Author: Adam Silvera
Genre: Older Teen (Young Adult), Romance, LGBTQIA+
Age Range: 15-17
Review by: Niamh
Synopsis: A prequel to the best-selling They Both Die at the End, this novel follows Orion and Valentino as Deathcast, a subscription service where you can sign up to receive a call on your death day, goes live. They don’t know each other, but in typical romance form, they begin to get to know each other very well in the following 24 hours. Both have reasons to fear getting that call, but the question on everyone’s minds in New York is: is Deathcast a hoax and, if not, would you really want to know you were about to die?
Review: Having not read the acclaimed original, I was going into this book not having a clue about the plot, but I can tell that a lot of readers would go in looking for the answers the first book didn’t give them. I’m not sure this one helped in any way because I left the book with more questions than answers. Do “Deathcast” know how the person dies, not just the day, and just want to avoid the trauma or messing with time? How does time/changing time work in this story? Would it be possible to change your end day in this universe? Or the most cynical: by actually telling someone they’re going do die, do they actually cause their death? Possibly from shock, being more reckless than usual because they think they’re dying, or simply being in a different place than they would have been otherwise. While most of these questions added to my intrigue in the world, and it is an very interesting world building concept, some insight to how the deaths are predicted might add to the dimension of first person chapters with the app creator. Perhaps the author is attempting to continue the mystery?
In terms of the characters and the central love plot, it is a very cute love story with some reasonably developed characters with heart and imperfect stories. The realistic but hopeful vibe of Valentino’s journey, which is the sad reality of parents who will never accept him, is an important one; even in a Utopian-esque fantasy future, discrimination can continue. I also really enjoyed the themes of found family. If you’re a cynic on short time-span love, or think it might be unrealistic for the pair to care as much as they do in such a short time period, it might not be your cup of tea, but this part of the plot offsets the dark themes of the book very well. It is a much needed breath of hope, grace in bad circumstances and generally draws you into the story and the characters more.
If this book sounds like your kind of read, be sure to place a request on it on our Library Catalogue. If you would like to read more about the original They Both Die at The End, you can read a full review by Ciara right here on the blog!
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