I’m sure fan of “They Both Die at the End” will be eager to read this prequel, but, as an adult, I found this book predictable and difficult to get into. The characters fell short for me an I just couldn’t connect with them.

I had really high hopes for this book after reading the first one. I can't say I enjoyed it quite as much but it was still an excellent and heart wrenching read

This was a great addition to the first book but I think the first one could have been left to be a standalone...

I'm not sure why but I didn't enjoy this book. 3 stars. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

Adam Silvera’s prequel to the inventive and best-selling They Both Die at the End is just as engaging and gripping as its companion novel. This time we are living through the very first day DeathCast goes live and following not only subscribers to the service and DeathCast employees, but also its founder and creator. This is an extremely successful origin story to this alternative reality, once again both sad and life-affirming. It is truly bittersweet at its finest.

First of all, any book that makes me cry gets stars. It's not common, so the emotion has to be strong to get that going and holy moly, this book did it.
Don't get me wrong. I knew what I was getting into. This book takes place during the first Death Cast, first introduced in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33385229-they-both-die-at-the-end">They Both Die at the End</a>. It has multiple narrators and follows how each of their stories connect to the main narrators' (Orion and Valentino) story. I love stories where we see how each person's life can affect another, in both positive and negative ways. I liked how in this one, there's still an uncertainty about Death Cast and how accurate it is. Orion and Valentino don't know if the forecast is real, but still treat the day as if it's the last, because for one of them, it is. The story is very heavy and not for everyone but it is a good read about first and last love.

The much anticipated next Death Cast book. The premise is that we can know our fate-our death can be predicted and then what will you do with the knowledge of knowing your own expiration.
One the surface, it's a prequel to a YA bestseller, but it's so much more when you consider the way it frames not only death and grief but the joy of living in the moment and treasuring each day like its your last. It's a powerful and important read for most everyone. It didn't expect it to have so much emotional depth and life advice. It is a must read!

This book was so absolutely devastatingly amazing. So much beauty & tragedy written so well I felt everything. That is all I can say. I’m going to ugly cry some more now.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

Painfully predictable and didn’t have the heart (pun fully intended) of the first book. I never really felt connected to our main characters and the entire plot point of the glitches to the system felt like they were dropped with no intention to bring about a conclusion. Not sure why I even requested this advanced reader, but it’s done now!

In “The First to Die at the End”, Adam Silveria reveals some of the backstory to how Death Cast came to be. In his typical style, Silveria develops the story through the alternating points of view of Valentino & Orion., who meet on the night of Death-Cast’s premiere in Times Square. Their anticipation of how Death-Cast will revolutionize their lives quickly changes to fear when the first calls are made. One of them receive the very Death-Cast call, and both of their lives are changed forever. Together they decide how to spend the last of one of their days. Along the way, Characters from the first novel make some cameos too.

As a high school teacher, I would recommend this book to some more mature readers (there are some mature scenes). This novel could be read as a stand alone novel or as a prequel. I did become frustrated with how many character’s perspectives were introduced but not really developed,

I would to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Adam Silveria for the ARC.

This book is just as heart breaking as the original story. Adam Silvera pulls at your heart strings in so many ways and truly understands how to get you to fall in love with both characters. This is a story that you will be entranced in. You will want to know the characters stories but you will also feel the heartbreak when there is the first to die at the end. 5 Stars way up!!!

I loved this prequel! I didn't love it quite as much as the original, but I think that speaks more to how amazing They Both Die at the End is versus saying anything bad about this book. I enjoyed getting to hear a bit more about the backstory of DeathCast, though it does still leave you with lots of unanswered questions. I would definitely read more in this series if there are ever any more books.

The first book was one of my FAVES, but this prequel just did not live up to expectations. Instead of answering questions, it just gave us more of the same. Also, it was way too long for a YA title. Disappointing,

This is such an incredible prequel to an already outstanding book. I thought that my heart would never recover after the first installment, but I definitely won’t be able to come back from this one.

I was very excited to read this book after reading the first, and going through the process of how Death Cast started in a prequel was wonderful! Silvera always writes a great story with easy to love characters.

Orion and Valentino have so much depth to them it was incredible. This was so unique because I wondered how it would hold up to They Both Die at the End, and it ended up being just as good and completely stood apart from it as well. This is it's own story and I was just as invested and emotional as I was reading TBDATE.


Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #thefirsttodieattheend

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books, and NetGalley for a review copy of The First to Die at the End.

If you liked They Both Die at the End, then you will like this prequel just as much. Both books were 3 star reads for me. I found both to be a little too long and it was often hard to keep track of all the ancillary characters who came in and out of the stories. I did love the LGBTQ+ representation that is a hallmark of this series. At their core, these are good books, just a little too much going on for my taste. I like a more focused storyline.

Fans of Adam Silvera will not be disappointed in this book. I confess I did not finish the book as I had recently read something similar.

The prequel to "They Both Die at the End", "The First to Die at the End", starts on the launch day of Death-Cast, a service that claims to be able to predict with 100% certainty the day on which someone will die. After a chance meeting, Valentino and Orion must cope with the fact that their growing relationship will never go beyond 24 hours as one of them receives their Death Day call.

As with the first book (and other books where this occurs), I was unable to suspend disbelief that a relationship could progress this quickly between two people. Of course these characters fall in love and are probably soul mates and of course one of them dies at the end (that's the whole premise of the book). But it seems, for this reader, a little unrealistic for characters to fall that hard in such a short span of time. Now, I'll admit: I'm not sure how I would react if I knew it was my last day on this earth with such certainty, but in both this and the previous book, the rushed relationships never felt realistic enough.

However, I really did love the chapters about the roll out of the app, and even the sub plot with Dalma and her career dreams. I honestly would have read an entire book about the mayhem that ensued throughout the world and how the world had to adapt/change because of this new technology, rather than that part being the background to support the larger story of a romance between two Deckers.

If you enjoyed book one, you'll get more of the same in this sequel. If you enjoy speculative fiction and love YA romance, you'll probably enjoy this too!