The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

The First to Die at the End Reviews

• 
  Ayman

  lmao i finished this masterpiece and now i’ve been staring at walls for hours just thinking about what i just read.
  
  just like “they both die at the end” this prequel has multiple narrators but the main ones are Orion and Valentino. and they are some of the most real and deep characters. the timeline for their story is when Death Cast is being introduced and tried for the first time. we see a lot of doubt within almost every character for the trueness of the death cast system. like “does it actually work?” , “there’s gotta be errors in the system,” as many think. it was even more interesting reading from the pov of the death cast creator, Joaquin.
  
  just like TBDATE this one was emotional and bittersweet towards the end. tears soaking the page type of shit. i will say, i appreciated how this work wasn’t a repetition of TBDATE, it fully stands on its own as a unique story set in the death cast world. the writing is captivating. and obviously fans of TBDATE will love this but surprisingly i can also see people that didn’t like that book like this one
  
  and side note but we get 1 Mateo and Rufus pov in this one and i fully trained my brain into believing that they’re still breathing alive and well 🤧🤧🤧
• 
  nevillelongbottomsflower

  YES I CAN’T FUCKING WAIT YES
  Theories:
  • I WILL cry
  • Mateo and/or Rufus cameo (or of their family, depending on much earlier the book takes place)
  • More detail on Death-Cast and how they knows who dies (seriously HOW THE FUCK DO THEY KNOW?)
  • MC relative of one of the side characters..?
  • LGBTQ+ and BIPOC rep obviously
  • Pain
  • More pain
• 
  persephone ☾

  now why did no one tell me this is going to be released this year ??
  but i swear if it's a cash grab and it's not done well ... 😃🔪
• 
  Melissa (Hiatus for Work-Will Pop In When I Can))

  Sweet prequel to
  They Both Die at the End. Although I liked it, it felt kind of like a rehash of the first book. 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.
  
  What I loved:
  Getting to see the origin of the Death-Cast and some of the hiccups that came with its release.
  The romance is lovely and touching and sad.
  The found family aspect is always great for me.
  Getting to see Rufus and Mateo as kids and knowing where they would end up
  
  What didn't really work:
  As I said, it all felt too similar, too much the same as TBDATE, I mean why do we want to watch her try to figure out what app to develop when we already know what the app is?
  We don't learn anything new about how Death-Cast works
  It's too long, and we could have done without some of the extraneous POVs because they didn't really add anything meaningful to the story.
  
  That said, it's totally worth reading but NOTE: Even though this is a prequel, you still want to read it second.
  
  I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
• 
  Aaron Aceves

  I think I like this better than They Both Die at the End??
• 
  AbbysBooks

  I really didn’t learn my lesson the first time found, huh?
• 
  Noah

  I can't believe I just heard about this!
  
  Actual review-
  
  Adam Silvera is one of those authors I put in the “I loved this book, but I’ll never be able to read it again,” category. 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. The story goes through several twists and turns and remains clever and surprising despite the title literally saying exactly what’s going to happen. One small issue is that I think there may have been too many pov’s in this book. In addition to Orion and Valentino, you get the friend, a guy who works at Death-Cast, his coworkers, the sister, the… landlord, and way more for some reason. It’s all a bit much. Otherwise, I appreciated this book’s melancholic tone. 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. And though there were some pretty dark elements and hard-to-get-through-moments, this is still ultimately a love story with a lot of heart. I think it’s safe to say that this book will stay with me for a long while.
  
  “Even after coming out, I still don’t know my way in.”
• 
  albinë

  this is literally that "girl comes out of surgery asking where her bf is only to be told 'who do you think gave you your heart'" meme in book form
• 
  ˗ˏˋ lia ˎˊ˗

  after hearing a lot of bad things about this prequel, i was scared going into it because i feared it would just be a cash grab. i’m happy to say that i thoroughly enjoyed the first to die at the end. i loooved reading about the backstory, seeing the creator’s thoughts and struggles, the first deckers as well as glimpses of the lives of bystanders or workers for death cast. the lil cameos of mateo and rufus were also really lovely!
  
  i’ve really missed reading adam silvera’s works and he did not disappoint with this one. i think people who enjoyed they both die at the end will also be liking this. those who hated it and are reading this prequel will most likely hate it too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  
  the initial novel suddenly blowing up on booktok after four years really gave adam the chance to dive back into this because more stories in this world is all i’ve ever wanted <3
• 
  Bea Jones

  i wanted them to die quicker.
• 
  Cartas de un Lector

  Agradezco a BookUp Mx por darme la oportunidad de leer este libro (ARC) antes de que salga públicamente.
  
