I am a little concerned about spending my End Day with someone who’s accepted dying, someone who’s made mistakes. I don’t know him, obviously, and he might turn out to be insanely destructive—he is outside in the middle of the night on a day he’s slated for death, after all. But no matter what choices we make—solo or together—our finish line remains the same. It doesn’t matter how many times we look both ways. It doesn’t matter if we don’t go skydiving to play it safe, even though it means we’ll never get to fly like my favorite superheroes do. It doesn’t matter if we keep our heads low when passing a gang in a bad neighborhood. No matter how we choose to live, we both die at the end.
— Mateo Torrez, shortly after agreeing to meet with Rufus Emeterio.
They Both Die at the End is a 2017 novel by Adam Silvera.
Shortly after midnight on September 5, Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio both get a call from Death-Cast, a service that informs people when they have less than a day to live. The two of them are not alone- they're Deckers, who are living on borrowed time, and there are many services that exist to help them make the most of thier final days. One such service is the app called Last Friend, which puts the two together, allowing them to form an unlikely bond on their Last Day.
The book contains example of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The world is mostly the same as in the present apart from advances in technology that made Death-Cast possible.
- Accidental Misnaming:
- Andrea calls Mateo by the name of the previous person she called. Her POV segment indicates she makes a habit of this, and HR has investigated her for rushing through calls.
- In a more minor and understandable example, DJ Lou Ow calls Mateo "Matthew" when calling him and Rufus to the stage.
- Affectionate Nickname: Rufus' friends call him "Roof," and eventually, Mateo does it too.
- Arc Words:
- "Death-Cast called (character) at (time) to tell (him/her) that (he/she)'s going to die today" introduces Decker characters.
- "Death-Cast did not call (character) today because (he/she) isn't dying today, but..." introduces non-Decker characters, with the "but..." establishing what their struggles are if they aren't dealing with their own impending deaths.
- Bittersweet Ending: Mateo dies when he accidentallly sets himself on fire, but not before he and Rufus falll in love. Rufus is devastated by his death, but found his time with Mateo fulfilling.
- Blunt "Yes": After Mateo shares his plans to go to the cemetery to visit his mother's grave.Rufus: You really wanna go to a cemetery on the day you're gonna die?
Mateo: Yeah. - Bodyguard Betrayal: A former U.S. president who got the Death-Cast call tried to hide in a bunker, but a secret service agent killed him.
- Character Development: Mateo starts out as an introvert who's scared of dying and regrets not living his life to the fullest. He becomes somewhat more confident and brave as a result of spending the day with Rufus, culminating in him punching a man who's pointing a gun at Rufus.
- Chekhov's Gun: Mateo decides not to fix the burner in his apartment since he's going to die anyway. Near the end, he turns it on and it starts a fire that kills him.
- Death by Childbirth: Mateo's mother died giving birth to him.
- Dream-Crushing Handicap: Vin suffers from a genetic muscle disease that prevents him from being a wrestler.
- Dude, Not Funny!: After Rufus engages in some Gallows Humor with his foster house, saying, "One less mouth to feed, right?" no one laughs.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Peck's nickname is derived from how his punches have no power behind them.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Both main characters are doomed to die.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The book takes place over the course of a little less than 24 hours.
- Foreshadowing: Mateo takes a moment to remind Rufus to Look Both Ways when crossing the street. Not long after Mateo's death, Rufus gets hit by a car after walking into the street without looking.
- Internet Jerk: Some of the people Mateo meets on Last Friend before getting Rufus include a girl who wants to cheat on her boyfriend, a sexual predator and a woman who offers snuff videos.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Peck may not be a very nice person, especially from Rufus' (admittedly biased) point of view, but he was well within his rights to call the police on Rufus after Rufus beat him up, regardless of whether it's Rufus' last day to live. Rufus fully acknowledges that he can no longer think of himself as innocent.
- Look Both Ways: Not doing this is what does Rufus in.
- Men Don't Cry: Averted. Rufus was shocked to see his father crying when the entire family except for Rufus got Death-Cast calls in rapid succession.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Mateo panics after learning Rufus is wanted by the police for assault.
- Mateo has just enough time to realize his fatal mistake just before his demise.
- Outliving One's Offspring:
- Mateo's father is comatose but in no apparent danger of dying, while Mateo has 24 hours to live.
- The Herald responsible for calling Rufus had the unpleasant task of telling a woman that her four-year-old child is about to die.
- Sole Survivor: The rest of Rufus' family- his parents and sister Olivia- got the Death-Cast on the same day, so when the four of them went out together and got into an accident, Rufus was the only survivor.
- Survivor's Guilt: Discussed and double subverted with Rufus. Having survived the car accident that claimed the lives of his parents and sister, he notes that "survivor guilt" is often discussed, but he notes that he's bitter at his family for "leaving" him... until his subsequent rant indicates that he blames himself for being the only survivor.
- Switching P.O.V.: The book has first-person POV segments for Mateo and Rufus, as well as brief third-person segments for minor characters.
- Title Drop: After Mateo agrees to meet with Rufus despite his misgivings, he concludes that POV segment by narrating, "No matter how we choose to live, we both die at the end."
- Too Dumb to Live: Mateo dies from a moment of forgetfulness and carelessness brought on by feeling invincible after how long he's lasted and everything he went through.
- Undignified Death: After slipping in the shower early on, Mateo notes it would be unfortunate if he died from a fall and ended up on the "Shower KO" feed.
