When first starting to read the book They Both Die at the End, I expected it to be very emotional and easy to get lost in.  Instead, I found it hard to understand and predictable.I found myself just wanting to find out how they both will die at the end - or not - and get on with all the non-relavent things that the pair did to use their last 24 hours. Most readers like to be hooked on the plot of an exciting thriller or emotional love story.  This story did not check either of those boxes.

First off, the story is about a futuristic society that is informed when they are going to die.  Protagonists Rufus and Mateo both get the alert that deems them as “Deckers” (A person informed that they will die within the next 24 hours).  As they go on their journey together as ‘Last Friends,’ they meet each other’s family and friends which allow them to connect in that last 24 hours even more than if they were just new friends that weren’t going to die.  The story is meant to be emotional ,dealing with many tough topics like the trauma of death in family and more.  

Once and a while, there would be a first person perspective of a random person on the street and what devious plans they had for the day.  That confused me as to why the plans of a non- involved person in the story were suddenly involved for a few short paragraphs.  Some small, random passages eventually did connect to the main characters in minimal ways that had absolutely no buildup or surprise effect to them.  It was automatically brushed off by the main characters and they were on to the next interference.

The book was full of too juvinile of topics for me that were hard to relate to.  It didn’t really keep me very interested since there seemed to be nothing to look forward to in the story.  It seemed as the boys were running out of time in their lives, they revisited topics multiple times as if the author was running out of ideas for the story.  The repetativness and predictability of events made it not so exciting.  The topics were sad and the title says it all…They both die at the end.  

Not to mention the cliche main character who starts off shy and closed off and eventually openes up over the course of the book thanks to the other main character.  His open behavior was supposed to be a message to the reader to not be afraid to live your life, but it came off to me as an excuse to live life as safe as possible until you know something bad will happen to you.  It wasn’t inspiring to me but seemed more cowardice and shallow.

The author tried very hard to prove that he knew how kids talk now-a-days by adding “yo” or “mad cool” to every passage.  This type of narration style seemed very pushed by the author and at times didn’t even make sense.  In stressful/sad situations the character would preface the word “mad” before words that made them just lose their meaning altogether.  The writing style made the story less enjoyable to read because I didn’t feel along with the characters like any reader would hope to.

Though I didn’t feel the book was for me, I still enjoyed and related to parts of it. For example, since the main characters were teenagers exactly my age, I related to some of the decisions that were going on in their life at that time.  College, boyfriends/girlfriends, trouble with parents and family were all related topics that I could say I understood. Most readers like to be hooked on the plot of an exciting thriller or emotional love story.  This book was neither.  I found it bland and was very unmotivated to finish reading it…here’s why: 

I really didn’t enjoy reading this book, therefore, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.  Unless you're looking to get some ideas on what to do in New York City in 20 years, choose another book!