  Siento que mis expectativas estaban demasiado altas y por eso no disfruté tanto el libro.
  
  No me malentiendan, los primeros capítulos me fascinaron porque estábamos conociendo el origen de “Death Cast”, ya que esto se desarrolla en el 2010, en el lanzamiento de la empresa. Pero está parte de la narrativa se quedó muy corta y no profundizó lo suficiente.
  
  La relación romántica entre los protagonistas no me termino de gustar. Jamás sentí química entre ellos, por lo tanto no pude conectar con su narrativa. Además de que se vuelve muy repetitiva, por lo que llega a cansar. Aunque obvio tuvo sus momentos emotivos y unas frases preciosas.
  
  Lo que si me gustó es que tuvimos más perspectivas, algunos cameos y también una gran diversidad de temas como lo es el terrorismo, pérdidas emocionales, abuso doméstico, homofobia y muchos más.
  
  No me termina de gustar el estilo del autor, pero el concepto del universo sigue siendo atractivo y entretenido de leer. Me la pasé muy bien leyéndolo aún con los fallos que menciono.
  
  Pronto haré una reseña mucho más completa en mi canal 🙌🏻💀
• 
  cohlyreads Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ。

  My heart is shattered. I literally guessed everything that was going to happen and I was still heartbroken and shocked when it actually did. I will never get over this series and I will fight anyone who has anything bad to say about this or TBDATE.
  
  I was so happy getting a few glimpses of Rufus and Mateo, and all the cute moments between ValentinOrion.
  
  It's 4AM now and I have no idea how I'm supposed to sleep rn. My eyes burn from crying for hours.
  
  Adam pls give us another one, I beg.
• 
  Isa ☾

  gays really can't be happy
• 
  Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)

  When you find the sequel ‘alright’ and the prequel suddenly shatters your heart in a million pieces.
  
  Okay, okay, I shouldn’t say anything because when you’re known as the one who is a sucker for sadder and darker stories and picks those books up time and again, you know what to expect, right?
  
  Yes and no.
  
  Because this one was less sad and less dark than They Both Died at the End, and still, it pulled my heart out of my chest and broke it, but also mended it beautifully together.
  
  I hate death, and I’m afraid to die. I don’t want to think about it and feel time slipping away as I get older. And when I think that family or friends might die, my chest tightens, and a voice in my head screams NO. But I also know that while grieving, my life will go on.
  
  As long as you keep existing, you’ll keep breathing, and if you’re breathing, one day you’ll start living again.
  
  And that’s what Adam so perfectly shows us. To live our life to the fullest. To do everything we want to do and to love wholeheartedly. Even when people around us are dying or have died. Even when we might die ourselves. The story reminded me in many ways of One Republic’s I Lived.
  
  Orion and Valentine, Valentine and Orion. One gets to live, and the other one dies. At moments, tears crept into my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. But I also loved that ending. Even though one of them dies, the other one lives and breathes on and starts living, a beautiful, glorious life in front of him.
  
  There’s a reason why Adam Silvera is one of my favorite authors. For a long time, I wanted to rate this story four stars but the last part shattered my heart and mended it back together, full of love for those two boys. And that’s why I can’t do anything else than rate this book five beautiful stars!
• 
  Ishika

  My patience is dying day by day😩
• 
  Austin Anderson

  This was...not great. It was an obvious cash grab from the start. It was clear that the book was rushed because a lot of the writing was rough. Run-on sentences that made zero sense after reading them aloud 5 times. Super cringey dialogue. ("Download me later" in the context of fill me in later? Wtf does that mean!?) And the most cliche story. I called the entire plot within the first 15 or so pages. And Orion's parents died in 9/11. So Valentino died at 9:11 PM. HOW STUPID!
  
