They Both Die at the End
Ratings514
Average rating3.8
Idk, I really like the concept of the book, but I feel it could've given a bit more. Also, I found it cheesey how Rufus way of talking is depicted.... for example, no one uses the word "mad cool" or phrases like that anymore. Also, Mateo being such a chicken got old quick. RIP tho.
Ugh.
I am crying my whole heart out.
I liked the concept. I liked the characters.
What a great book to read and cry over.
What I perhaps liked most were the small chapters in between where random people had a chance to narrate and mentioned a certain scene we just saw with Mateo and/Rufus or are about to see.
I also liked the way each character had a direct influence on the other characters, since the gang with no name hit the car with the celebrity and that killed him.
I also have a gut feeling Victor is the one to hit Rufus, since he is speeding on his way to Delilah, but I guess we'll never know.
The two first person narratives did not have distinct enough voices; I kept forgetting which kid was talking to me. Very distracting.
2 1/2 stars. I wanted to like this more than I did. Premise was interesting, and I liked the small call outs from others' perspectives, but nothing really happens and I stopped listening to the audio and just skimmed the book because it was relatively boring and the YOLO message was so forced. The characters were not particularly compelling and felt more like paint-by-diversity personality notes than real people. The set-up had potential, the ending was well done, but a nothing of a middle made for a boring reading sandwich.
Aan begonnen omdat het in de grote boekenstapel lag van vrienden waar we in de vakantie op de camping langs gingen, en het een heel andere invulling geeft van thema als de Immortalists - hoe ga je om met het gegeven dat je weet wanneer je dood gaat.
In dit boek word je ‘s ochtends vriendelijk gebeld dat je nog 24 uur te gaan hebt, en of je er maar het leukste van wil maken....
AMAZING BOOK! One of my absolute favorite novels of all time. The message is so beautiful and heartbreaking that I just couldn't help but bawl my eyes out when I was finished, simply because the book was over and there was no more to read. I binge read this well into the early morning, and I have no regrets. I will be reading this book again and taking it with me wherever I go.
The last maybe 75 pages made it worth the read and were my favorite part of the book. I felt such a deep connection to the characters by the end of it and was heartbroken even though we all know what is coming. A very well written YA novel and I am always so happy to read about queer love.
I am not really a fan of slow burn novels and this didn't feel like a book that should have been a slow burn since it all happens over the course of a day and there is a significant urgency that needed to be had for this particular situation. That being said, it made the pay off of romance that had been building very rewarding. I wish the romance had happened way earlier though. The writing wasn't sensational but was done well especially for the target audience.
Three stars because I shed a tear, the concept of this book is genius and it was a nice, easy read.
Not more because... well, nothing much works. The characters are very cliché and they had little to no chemistry. We know they'll end up together because this is a romance book, but really I didn't see why. It all felt very unrealistic and sudden to me.
The plot is great and tension is high until the ending but the prose really has nothing special. The story is meant to be deep and all, except it just repeats that you need to live life to the fullest, making the dialogue feel stilted and unnatural in the same breath.
I was really intrigued by the concept of Death-Cast, which is a genius idea for a dystopia and science-fiction in general, but there was little world-building around it. Who created it? How does it work? What would happen if someone lived alone in a mountain, with no phone? Do they live forever? Is there really no way to avoid death? Is it possible everywhere or is there one set thing that will kill you? We know nothing of it.
One positive aspect was the point of views of side/background characters, which did bring a bit more clarity to the functioning and impact of Death-Cast. Not much, but it was better than nothing. I also really liked the intersections of Mateo and Rufus' stories with these strangers'. I'm a sucker for all the “cameos” in the book.
On another note, Mateo's death was very unexpected, which is really nice, for a change. It would have been better had it been handled in a different way, though. It fell short for me. It was supposed to be this devastating moment, yet I only cried for a second because it was so anticlimatic.
Part of this indifference probably also comes from the fact that I didn't feel very attached to the characters and that Mateo in particular annoyed me. Don't get me wrong, I'm an anxious person as well, and I don't blame him for that, but he made quite selfish demands and decisions for someone who claims to « have lived for everyone ».
I suppose my expectations were too high, considering how popular this book is and how many people found it devastating. Still, this a nice book, quick to read and intriguing.
This literary work starts off super engaging, drawing you right in with a wild sense of suspense. Silvera’s storytelling is on point, and the opening hits you right in the feels, making you shed a tear or two. This literary experience is not all common where the protagonist’s situation emotionally hits the reader that they finds themselves empathizing with the character's struggles. The story is filled with sad moments of grief for the living that make the characters do things they would have never done in their lives.
Even though it’s a common trope in movies and books to "live everyday like it's your last day", this story does something different. It shows the characters living their last day doing what they were to scared to do in their life prior to knowing today was going to be their last day.
This literary gem has rightfully earned its place among my all-time favorites, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to others.
This is the first ever review I have written for a book. My god, I loved the story and how this book was written with the different POVs, but..... WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE?!?!?!?! I was secretly hoping they were gonna live and Death-Cast was wrong about them. I loved Mateo and Rufus... As a guy, I have never cried to a book before but this was like a stab straight to my heart. The hidden, or not-so-hidden meaning of this book is outstanding, live life day by day because you don't know when you will die and make the most out of it. I highly recommend this book, yes it's sad but you learn something new (well at least I did).
This was a very touching story. I really enjoyed the read. Couldn’t help thinking about my own life and what it all means.
3.5⭐️ I liked the story and the characters, but really disliked the writing style. It's rare that the story and characters are strong enough to hold up against a very awkward-feeling writing style, but it worked well enough here that I finished the book and enjoyed it. The writing just felt very stilted and over-explainy a lot of the time, and took me out of the story. You could never really forget that this was an adult writing from the pov of teens.
The Steve Jobs quote threw me off for sure haha. Quite a fast and easy read but indeed very sad. All book you know what will happen and yet the more you read the more you wish for it to not be true
2.5
this was so YA but not in a good way and I don't mind that genre when done right. this was just not for me and I didn't really care about the plot bc u know what's going to happen so there was nothing in this book that kept me wanting to continue besides the fact that I paid money for it so I had to finish. also how the fuck is there two more books, this is crazy
The concept behind this book is fascinating, receiving calls informing you that you'll die today but being unable to change anything about it.
The author tries to incorporate different actors affected by this tech, the “heralds” informing one about their upcoming death, the ones actually receiving the news and their loved ones. But it is only the story of Rufus and Mateo that does justice, every other character feels incomplete and superficial to actually have an impact.