They Both Die at the End

I read this book expecting a story where two people die at the end. What I got was a tender, heartfelt, and sometimes exhilarating story about two guys connecting when they're almost out of time, sharing their friends and their last moments. 

I really like the narrative structure. The first part of the book stayed with the two MCs for a while, letting me really get to know them as characters and get a sense of the setting. Then, once they were established as MCs, it slowly introduces snippets from other characters' perspectives to give context, sometimes to get in the head of someone the MC's interacted with (or someone who knows someone they interacted with). It helped to ground their experiences and create this feeling of many people living their lives with all these connections, but always returning to the MCs and their growing bonds with each other. There were only a few places in this snippet of the world which were important, but even with these few locations and small selection of characters it made it feel big. They had time to visit places and return to a few key ones as things changed throughout the day, or sometimes only the reader was the one revisiting when the second glance was through another character's eyes. Many of the characters grew or changed in this one day. Not everyone, obviously, a mass epiphany or everyone becoming great overnight would have broken immersion, but enough for it to feel like a book where most people became a little bit better for having gone though this day, for having known each other. The way the central conceit was incorporated into the rest of the modern world was really smooth. When they first meet on the app I was laughing because it felt right, that's absolutely how this kind of app would have played out in 2017 when the book is set. Grounding this in a specific day on the calendar was very wise, since it means that even as the popular apps change it can still feel relevant because it's not pretending that technology is ageless or something. It also feels like it'll be resonant for a long time because it's specific and poignant without being self-aggrandizing.

I didn't expect the ending to blow me away, but it did. I mean, it's in the title, right? But this is a book that's fully about the journey, not the destination, and it has room to be fun, serious, contemplative, heart-pounding, sad, and wonderful, all in one day of the characters' lives. The seeds of the end were there from the beginning and I'm so sad that the book is over, even though I knew it had to end eventually. I love the ending. I'm very sad about it, but it's perfect for this book and these characters. If it really had to be over sometime this was probably the best way it could have gone about it.

They Both Die at the End plays on the idea that you should live every day as if it's your last. What would you do if you knew you were going to die today?

We might like to pretend that if we had one last day, we'd do something amazing, but Adam Silvera is fairly realistic about what is possible, especially for two teenagers. They say their goodbyes where they can and go to experiences designed for Deckers. A differentiation is made between Deckers who have been ill for some time and those like Rufus and Mateo who had no idea their end was imminent.

Mateo and Rufus would probably never have been friends without Last Friend. Rufus is a foster kid and from what we know of Mateo, he doesn't have to worry about money or safety. But they have both lost family. It's about friendship and preparing for death, sharing in the grief. It's a message to live each day as much as you can, because you never know when that day will be your last.

It's intentionally vague about how Death Cast works. You have to just go with the flow and imagine it as a Final Destination scenario; when it's time, it's time and you can't cheat fate. A little of the wider implications are explored, but I kept having questions about it all. Is it really better to know you're going to die? You get to say your goodbyes, but also your final moments must be tainted by that knowledge. Has reckless behaviour increased because people feel they are immortal if they don't get the call? What about mass-casualty events... Do they not want to try and stop something if there are indications that hundreds of people are going to die in one place?

It was a bit too convenient that both teenagers already had had a lot of experience with untimely deaths. Poor Lydia, losing both her boyfriend and best friend so young.

Even knowing the ending didn't make it any less heart-breaking.