  As a prequel, this had a lot of hype to live up to, and it just repeated the exact same story from the first book, somehow 200 pages longer, with zero explanation on the mechanics of Death-Cast. The POV of the creator of Death-Cast was super frustrating, because it absolutely REFUSED to explain how anything worked. And the cameos/POV chapters of Mateo and Rufus were so forced and unnecessary. I feel like this whole book was just Adam Silvera giving himself a pat on the back for nothing.
  
  I don't know how I finished this book, but even if you're a fan of They Both Die, I wouldn't recommend this cheap attempt at storytelling.
• 
  Charlotte May

  3.5 ⭐️
  
  Now, it’s been quite a few years since I read ‘They Both Die at the End’ and I gave that one 4.5 stars. But, if I reread it now, that might be different.
  
  I can only go on what I could remember when I opened this prequel.
  
  We begin on Death Cast eve. The evening death cast is first introduced to America, and the first Decker will receive a phone call to say that they will die in the next 24 hours.
  
  There are several POVs but the main two are Orion, a New Yorker living with a severe heart condition, wondering everyday if it will be his last. The second is Valentino - who has recently moved to New York to start his new life as a model.
  
  Their paths collide on death cast eve and the calls are made. One of them will die in 24 hours. They spend the next 24 hours together, and it changes their lives.
  
  I know I am bitter and cynical now. I wasn’t when I was younger, but ya know - life. So the whole insta-love wasn’t great, even though one of them thinks they are going to die.
  
  It was still very readable and I liked the other POVs such as an old man who receives a death cast call and numerous others with relevance to the overall story.
  
  It was ok, just not like the previous book as I remember it.
• 
  Kaitlin

  I HAVE TO WAIT FOR BASICALLY ANOTHER YEAR?????????
  5 STARS ALREADY BECAUSE I LOVE CRYING AND HURTING MY OWN FEELINGS ON PURPOSE AND I AM CERTAIN THIS WILL DELIVER
  
  update: am about to go get this book finally and am very excited
  
  
  UPDATE I FINALLY FINISHED IT I AM CRYING RN AND I CRIED MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT, HIGHKEY RECOMMEND MAKING A SAD PLAYLIST AS YOU READ THE BOOK IN ALMOST ONE SITTING, MCR’s THE GHOST OF YOU WAS WHAT WAS PLAYING AS I FINISHED IT, 10/10 CRYING EXPERIENCE, THAT BOOK SO PAID OFF THAT YEAR OF WAITING
• 
  ellie

  note to self: don't read silvera's books anymore
• 
  megs_bookrack

  I loved, loved, loved
  They Both Die at the End when I read it all the way back in February 2019. Trust me when I say, since that time it has lived rent free in my heart.
  
  I, along with most other people, believed it to be a standalone novel. Then shockingly, a prequel novel was announced. The First to Die at the End is that prequel. I'll be honest, I've been so scared to pick this up.
  
  
  
  I wasn't sure any other content was necessary. How could it possibly live up to the story told in TBDATE?
  
  Finally, however, I could resist my curiosity no more. I had to read it and ultimately, I am really glad that I did. Silvera successfully pulled off the unasked for prequel.
  
  
  
  In this story, our main characters are Valentino and Orion. The stage is set on the eve of the launch of Death Cast. Valentino, with dreams of becoming a professional model, has just, as in this very day, moved to New York City.
  
  Orion, is a life-long New Yorker with a tragic past. He is anxious for the launch of Death Cast due to the way death has previously touched his life. Also, he has a very serious heart condition. He always feels the clock is ticking for him.
  
  
  
  Through a twist of fate, these two boys meet in Times Square and feel an instant connection. As Death Cast goes live, one of them gets a call and the other does not.
  
  They decide, no matter how it is going to turn out, they are going to spend the next 24-hours together. Death Cast is untried. Will their prediction be correct, or will it all end up being nothing more than an elaborate hoax?
  
  
  
  Woven throughout the over-arching storyline, we also get vignettes of side characters that Valentino and Orion encounter along the way.
  
