Highly Recommended!
They Both Die At The End was written by Adam Silvera. It's the story of two teenagers wandering around New York on the last night of their life, opening up with nothing left to lose, discovering true friendship. Even though you know the ending, Silvera manages to surprise.
At midnight, Death-Cast calls 18 year-old Mateo to inform him he will die within 24 hours. Rufus (17) also gets a call. They don't know each other but luckily there's an app for that - Last Friend. Mateo is shy and doesn't go out much, except to visit his Dad in the hospital. Rufus hangs with a gang at his foster home and causes trouble beating up his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. Police on his tail, he looks to Last Friend to pair him up with someone to spend his last day with. Over the course of the day, Mateo and Rufus ride around on a bike, visit NY attractions and try to make time meaningful, experience a lifetime in one day. This includes being honest about their life, family, and friends, and a bond between them grows.
Of course, everyone on Earth could be on their last day, but Death-Cast was developed so we would appreciate it, maybe even say good bye at our own funerals. The flip side not mentioned is if you don't get a call, it's not your last day, but you should live it like it is. Around Mateo and Rufus are other characters who intersect in imaginative ways - they either got a call themselves, or didn't. Patterns form as the boys unknowingly affect the lives around them. The ending is in the title, but I was still emotional and surprised when it came to each unexpectedly.
The perfect place - the perfect sentence - to end on.
This is published by Harper Teen and it's so pleasing to see the new wave of teen fiction where sexuality is not a question, and acceptance and friendship the norm.
2017 / Hardcover / 373 pages
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