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Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that.

Review

I was honestly expecting this to be a sob-fest based on what I’d seen from Booktubers reactions, but I honestly just did not care about it at all. This was very much a “meh” read.

Why You Should Read It:

It is all about living life to the fullest and (literally) living like it’s your last day.
It portrays a fantastic friendship between two boys who don’t have many people they can turn to on their last day alive.
As another reviewer put it, the premise of the book has a Black Mirror feel to it. The beginning of the story made me excited to see how Death-Cast has affected the world.

Why It Fell Flat For Me:

The plot felt stale because there wasn’t any forward momentum. The book is all about how two boys are going to die at some point that day, but we clearly know that it’ll happen at the end of the book. So we’re really just watching two people living the last little bit of their lives. This sounds like a great premise for some work of literary fiction, but this felt very genre fiction-y to me, leaving me just really bored.
I did not see the chemistry for a romance and it seemed forced. I could understand the admiration for each other, but I didn’t see how that translated into a romance. I would have much preferred to see just a great friendship.
Between the boring plot and the unnecessary romance, I just felt disconnected from the story. I didn’t even come close to shedding a single tear – I know, I’m a monster.