Recently, I had the pleasure of taking out the time to read a lovely book called They Both Die at The End by Adam Silvera.
If I were to describe the book, I’d say it was beautifully tragic, utterly devastating and incredibly uplifting.
The book chronicles the lives of two teenagers, Mateo and Rufus, as they discover they will die that day.
It is beautiful to read how Adam Silvera stretches that single day out for us, so that it becomes a whirlwind adventure that is almost life changing.
As the name suggests, they both die at the end.
There are so many lovely happy moments in this book that I can assure you won’t want to miss out on.
Whilst reading, I came across several lines that I feel are really deep and possibly soul crushing. I’ll share them here, along with some thoughts I had about them.
1.
“No matter how we live, we both die at the end.”
This one is pretty straight forward to me. I find it interesting that this applies to each and every person.
No matter how rich, popular, intelligent or prosperous you are, death levels us all. It’s pretty chilling to bring that to the front of the mind.
2.
“I’m already finding out that this one day to get everything right isn’t enough. This one life wasn’t enough.”
They say one of the seven deadly sins is greed. Humans seem to have no end to the greed in our hearts.
Like Oliver Twist, we want a little more – be it riches, good health, better grades, and yes, longer life spans. It is sad, but ultimately true.
3.
“People waste time and wait for the right moment… we don’t have that luxury.”
This one hit me so hard! Because we subconsciously believe we have infinite time, we do precisely that. Truth is, there is no right moment. Go for it now that you can.
4.
“No matter when it happens, we all have our endings. No one goes on, but what we leave behind keeps us alive for someone else.”
Isn’t this what most people want? Legacy, a family, something to leave behind for the coming generations? I think it’s touching and true, but also intimidating.
What could I leave behind? It’s a terribly hard question to answer.
5.
“Sometimes the truth is a secret you’re keeping from yourself because living a lie is easier.”
The truth can be so bitter to swallow that we avoid it entirely, which is sad. I think about this a lot. It’s something really important that we should notice. They Both Die at The End is filled with humbling ideas like this that make you feel like Adam Silvera reached into your heart and pulled out something from deep inside.
