They Both Die at the End, written by Adam Silvera, is a New York Times bestseller and A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year of 2017.  The book was published in 2017. 

The story follows Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio. Mateo grew up as an only child with his father, due to his mother shortly dying after giving birth to him. He is a shy person and does not have any real friends except Lidia Vargas. Rufus lost his family at a young age after his parents and his sister drowned in the Hudson River. 

In the middle of the night, Mateo receives a call from the Death Cast. Death Cast is an organization that tells people when they are going to die. Mateo finds out that he has less than 24 hours to live. Around the same time, Rufus was beating up Peck (the boyfriend of Rufus’ ex-girlfriend) when he also got the call from the Death Cast, learning also that this was his last day as well. 

Mateo wants to spend his last day locked up in his room, but he ends up pushing himself to make the most of his final 24 hours. Mateo joins the app, Last Friend, which pairs him up with Rufus. 

Rufus and Mateo spend their last day together, they first visit Mateo’s parents. Later, Mateo and Rufus decide to go to the world travel arena and more. Mateo and Rufus go to a karaoke place when they end up running into trouble with Peck and his gang. Over time Rufus and Mateo develop feelings for each other, which do not last long, by the end of the day Mateo gets burned alive from the his house setting on fire and Rufus was walking across the road while listening to music without checking for cars first. 

With a love story and characters you will enjoy, this book was a very enjoyable read. What made readers enjoy this book? Freshman Nyhla Rice voiced, “I loved the unique storyline and the character development.

Freshman Lexi Alexander commented, “I liked the plot and love story, the plot was very well written and kept me interested.”

The plot and the love story are a reason this book is good to read. But the characters are as well. Rice stated “My favorite character is Rufus because I like how Rufus was able to grow and begin to trust people again.”

Readers may not like this book for the author, Adam Silvera, for killing off the main characters and prematurely ending their love story. Rice explained “We know they are going to die but it still hurts that both boys don’t make it out.”

Alexander also claimed “My least favorite part is where Rufus gets hit by the truck, I didn’t like the fact he died because it made me feel sad.”

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read, due to the plot and love story it provides, and should be a definite addition to your “to-read” pile.