Buddy Reads & Rants: They Both Die at the End (Jonny Pongratz and Misty’s Book Space)
Hello Blogging World!
Misty
Hey guys. Misty, your resident romance lover is back.
Jonny
And I’m Jonny, morbid bibliophile and lover of the macabre. Bring on the dark stuff!
This buddy read and rant is for They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera.
Blurb:
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. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.
GoodReads
Amazon
***Brief disclosure***
Jonny is an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post. It’s a great way to help him keep things running on his blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase.
Buddy Read Book Rant:
Jonny
Hey Misty, thanks so much for doing this buddy read with me. Guess what? This is my favorite buddy read of ours so far! Did you like this book too?
Misty
Thank you for suggesting it. It has been on my TBR for a while but I kept putting off reading it for some reason and now I’m kicking myself because yes I did end up loving it.
Jonny
Haha, honestly I forgot about it being on my TBR too. There’s just too many books out there. Yay! This book gave me all the feels and then some. What did you love most about it?
Misty
We need more time in the day to be able to read all of the books we want to read. It gave me all the feels too. I mean you know I love romance so the relationship was definitely my favorite even though we didn’t really get the chance to have a full blown romance I still loved Rufus and Mateo together.
Jonny
Right? Man, I would absolutely love to just have a bookish vacation where I simply get comfy and read some novels I’ve been putting off. May have to put that in my future vacay goals. Yes! The romance was amazing in its own way. I can get leery of romance, but this was handled so well and had a slow burn just like I like. I can see how it may have been a little too slow on the romance element, but this was super heartfelt.
Misty
Oh a bookish vacation sounds amazing!! It definitely wasn’t one of your typical romances and I didn’t expect to get hooked on it like I did but it was definitely well done. I definitely get the slow burn but I can see it being insta love as well but it worked so perfectly. It’s definitely one that will pull at your heartstrings. I got teary eyed a couple of times while reading it.
Jonny
Totally! There are a lot of unique Airbnb’s out there to check out. I’m gonna have to find one nearby. Thanks for the great idea! I agree, the romance was very unique. Definitely insta-love, but since they only had one day left to live it made it more believable. Though I hate to admit it, this book kinda got me a bit teary too. No actual tears, but the extreme emotion was there, so extra kudos to Silvera!
For me, my favorite part was how balanced the story was. So we’ve got Rufus and Mateo, who are great characters to follow along. But we’ve also got a really fascinating world to explore too. I loved the dystopian elements surrounding DeathCast. The bars, clubs, special locations and experiences available to Deckers (those with only one day to live), it was all so well thought out and made the world more vibrant. More depressing too since this Earth is way more fixated on death, but especially more unique.
Misty
Yes because they only had 1 day to live it definitely came off more believable. I wasn’t full on crying but a couple tears did fall. Like I said there were 2 scenes that pulled the emotion out of me. The first being when Mateo visited his dad. Just thinking about that scene now has me tearing up again. The other scene was toward the end when Mateo and Rufus were in Mateos apartment.
It was definitely a well balanced story because while we have the main story there is so much more to it than just them dying in 24 hours. I will say I kind of wish we knew more about Deathcast and how/why they are able to do this. It really is a unique story and I’m so glad it worked in the end.
Jonny
There were so many great moments that I think could affect readers in different ways. I definitely agree with you on some moments in Mateo’s apartment towards the end. There was also a moment at the club Clint’s Graveyard that really affected me. Oh, hospitals are the bane of my existence! Any time I see a relative hooked up to an IV machine I’m just a puddle of emotions.
Right? I wanna know more about DeathCast too! There’s a prequel out, but I think there could even be a sequel where maybe someone lost someone special and decides to find out how DeathCast is predicting deaths.
Misty
Yes I agree there are so many different moments that will affect readers in different ways. I hate hospitals too. I’m an emotional person anyways so add something like that in and I’m fighting back tears.
I read the synopsis of the prequel. It’s going to follow 2 new characters and it seems like it’s when Deathcast first started so maybe we will get some more info in that one.
Jonny
I don’t blame you! The second I enter a hospital I just get this weak, sick feeling that makes me want to turn back and run. Definitely not my place to hang out! Yeah, that could add more answers. I am a little nervous about it being too similar to the first novel, but I’d give it a try for sure.
Did you like the additional POV’s throughout? I know they weren’t super important, but I liked how they connected with Rufus and Mateo’s story and gave more insight into the world here and there.
