Review: The First To Die At The End

 I genuinely apologize for my lack of any response or blog over the past month: I have been genuinely busy and caught up with life and studies and college, plus, I was kind of also caught up with NaNoWriMo once I actually started writing again.

I'm gonna be very honest about it, I wanted this book back in August as soon as I found out this book was getting out. I really adore Adam Silvera's work and I genuinely cried ugly tears when I read the sequel  They Both Die At The End back in March and was ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED, so I wanted to see what this one had to offer.

It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax?

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming.

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

QUICK THOUGHTS AND REVIEW: 5/5. ADAM SILVERA KNEW THE DAMAGE HE WAS ABOUT TO INFLICT.

Possible Trigger Tags:

1. Death

2. Domestic abuse

3. Death of parent

4. Minor homophobia

5. Gun violence

6. Physical abuse

7. Mentions of infidelity

WHAT DID I FEEL ABOUT THE  BOOK'S: 

1. Writing Quality: To be honest, I still am in awe of Adam Silvera's writing because the sequel had absolutely destroyed me. Like destroyed me to the point I cried at midnight internally but had to maintain a pokerface because people were around. Like the storyline's pretty engaging and compelling and the way that Adam Silvera wraps it up with little tidbits and connects the story beautifully, it's just chef's kiss.

2. Character Development: Ah yes, the lengthiest portion of this blog.

Orion: I will die for him. I seriously will. Like he's such a nice character and I really love the fact that he's a writer so whenever he expresses, it's in the most beautiful and poetic form. And I think it was a very beautiful idea of making Valentino live his End Day to the fullest. And he's such a beautiful thinker and it's really awesome the way he views the world because he thinks a bit differently. And this poor kid has suffered so much of trauma, he deserves all the love and care in the world. I will wrap this kid up in a blanket.

Valentino: MY BABY 😭. He literally didn't deserve to die. Like I feel so sorry for him. He'd moved out of his house, ready to finally live that New York life, and then he suddenly gets the call that he's gonna die. And also I love the fact that he thoroughly enjoys the things Orion shows him instead of crying around like it's his end day. And I also think he could be a poet because his words are also poetic at a point.

Dalma: I really like her character, although her screentime is rather short in the novel. She's an encouraging sister and I think one of the best persons that could have been there as a supporting character. Like seriously, this woman is always up for helping Orion no matter what and cares so much about him and it's so beautiful seeing this dynamic between them. Dalma is the perfect sister and she even leaves Orion alone because he asks her, without minding it and giving them privacy.

Frankie: An absolute disgusting dumbfuck of a man. I am kind of relieved that he died though. Gloria and Rolando and Paz would be much better off without him. Like seriously, I don't think there could be another man I could be more disgusted by in this book. He's a lying, cheating, filthy hypocrite and an absolute scum because no man should raise his hand while hitting his wife. Good job on killing him Paz.

3. Couldn't put it down- Ness: 10/10, I simply couldn't complete it before because I was busy.

4. Intellectual Depth: I think the main point of the story was living your life to the fullest? You never know when you're about to die so it's basically living as if it's your last. And also the game of fate? Orion was the one who was teetering on the cliff of death because of his heart problem while Valentino was the one who was alive and healthy. And yet Orion is the one who lives and Valentino ends up dying. Simply proves the fact that you don't know what would happen.

5. Plot: I think the plot was pretty good in my opinion. I think Silvera did an amazing job of putting the stories together. I mean in They Both Die At The End, there are chapters related to the Death Cast that do not make sense with the story and kind of are confusing, but here Silvera puts random chapters that aren't really random. There are POVs of other people that slowly build up towards the big end instead of just existing. And also it was fun knowing about how Death Cast was first made [though that is never made public] and also about the Last Friend App. And I kid you not, MATEO AND RUFUS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE STORY KNOWING FULL WELL THAT THEY WOULD DIE LATER IS KILLING ME. LIKE THEY'RE NOT DEAD YET BUT THEY'RE GONNA BE SOON ENOUGH. It fucked with my mind, absolutely.

OVERALL, A GREAT READ, I think the phone slipped out of my hands thrice while I was reading this.