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They Both Die at the End

Adam Silvera

416 pages

A ticking-clock romance that breaks your heart while desperately urging you to live.

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What it feels like

Reading this book feels like watching an hourglass run out while experiencing the best day of your life. The narrative is driven by a propulsive, ticking-clock urgency, yet it frequently pauses to breathe in quiet, tender moments of profound human connection. Silvera’s prose is accessible and emotionally naked, capturing the distinct, earnest voices of two boys navigating the terrifying precipice of their own mortality. The mood is a delicate balancing act between suffocating dread and life-affirming joy, wrapping the reader in a bittersweet, melancholic warmth. It is an absolute tearjerker designed for readers who seek out cathartic devastation and star-crossed queer romance. You go in knowing exactly how it ends, but the journey still manages to completely shatter you.

Mood
  • melancholic
  • life-affirming
  • poignant
  • tense
Tone
  • earnest
  • bittersweet
  • urgent
  • tender
Pace
propulsive
Themes
inevitability of death · seizing the day · found connection · queer romance · living authentically
The writing
Accessible, conversational, and emotionally direct, with alternating perspectives that feel intimately authentic to the teenage experience.
The arc
Moves from isolated anxiety and existential dread to a vibrant, desperate embrace of life and love, culminating in inevitable heartbreak.
Who it's for
Readers who crave high-stakes emotional catharsis, ticking-clock narratives, and star-crossed queer romance.
Content notes
  • death of a main character
  • grief
  • existential dread
  • violence

About the book

Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.

Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

In the tradition of Before I Fall and If I Stay, They Both Die at the End is a tour de force from acclaimed author Adam Silvera, whose debut, More Happy Than Not, the New York Times called “profound.”

Plus don't miss The First to Die at the End: author Adam Silvera returns to the universe of international phenomenon They Both Die at the End in this prequel. New star-crossed lovers are put to the test on the first day of Death-Cast’s fateful calls.

Description from Open Library.

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