They Both Die at the End – General Review

Summer break is the perfect opportunity to get back into reading. Adam Silvera’s (2017) novel, They Both Die at the End, can serve as a stepping stone into the realm of reading.

The pace is fast, action-packed, and develops loveable characters. Also, Silvera switches point of view each chapter where narration mainly focuses on the protagonists, Mateo and Rufus. The antagonist? You guessed it: death. As the title suggests, Mateo and Rufus both die at the end. However, their story unravels deeper truths about our fear towards death, fate, and control. We often fear what we cannot control which includes death. Though, Silvera proposes that we should focus on what we can control which is our life. These two boys discover how to live without fear or regret in their final day on Earth, together.

The characters are also diverse from people of color to queer representation, and nothing feels forced. I could see myself being friends with Mateo, Rufus, and the others. Therefore, even though readers know from the start that the characters will die due to the title, I still could not hold back tears by the last chapter. The system of Death-Cast predicting our “death” day is an interesting what-if scenario, but the narration from actions to characters are so real to our own lives that the fiction can feel like a mirror to nonfiction. Anything can happen to us any day of the week, but we have the power to make the most out of our experiences and still live a life full of joy and love.