They Both Die at the End delves into what it means to live

They Both Die at the End 
Written by Adam Silvera 
“Mateo, I regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty- four hours you’ll be meeting an untimely death.” 
This is the call Mateo Torrez gets on the evening of September 5th, 2017, beginning the heart-rending journey of They Both Die at the End. The whole book happens in the span of 24 hours, opening up with the unfortunate call and continuing down Mateo’s train of thought…what would he do? Would he spend the last hours of his life alone in his apartment? And more importantly, how the heck would he even convince himself to leave it? At first, he planned to stay in his apartment, but eventually, he joined an app called Last Friend. This is where Mateo and Rufus cross paths. Rufus is a teenager living in a foster home, struggling with a breakup and haunted by his parents and sister’s death. When Rufus gets the call from Death Cast, he immediately thinks it’s a joke, but as reality begins to set in, he re-examines his relationships and strikes out on his own, downloading the Last Friend app and agreeing to meet Mateo at his apartment through the platform. The unlikely pair set out to journey together through the last hours of their lives and find not only fulfillment but romance as well. 
They Both Die at the End made me cry (twice!), but it was such a well-written book I couldn’t put it down and finished it within a couple of days. The story is told from both characters’ perspectives, with a few interludes from other points of view that appear to be completely random, but eventually tie the storyline and the characters together through fate or destiny or some other universal force that determines what the tapestry of life looks like for each person, pulling threads and adjusting the intricate patterns. As I looked at life through the lens of someone who knew that they would die an “untimely death” I delved into the difficult topic of my own life and what it means to truly live (some very nice early morning thoughts if I do say so myself). 
This novel is most definitely one of my favorites. I would recommend avoiding this book if you’re struggling with anxiety, stress, depression or something similar, as it deals with extremely heavy topics. All in all, I would recommend this book to ages 13+ and anyone who wants an excuse to bring up the meaning of life in a conversation.