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...and so did our expectations.
Well, guess what? Adam Silvera got it wrong with ‘They Both Die At The End’ .
This book follows the story of two teenage boys, Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio, and their lives after being told that they will die in the next 24 hours. Set in future New York with sci-fi undertones, the novel features a system
called Death-cast that allows people to be notified on the day of their inevitable death. Mateo and Rufus are introduced to each other through the Last Friend app, after deciding to live their last day in the company of another person, and as the story progresses, we begin to see their relationship develop.
Though this story has a promising concept and premise, the execution was a disappointment, and it was simply a mediocre take on ‘live your life to the fullest’ . We both were rooting for the story and wanted to feel the emotional connection so many other readers raved about.
However, the abrupt changes in the storyline and rushed romance between the teenage boys left us underwhelmed and rooting for the novel to finish instead. Every side character seems to have more depth than the teenage boys due to their touching backstories ranging from suicide to broken relationships.
Mateo ’ s innocence and purity are definitely qualities we initially admired, but his forced character development was unsatisfactory. On the other hand, Rufus is the extreme opposite of Mateo, where his opening acts of violence and reckless nature leads the readers to anticipate his drastic character development.
The real question we have to ask is, did the teenagers have to fall in love? We believe that the answer is no. The boys had such a strong foundation within their platonic relationship, and their friendship potential could have been advantageous for the narrative. The sudden dynamic change was abrupt and unnecessary, with their conversations indicating no romantic chemistry between them. It did not propel the storyline and we missed out on a more coherent plot and logical friendship.
With all that being said, we appreciated the original concept and the inclusion of multiple points of view. It gave the side characters an opportunity to be involved in the main storyline, making the novel feel complete. Silvera also succeeded at creating a diverse fictional world by incorporating characters from all walks of life. Additionally, his brutally honest title choice made the story predictable but captivating from the beginning. Overall, we rate ‘They Both Die at the End’ a 2/5.
