The First to Die at the End: TikTok made me buy it! The prequel to THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END

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You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Silvera convincingly packs a budding romance, a romance in which you'll get quickly invested, into less than 24 hours. Silvera crafts a stunning and thought-provoking narrative that examines difficult existential questions without eschewing hope. Valentino Prince has a long and promising future ahead of him and only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

A bestselling American novelist, Adam Silvera is the author of the successful teen and YA books They Both Die at the End, More Happy Than Not, History Is All You Left Me, and What If It's Us. The things that they made time to do: the secret train station, the 9/11 memorial, the bridge… every single moment was a beautiful use of their short time together, which was so heartwarming. It's like all the tiny connections that we may never realize or understand, but we are all connected in one way or another.

I literally guessed everything that was going to happen and I was still heartbroken and shocked when it actually did. I kinda feel like something switched with the titles because the reviews talk both about this book and about the other book, so hopefully I've properly marked the one I read. This is usually due to how emotionally raw and painful his stories can be, and The First to Die at the End is no different.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to read this book from Adam Silvera, given I enjoyed a few of his other ones. The scene with the hoodie over valentino's eyes ( a dead man walking but walk him down 30 steps of stairs blindfolded WITH A HOODIE) very much gave the same energy as "i blew on my fist and the fire vanished" aka a boy with superpowers from another book from Adam Silvera. I know not everyone is crazy about the inclusion of these types of tiny slivers of life, but I loved them and the way it demonstrated the interconnections in general. It takes what we would expect from this universe and expands on it in a way that’s unique, while still keeping the core beauty of the first book’s message intact. It really showed a range for emotion and difficult circumstances, but also the power to rise above and keep living every day with intent.The references, easter eggs, and cameos from characters in They Both Die at the End made this book more than just the first in the Death-Cast timeline … it actually made the book a true prequel by setting us up for the plot in the future with characters we knew we would encounter again. Both of them were likeable and here Orion was quite a whiny annoying cussing "oh i'm so important and special" dude. I knew what to expect and the "embrace your life" theme that resonated so much with me in the first book just didn't feel as fresh and meaningful here.