  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's like all the tiny connections that we may never realize or understand, but we are all connected in one way or another. I think Silvera showed that beautifully.
  
  
  
  As far as the main characters go, they were fantastic. They were complex with plenty of backstory to make you want to fight for them. I enjoyed the relationship that developed between the boys.
  
  Of course it is a bit instalovey, but it sort of had to be, considering the brief time-frame of the narrative. I actually didn't mind it. I sort of feel like if I had met Valentino on the streets, I could have fallen in love with him just as quickly.
  
  
  
  The banter was great and Silvera provided plenty of hard-hitting issues to consider. It really showed a range for emotion and difficult circumstances, but also the power to rise above and keep living every day with intent.
  
  There were also some fun connections to the original book and the NYC setting was vivid. So, while this wasn't quite as powerful for me as the first book, I still really, really liked it and appreciate the characters and the heartfelt way Silvera told their stories.
  
  
• 
  bartek

  it is so bad i want to give you a zero but that's not possible so i give you a one because my head hurts from rolling my eyes for 10 hours straight
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  a tak na serio to 24 godziny i dwa ataki serca, dwie strzelaniny, pokaz mody, sesja zdjęciowa i ruch@ńsko czego chcieć więcej
• 
  gloria .☆ﾟ.

  i don't really want to read a prequel of a book i didn’t even like 😭 especially one that is 400 pages... I'm curious though.
• 
  mary (betty’s version)

  the feminine urge to give this 5 stars even though it doesn't even exist yet😭
  OCTOBER 4TH BETTER HURRY TF UP BC I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER
• 
  Melany

  I'm not crying, you're crying. 😭😭 Okay I'm totally crying. So many parts made me smile and go "awww" and also there were many parts that made me teary eyed. The last half of the book I was crying half the time. Adam Silvera NEVER fails me. I'm so glad I took the chance on this one after loving the first book so much. Such a beautiful piece of literature, completely grips you the entire time. Moving, breathtaking, captivating and heartbreaking all in one neat package.
• 
  milo ★

  this sucks ass im never listening to tiktok book recs ever again
• 
  Avani ✨

  "The First To Die At The End" by Adam Silver is the prequel to the best selling novel 'They Both Die At The End' and the Death-Cast Series. To give a background, this one starts the night before the launch of Death-Cast. Death Cast is basically where people get calls a night before they are going to die, death calls.
  
  In the last book we had Mateo & Rufus, the duo I officially fell in love with and this one has Orion & Valentino. I fell instantly in love with both these couples the moment I started reading the book. I think in this book we dive deep into the Death-Cast and it's significance.
  
  I am officially a fan of this book and series and many others written by Adam Silvera, since the authors writing gives us emotions and feelings to the core. Death-Cast requires you to register for the same in order to receive the calls and all the four characters we see in this duology has some or the other reason which brings them to Death-Cast.
  
  I love reading about LGTBQ & Queer Books, this one tops the list very easily. This one as well as the previous books, both were heartwarming throughout the journey of the plot as well as bittersweet towards the end. We also get Mateo & Rufus reference once in this book and it stole my heart.
  
  I highly recommend you to pick this one up and recommend this unique stories to others as well. The Death-Cast creator, Joaquin was another interesting plot to read about.
• 
  Tina ➹ Woman, Life, Freedom

  I've told you, that book (they both die at the end) have the potential to be continued! or be prequeled! 2 years ago!
  I told you!
  so happy!
• 
  Jason Conrad

  Holy. Fucking. Shit. This book was a few things:
  
  1.) Perfection. Complete perfection.
  2.) Even better than They Both Die at the End.
  3.) Probably Adam Silvera’s best solo book.
  4.) A 550-page epic of enormous emotional proportions.
  
  I loved They Both Die at the End. This book completely blew the original out of the water for me. I completely adored our two protagonists, Valentino and Orion. I connected more with them than Rufus and Mateo (who I still love!) and felt we got to see a larger amount of character development, likely due to the longer length of the book. They were both fantastic humans, and I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like about them. They were so easy to root for.
  
