YA Book Club for Adults - Chinn Park Library discussion
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They Both Die at the End
January Book Discussion-- "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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Jan 06, 2021 04:01PM
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This book has been on my radar for quite sometime and extremely hyped and I resisted reading it because I just didn't think it would speak to me. However it really resonated and now I get the hype and will be telling everyone of any age to read it. Its hard to capture why in a plot summary but it was amazing.
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Rob wrote: "I liked the idea of telling you how the book ends in the beginning, though I secretly didn't know if I believed that would happen..." Right, I am glad it stuck to that because otherwise it would ruin the message. Life and Death is at stake and we don't get magical happy endings.
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I was definitely rooting for them but not necessarily to cheat death but to really really live you know. I still cried in spite of knowing - it did not lessen the stakes. I have actually read several books this past year that tell the exact end at the beginning and somehow it doesn't ruin it.
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I secretly was hoping they would live but I also think that would have made for a less impactful book and ending. I think the book shows all the different characters who get the call and how they take that news whether it is denial, or bargaining, or acceptance. In many ways they are grieving their own life.
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Rob wrote: "Jelli wrote: "I was definitely rooting for them but not necessarily to cheat death but to really really live you know. I still cried in spite of knowing - it did not lessen the stakes. I have actua..."I am glad the stakes were real and no one got out of it (except that girl who was toying with the idea of suicide but she didn't get a call and so Death Cast was still right).
Rob wrote: "What effects do you think that Death-Cast would have on our society? How would you react to its existence?"I think a lot of people would try to buy their way out of the call or pay for other people to be called. However I do think the 'last moment' experience places were cool. Like I would love to travel the world and it isn't going to happen for lots of reasons but a simulation would be fun. But I could just go to Epcot. :)
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I think a lot of people would try to buy their way out of the call or pay fo..."
I thought the author did a good job of creating a world that felt realistic. I think if Death-cast existed it would be on an app on all our smart phones and celebrities would do interviews before they died. It felt very real and scary. I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but I really hope something like death-cast never becomes real. While I might want to know that I have a limited amount of time left in my life I would not want to know the specific day I was dying. That seems so stressful and traumatic.
Also I think some people would be paralyzed by fear, others would behave radically different. I think getting 24 hours notice is different than if you have years of knowing the end date. Also this is very different from being extremely sick and being told you have 6 months. When you are ill, you don't usually have the ability to go live it up, you know. But I think the message is really about seizing the day and living your best life every day.
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very true
Rob wrote: "JI would not want to know the specific day I was dying. That seems so stressful and traumatic. ."A lot of people would try very hard to change things so that 'fate' would not happen and then stress themselves out worrying if the thing they change is the thing that will cause it. It would definitely mess with my head.
Rob wrote: "Did you like Mateo and Rufus? Why or why not? What about them made you like them? How did you feel about their growth? Did it feel natural?"I am definitely identify more with Mateo than Rufus but I found them both likable. Hearing the story from both perspectives was helpful getting to know them. Normally, I am not a fan of insta-love but I think the way they spent the day and told their stories to each other made the relationship feel organic. l love the quote "maybe it's better to have gotten it right and been happy for one day instead of living a lifetime of wrongs."
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I definitely preferred Mateo over Rufus at the start of the novel. Even though I think Mateo can come off as cautious and afraid, I had a hard time with Rufus as a character after he jumped his ex's boyfriend. I felt frustrated anytime he act justified in what he did or when he acts like he did nothing wrong. That guy turns out to be a jerk but it was still hard for me. I don think both characters grows through their experience and I think it feels mostly natural and genuine
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I am definitely identify more with Mateo t..."
I think the instant love is a troupe of the genre but here it feels the most natural because it gives a real urgency to the relationship and explains why their feelings may be a little rushed and not natural
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Rob wrote: " definitely preferred Mateo over Rufus at the start of the novel. Even though I think Mateo can come off as cautious and afraid, I had a hard time with Rufus as a character ."I think it was a deliberate choice to have these characters represent two extremes instead of having two middle of the road characters. The reader can see a little bit of themselves in one or the other but still have lots of room to think about what they would do differently than either.
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I think ..."
I can see that. I thought Mateo was afraid of death and Rufus was more like bring it on.
Rob wrote: "Why doesn’t Mateo initially want to tell Lidia that he’s going to die soon? For her benefit? For Mateo’s?"I think his primary motive is that he didn't want her to have to go through that again since she had already been there once with her boyfriend/father of her child. But it is probably also true that deep down he wanted to spare himself the pain of seeing her pain.
Jelli wrote: "I think his primary motive is that he didn't want her to have to go through t..."
Of course his thinking was wrong - she will go through it whether he tells her before or she finds out after. She would want the chance to say her goodbyes that she didn't have before.
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I think his primary motive is that he didn't want her to have to go through t..."
That was a hard scene to read when she finally discovers it. I think the author did a good job of capturing that feeling of losing someone that you think will be around forever. You subconsciously have this idea of what your future will look like with them there and then it all changes with their death. I think the better thing for Mateo to do would be to tell her but I also imagine it would be so hard to say goodbye and have that conversation.
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Rob wrote: "I think the better thing for Mateo to do would be to tell her but I also imagine it would be so hard to say goodbye and have that conversation."Right because you don't want to ruin the time you have with worry, fear, crying, you just want it to be normal, good.
Rob wrote: "According to dictionary.com, carpe diem (seize the day) is interpreted as “enjoy the present, as opposed to placing all hope in the future.” Is that the book’s message? Is that an ideal way to appr..."I think that is an extreme interpretation of the message. I think the message is more "live your best life every day" - that doesn't mean don't plan for the future; it means don't be paralyzed by fear or put off doing stuff for bad reasons.
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Rob wrote: "I think at least in my life there has always been more of a focus on planning for the future than treating yourself and taking care of yourself by living life to your fullest. I think it is importa..."The older I get the more I realize that living is what you do today and there won't always be tomorrows so I am trying harder to make the micro moments as special as the macro moments - especially during these times of quarantine.
Rob wrote: "Great discussion as always! The next book club meeting is February 3 at 7 p.m and we will be reading and discussing Dreadnought by April Daniels. It is available as an ebook on Hoopla."See you then!
