contemporary fiction – Page 28 – What Cathy Read Next…

About the Book

On September 5th, 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 reason, they’re both looking for 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.

Format: Paperback (368 pages) Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 7th September 2017 Genre: YA, Contemporary Fiction

Find They Both Die at the End on Goodreads

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My Review

This book illustrates the joy of a book club because They Both Die at the End is not a book I would have ever chosen for myself but which I absolutely loved. Other members of the book club had trouble with the whole concept of an organisation like Death-Cast but strangely enough, although I usually shy away from any element of fantasy in a book, this didn’t bother me. I think this was because I just let myself get swept along by the story of Rufus and Mateo.

Obviously it’s a bold move by an author to publish a book with a title that is effectively a spoiler but it’s just one of many clever touches that I really enjoyed. The book switches between the perspectives of Mateo and Rufus over the course of their last day, occasionally interrupted by other characters who come within their orbit, even if that’s only that they passed them in the street or served them in a shop.

The two boys each have their own characters. Mateo is socially awkward, risk averse and solitary by nature (and necessity) but has a loving nature witnessed by the letters he leaves for his neighbours and his reluctance to let his friend Lidia bear the burden of knowing he is going to die. Rufus is more assertive and worldly owing to the fact he has had to be independent from an early age. However they also have things in common like finding themselves without family. (Mateo’s father, although alive, is in a coma.)

Starting the day as strangers, the pair gradually become friends and eventually close companions as they share a series of experiences akin to a bucket list but one produced in the moment rather than prepared in advance. I liked the way the book distinguished between manufactured ‘fake’ experiences designed for those who’ve received the Death-Cast call and more meaningful real experiences. In the course of the day, the pair begin to take on some of the characteristics of the other; Rufus encouraging Mateo to be more adventurous but in turn absorbing some of Mateo’s natural generosity.

A book where both characters die at the end sounds like it’s going to be sad to read – and it is really sad at some points – but there’s also humour as well such as some of the responses Mateo receives on the Last Friends app. I especially enjoyed the Travellers Game Mateo and Rufus play while riding the subway.

If I had to sum up the message of the book it would be carpe diem (seize the day) because you never know if it might be your last. ‘We never act’, Mateo says. ‘Only react once we realise the clock is ticking.’

In three words: Clever, witty, tender

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About the Author

Adam Silvera is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End and More Happy Than Not and History Is All You Left Me and Infinity Son and Infinity Reaper and with Becky Albertalli, What If It’s Us and Here’s to Us. His next book The First to Die at the End releases October 4th, 2022, with the final Infinity Cycle book to follow soon after. He was born in New York and now lives in Los Angeles where he writes full-time. He is tall for no reason. (Bio/photo: Goodreads author page)

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Welcome to the first day of the blog tour – which also happens to be publication day! – for Before We Grow Old by Clare Swatman. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Boldwood Books for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Sheri at My Reading Getaway and the team at Romance By The Book.

About the Book

Some people are just made for each other…

When seven-year-old Fran first met Will they knew instantly that they were made for each other. For eleven years they were inseparable, but then, at the age of eighteen, Will just upped and disappeared.

Twenty-five years later Will is back. Is fate trying to give them a second chance?

Still nursing the heart break from all those years ago, Fran is reluctant to give Will the time of day. The price Will must pay is to tell the truth – the truth about why he left, the truth about why he’s back…

And Fran has her own secrets to hide. The time has come to decide what Fran and Will really want from life – before it’s too late. ..

Format: Paperback (314 pages) Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication date: 19th January 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance

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My Review

When Fran and Will run into each other in a coffee shop after a gap of twenty-five years is it coincidence, fate or something else? Finding themselves both single again, albeit each now with parental responsibilities, they quickly resume their relationship, their attraction to each other being as intense as it was all those years ago.

However, a revelation from Will causes Fran to reappraise her relationship with him and results in them embarking on a quest, along with Fran’s son, Kieran, to make the most of every day because, after all, you never know if it might be your last.

The story is told from Fran’s point of view meaning that the reader gets to witness her ever-changing emotions: doubt, guilt, resentment, frustration and an abiding sense of injustice. Not all of these may seem warranted. For instance, her initial response to Will’s revelation is one of anger when you might have expected, or hoped, her to feel sympathy – especially since Fran has a big secret of her own that she’s concealed for twenty-five years (the nature of which readers may well guess).

I found myself with immense sympathy for Will. Not only is he attempting to put things right with Fran but he is facing a personal challenge with fortitude and dignity. His tender relationship with his daughter, Elodie, was heart-warming and I also liked the bond he formed with Fran’s son, Kieran. Will’s world is rocked when Fran finally reveals the secrets she has concealed for so long but, despite everything he’s going through, he shows a capacity for forgiveness I found astonishing.

There are joyful moments in the book – one of my favourites involving Krispy Kreme doughnuts – but there is immense sadness as well. Before We Grow Old is something of an emotional rollercoaster that will have you laughing one moment and tearful the next. As the author demonstrates, life is a journey in which you never know what’s around the next corner. Carpe diem, as they say.

In three words: Emotional, tender, romantic

Try something similar: The Ends of the Earth by Abbie Greaves

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