In his novel, They Both Die at the End, author, Adam Silvera, attempts to ask the question ‘What would you do if you only had one day to live?’. This sincere yet heartbreaking story is set in the modern-day world, realistic with the exception of ‘death-cast’, a futuristic technology that alerts citizens at midnight on the day of their death. The creation and function of this peculiar feature in society remains unbeknownst to the characters and is not the main focus of the story. Silvera simply creates this system to set the scenario of knowing when you are about to die. Additionally, the author integrates the feature of ‘death-cast’ into the world by addressing impacts of the system, such as apps called ‘Last Friend’ and virtual reality centers that allow ‘deckers’ (people who will die that day) to make the most out of their time on earth.

The book has many characters but focuses on Mateo and Rufus, two teenage boys who receive the call that they have less than a day to live. The boys become acquainted on the ‘Last Friend’ app and start to grow closer over the course of several hours. After several adventure around the city involving Mateo’s best friend and her daughter and challenges due to Rufus’s ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend, and his gang, Mateo and Rufus form a tight connection and bond with other characters who are going through the same situation. Before they die, Mateo and Rufus fall in love and decide to fit as much of a relationship as they can into the little time that they have left. Eventually, as the title alludes, Mateo and Rufus die after trying to make amends with all of the people in their lives.

They Both Die at the End demonstrates the complexity of life, including the joy but also the inevitable pain. Mateo and Rufus squeeze every drop out of their last day of life and spend time with people who are important to them. Ultimately, Silvera emphasizes the existence of all the characters as heros of their own personal stories. In the end, the reader can see how intertwined the fates of all the characters in the book are, even those who seem insignificant at first. As a reader, I am not as interested in the plot of a story, but rather the depth of the characters and the complexity of the questions that are proposed to the reader. Therefore, I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone who has a similar preference in books.