. They then take a picture, just like that, and they are as happy as they can be before they fall asleep in each other’s arms.
While I was reading this book, I found so many good playlists on Spotify, as I do for many other books I read. A good theme song for this is Someone to Stay by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, which greatly enhances the many sad and frustrating emotions Mateo and Rufus experience together as they face their End Day together. Reading their story has been so emotional and I did find myself crying at many different instances. You truly do feel everything that they are feeling, and I think that is what should always be at the heart of good writing.
Ultimately, things take a turn for the worst for poor Mateo and Rufus—but I won’t reveal those details here. This story has reminded me that in life, the most important things are people and the ones we love. You never know when your time on this earth will run out, so living each day without regrets is the best way to go. At least I’ve finished this book with one peaceful thought: Mateo and Rufus lived out their day, and they lived it as best as they could have. They made memories, and they loved each other until the very end. At no point were they ever really alone on their End Day. And in the afterlife, I believe that they will find each other again, because souls are never really gone, are they?