Misty
I’m a little worried that it will be too similar to this book but I’m still very interested in reading it.
I liked that they almost all kind of connected back to Rufus and Mateo in the end but honestly I could have done without them because I just wanted more of Rufus and Mateo.
Jonny
Yeah, I’d give it a go based on this book for sure. Looks like we have our next read picked out already! True, I don’t think they were 100% necessary for the book, but I liked the little breaks here and there. Okay one last thing I’ve been wanting to ask you. Would you rather live in this book’s version of Earth or stay here in our current reality?
As much as I like the pros of DeathCast, I would rather stay in this world. Knowing you’re going to die is just too much anxiety for me. Throughout this book I kept getting a little nervous about each location they went to. It’d be hard to appreciate your last day without knowing exactly how you’re gonna die.
Misty
Whenever you’re ready just let me know. I’m always down for buddy reads. Although I would need to make sure I can get it first. I think I would rather our current reality. Like you said knowing you’re going to die but not how or the exact moment is just to much anxiety. Me personally if I knew I was going to die I would be like Mateo in the beginning of this book afraid to do anything and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my last day to the fullest.
I had one more thing I wanted to ask you. How did you feel about the very ending?
It wasn’t a bad ending but I feel like that particular characters death deserved a little more page time and also while the way he died was implied I still would have rather him told us exactly what happens. That sounds a bit morbid.
Jonny
Okay, cool! Yeah, I’ll need to check my library too, though they tend to be good about buying a whole series. Fingers crossed! Exactly! If I knew I was going to die I’d just stay inside my place the entire day. That’s the only way I’d feel safe.
I had some mixed feelings about the ending. On one hand, it felt very sudden, almost like how that show The Sopranos went out mid-sentence. I agree, it would’ve been nice to get his final thoughts in a way that really honored the journey we went on. It didn’t quite feel that way.
Misty
It definitely did feel very sudden. I never watched that show. To me it kind of came across as one of the characters was more important than the other. That kind of sounds weird but I don’t know how to explain it any other way.
Jonny
Me either, I just knew of the super abrupt ending because everyone who watched it hated it. Oh, I get what you mean. The character who died first had more value placed on them in my opinion, and the second just felt more like an afterthought. I’m super happy we gave this one a go. Silvera is definitely now on my watch list for sure!
Misty
Yes you described my feeling perfectly. Why do I have such a hard time with words? Lol.
I’m glad we did too!! As I mentioned to you already. I’ve read 1 other book by him and that was his fantasy book. I did like that one but not like I did this one. I’m planning to read another one of his books next month.
Jonny
Oh, it’s probably because I’m super neurotic on words, even though I tend to babble or mix up my words, usually at the worst time. I didn’t even know he wrote fantasy! I’m definitely gonna stalk his GoodReads profile later. Yay! I hope it doesn’t disappoint, and I hope we get a chance to read the prequel book soon!
Misty
I have the hardest time getting my thoughts into words it’s so frustrating. It’s called Infinity Son. I gave it 3.5 stars. I have high hopes for it after reading this one. Just let me know when you have time because I can pretty much squeeze in a buddy read at any given time.
Jonny
It’s okay, I understood what you meant. 🙂 My problem is I don’t have a filter and everything just comes out at once. It can be super embarrassing. Okay cool, I’ll have to check that series out. Yep, I’ll be in touch. Maybe in a couple weeks or so. Thanks again for doing this with me. So much fun!
Misty
I’m glad you understood what I was saying!! Sounds good. I’ll be looking forward to it. Of course you know I am always up for a buddy read with you. They are always so much fun even we end up not loving them but luckily this one was a hit.
Jonny
Yeah, all those misses are so worth it when you come upon a really great book you can both agree on. Looking forward to next time!
That’s A Wrap!
Thanks for joining us on our buddy read and rant of They Both Die at the End! We had a lot of fun, and hope you did too! We will definitely be doing some more buddy reads in the future, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, why not check out Misty and Jonny’s other fun buddy reads?
Buddy Read: Under the Whispering Door
Buddy Read: The Burning World
Buddy Read: Warm Bodies
Buddy Read: The Wicked Deep
Buddy Read: The Locke & Key Series
Buddy Read: Dark Lover
Buddy Read: Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain
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I had so much fun reading and discussing this one with you. I’m glad we found one that we both loved!!
Me too! To many more great reads together!