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Written by: Adam Silvera
Number of Pages: 384
Age Range: 14 and up
Rating: 4/5
In a not-too-distant future, Death-Cast, a group that is somehow able to forecast the exact date of a person’s death, calls each person just after midnight on their End Day. This gives people the chance to take advantage of many organizations and companies that create once-in-a-lifetime experiences, offer discounts and help provide for the end of life.
Two very different teens in New York both receive their calls and set out to try and reconcile a few things before they die. Mateo’s a bit of a recluse who needs to say his goodbyes to his best friend and her daughter and his comatose father but his anxieties continue to plague him even in the face of death and he ends up back in his apartment, alone. Rufus is in the midst of beating up his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend (with the help of a few of his gang) when he gets his call and then dashes from his fake funeral leaving his friends to deal with the cops that show up. They both sign onto the app, Last Friend, which connects them with each other and their differences balance each other out leading to a day filled with sky diving, karaoke, soaking in the sites and food of the city, making amends, saying goodbye and falling in love.
Yes, they really both die but there’s a lot of living, philosophical discussions and food for thought crammed into their last day. And as the two guys face their mortality, their life choices and what it means to live and love the reader can’t help but face those same questions about their own lives. It’s definitely eye opening and would make for some fabulous discussions among reading groups.