  I love that the romance aspect was introduced closer to the beginning of the book, because the emotional payoff that came from Valentino and Orion actually falling in love over the course of their day made the overall story and ending even more impactful. 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.
  
  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. It was great to read from the POV’s of other characters as well. Especially tiny Rufus and tiny Mateo!
  
  *COMMENCE SPOILER ALERT*
  
  The ending. Y’all. I am NOT okay, and I finished the book a few days ago. It has stuck with me. Valentino giving Orion his heart was one of the most amazing, moving, emotional, gut-wrenching, bittersweet plot points I have encountered in a book this entire year. Valentino living on through the boy he loved, who loved him, was fucking BEAUTIFUL. I had no words. Valentino’s video at the end of the book. The final lines (see below). All of it. Absolutely incredible.
  
  The way this book had me a complete emotional wreck at 2:30 AM. Full-on sobbing. This story (especially the ending) will hold a special place in my heart, because I truly cherished this book. It was moving and meaningful. It was brilliant. Adam truly outdid himself with this one, and I cannot wait for whatever the next installment in the Death-Cast series has in store for us.
  
  “…my heart. His heart. Our heart.” ❤️
  
• 
  Noah de Campos Neto

  Literally they both die at the end 2.0. Also no new info on death cast really so it was meh
• 
  River

  4.5/5
  
  I am emotionally devastated, Adam Silvera why do you always do this to me? But also don't stop, it's incredible!
  This review is going to be all over the place because I simply cannot get over this book.
  
  Prequels always have a unique sense of grief that they're able to inflict upon you. I think it lies in the omniscience of the reader. Therefore reading the tiny links in this story to characters like Mateo and Rufus etc makes their story to come even more heartbreaking and this one all the more poignant, too.
  
  Valentino and Orion's story is heartbreaking enough by itself (this added factor just wedged the knife in a little deeper) but their story is not only a heartbreaking one, it's also poetic and hopeful and beautiful.
  All the thoughts in my head right now are of the ending and many other aspects of this story that I can't talk about without spoiling it, but what I will say is that I thought the structure of this novel was brilliant. It's an incredibly character-driven story, as Adam Silvera's books usually are, and it allows us the simplicity of existing beside these characters, of following their very real, very tragic stories.
  
  What I love so much about the Death-Cast stories is that they are exactly that, so very real. The world-building of Death-Cast is amazing and I loved seeing the differences in the world between this book and They Both Die at the End. The world is so clearly thought out and you can see its growth as it changes, as something like this would if it existed in our world. But, amongst this dystopian-esque world are human stories. This is one of the many compelling factors in these books, we follow the human experiences of these people, the world is only their backdrop, the focus is them.
  
  The dynamic of the two main characters is very different in this story to TBDATE (due to a number of spoilery factors I won't elaborate on as well as their personalities and who they are) but it also holds the same messages and comforts as they navigate this End-Day (the very first End-Day). I've always said that They Both Die at the End, and now The First to Die at the End, hold a rare comfort within them; it's not a jagged, distressing sadness, but a warm, inevitable one.
  
  And that's one of the things we know whilst reading, we know the inevitability of their fates. This book actually adds an element of mystery to this factor, too, but generally speaking we know how the story ends. I find this the most captivating factor of these stories, the fact that we are telling a tale already with the knowledge of its ending. That just because we already know how it ends, it doesn't mean the story isn't important, it doesn't mean the story isn't worth telling.
  
  And it's true. We all know, as we exist on this earth, that we will eventually die. No one has escaped it and no one has hidden from it, it is as certain as anything. But that doesn't mean that the things that we do now, that the lives that we live now, are not important. It's a sentiment that even alone would make me cry and Adam Silvera adds to this even more with his beautiful tales.
  
  The characters are caring and heartfelt and you can't help but want to hold them in your arms and protect them from the world. I also adored the tales within the story that one of our main characters (a short story writer) tells us, they were breathtaking and read as if they were myths. The story of the Golden Heart was so moving and I'll never forget it.
  
  Thank you Adam Silvera for another masterpiece! I find such comfort in these stories (even though I end up sobbing and sobbing and sobbing) I highly recommend you pick this one up!