I really enjoyed this book. However, if you’re like me and only want to read it because you want a history on Death Cast and how it works/how they know people are going to die… we get a POV from the creator all the way through the book and we never find out. It’s a similar story to the first book, but weaves some of the characters from it into this one and has its own heartening plot. 

Do I dare say I actually liked this way more than the first one? To me, I felt like this novel had so much heart and so much love just pouring out of it, I kind of wanted to cry the entire time. This is so genuinely loving, and all of these people are just trying their best to be family before they can't anymore, and I loved it. I also spent the last 15-20% genuinely shocked at the ending which is not something that normally happens to me! It was missing a certain specific sparkle to be rated 5 stars, but it definitely got close. 

I read They Both Die at the End years ago. And I honestly thought it was a one off. I loved the book, and I would have loved to see more of this world and it's characters, so imagine my shock when I scrolled through Instagram and came across it's prequel  — The First to Die at the End. I immediately went out to find and purchase this book because I wanted to know more. And I was not disappointed at all.

I loved it. And frankly, consider it stronger than the first book. Silvera has made a very compelling alternate world in which capitalism has taken over your life  —  and subsequently your death by subscribing (for a hefty price too) to Death-Cast, in which they will call when you have twenty-four hours left to live, and you will die before the day is done. How? The Decker (person called) doesn't know. You can only hope it's a painless and quick one.

So, to start off, this is a hefty book, 550 pages. And all of it takes place in less than twenty-four hours. Which makes it sound like a drag, but honestly it wasn't. With charming characters and various different POVs, it's actually a very compelling read and the world feels full and lived in. Each POV is uniquely different. From Valentino and Orion, the main protagonists, to Scarlett and Dalma, friends and siblings to the main boys, to Gloria  —  a mother who wants the best for her child, to Rolando, a former herald of Death-Cast, to Joaquin, the Death-Cast CEO, to even Mateo and Rufus from They Both Die at the End. We get various different POVs and while it can be distracting to some, I think this style works really well for the books.

Each character has such a unique voice and you find yourself caring for them, even if you spend a brief moment of time with them. The dialogue is  —  while cringy at times (which makes sense, they're teenagers)  —  is well done and realistic. I teared up when I saw Rufus and Mateo again, only as small children, knowing what would happen to them seven years after the book takes place. 

I also really love that Orion isn't just his tragedies. While yes, Silvera does focus on his viral cardiomyopathy or that his parents died on 9/11, he is first and foremost, an eighteen/nineteen year old, an aspiring writer and a hopeless romantic begging to come out of his shell. Valentino is the opposite, a healthy boy, on his way to becoming a model, extroverted and put together, with a twin sister he loves and cares for. My heart shattered when

it was Valentino who was called. Though Orion would have been too obvious, honestly and cruel.

Both boys learn to live in different ways through spending the day with each other, and despite the Instalove, it feels gradual and well done. 

There is so much heart (pun intended, for Orion) in this book, and it will definitely pull at the heartstrings (another one!). I cried at the end of this book as

losing Valentino via him being kicked down the stairs and experience brain death

was heartbreaking, too quick, unfair and brutal. I cried even harder when it was

his heart that saved Orion. That his death gave Orion his life is a cruel irony.

(When I catch you Adam...) It was a beautiful addition to the Death-Cast series. And I can't wait to see where Adam continues to take it.