“No matter how we choose to live, we both die at the end.” Take a moment to let that sink in. In They Both Die at the End, – an adventure fiction book written by Adam Silvera– two teenage boys named Mateo and Rufus receive an alert, telling them they would both be dead within the next twelve hours. The two boys meet and spend their last day on Earth creating memories with each other, visiting strange places, and eating at fancy restaurants. That was how they chose to live. But of course, it doesn’t matter, because They Both Die at the End.

I think that this book does the most fantastic job of making ordinary things seem magical. That’s the case for Mateo and Rufus, because they have to enjoy the everyday activities we take for granted before they’ll never be able to do them again. There are also quite a handful of scenes that have deep, meaningful quotes that make you stop and think.

All that being said, I really did not understand the plot line of this book. Were there deep concepts hidden beneath the writing? Yeah, probably. Clearly, though, I din’t pick up on them. I personally think there were zero exciting parts, no plot twists whatsoever, and just a huge lack of excitement in the writing style. And I get it; it’s a depressing, sad book, but at this point it might as well just be a diary entry. The part that perhaps would have been the most shocking gives itself away entirely; it’s literally in the title. I think the plot was incredibly underwhelming, and same goes for the ending.

In conclusion? It could be a good read if you just wanted to calm yourself, but I had to force myself to drag through most of the sentences. I don’t recommend this book, and it’s one of the few I would rate 2/10. A lot of people do seem to like it, though, so I’m probably just biased on my personal reading style. Go check it out and see if you’ll like it!