A review by chob
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

1.0

the premise of the book was extremely enticing. to be honest—i really loved mateo’s character. it just felt so real that someone would react that way to a death-cast call. i appreciate that mateo wasn’t the noble man living up his last day. he was average and i thought that’s really what sold the book for me. overall, the world building i thought was amazing. i’m not one to typically enjoy books where the perspective changes every other page, but i honestly really thought it contributed to it’s impact. for example, at the *very* end when an ex fiancee was speeding to see his lover at a park when she realized she was actually dying and rufus being hit. i thought that made the ending a lot more impactful to be honest. also just seeing things from other people’s perspective just built on how much of a heavy hitter this “death-cast” actually is. although, there were perspectives i found unnecessary. i didn’t particularly see what the last friend app creator’s perspective contributed to the story if i’m being honest. maybe i missed something, but i didnt see a real reason for heartbroken interviewer to be sisters with the creator of the last friend app. but in short, what fell flat for me was the writing. rufus’ dialect just made it feel impossible to read. starting every sentence with “yo” made it feel like i was watching a mom trying to act cool in the 00s. it honestly made me cringe. every time it switched to rufus’ perspective i dreaded having to read the next few pages. although regarding the writing, i honestly loved the parallelism of “death-cast did(n’t) call ___ today because ____ is(n’t) dying.” i honestly thought it was such a cool way to introduce each character and set up their story. the other part that fell flat for me was the romantic aspect. i was looking forward to the romantic part of it, but the kiss seemed so out of the blue and forced that it ruined it for me. they kiss after singing karaoke and they both somehow know they’re in love with each other? it was less than a day and they have that “knowing look”? if they wanted to build a romance with this premise, i would’ve personally left more room for growth and development. i’m not a fan of one day love stories to say the least. overall, i was satisfied with the ending and felt like it was an interesting read.