Okay, I’ll be honest. I picked up “They Both Die at the End” because the title shocked me. Like, seriously? You’re just gonna tell me that up front? No mystery, no plot twist? Just boom: they die.
I almost didn’t read it with that kind of spoiler, but I’m really glad I did.
The story follows two teens, Mateo and Rufus, who find out they’re going to die sometime in the next 24 hours. That’s the whole premise. There’s even a service called Death-Cast that tells you when your last day begins. That’s the big “what if” the story is built on.
But here’s the twist: this book is actually way more about life than death. It’s about what you do with the time you’ve got.
Mateo and Rufus meet through an app that connects people who don’t want to be alone on their last day. They’re total strangers at first. One is shy and anxious, the other is loud and kind of a mess. As they spend the day together, they open up to each other. They try new things. They talk honestly. They connect fast, the way you would if you don’t have a lot of time.
And while you know how the story ends (again, the title says it all), you kind of forget about that while reading. You get caught up in their adventures: walking through the city, talking about their fears and meeting people they know. You start to ask yourself: If I had one day left, what would I do? Who would I want to be with? What would I stop waiting for?
That’s what stuck with me.
Reading this book made me think about my own life. About how easy it is to wait — to put things off until “later,” as if we’ve got all the time in the world. “They Both Die at the End” reminds us that we don’t. That’s not meant to be sad. If anything, it’s a wake-up call to live your life the way you want to now.
So yeah, the title breaks your heart. But the story? It’s a reminder that life isn’t about how much time we get. It’s about what we do with the time we have.
And honestly? I needed that.
