Complaint 1: They Both Die At The End has a misleading title. Several people do die as forecasted but not necessarily the expected ‘they’ at the expected time. More than this would be spoilers. The idea is that in this world, there is a company that calls you on the day you die to tell you that you’ll die that die. They have a script, and then it’s up to you to do what you need/want to do on your last day of life. The trick is that you don’t know when or how you’ll die, so if you get the call around 12am, you could have nearly 24 hours left or just a few minutes.
Complaint 2: the premise is kind of interesting, but there isn’t enough world-building to fill things out. The general world of the story seems to be some version of the 1990ish since there’s this one conversation about how tapes (video and audio) might be replaced with other technology, but things like smart phones and online message boards exist, also Instagram. There’s a little insight into the company Death-Cast but not enough to really give an idea of why and how they do what they do. This is not a book about corporations, it’s definitely about the main characters Rufus and Mateo, but without even a little background, the premise ends up a little thin.
Complaint 3: the book is organized into ‘chapters’ told from alternating perspectives. This in itself is not a bad thing, but several of the perspectives do nothing but distract from the main narrative to which they barely tangentially connect. I suspect this has to do with trying to create some suspense (which works) and trying to show how the whole Death-Cast system affects other people (this doesn’t work as much). Mateo and Rufus are good characters and the story of how they connect and how they impact each-other’s last day is pretty touching, as are how they deal with those they love or need to say goodbye to. Rufus for example wants a funeral with his fellow Plutos (a gang of sorts based out of the foster group-home they live in), while Mateo has a father in coma and a best friend who is a single mother to a young daughter. There are several interruptions concerning people who are not going to die, and some of them have nothing or little to do with Mateo and/or Rufus. The side story about the reporter who gets the call and spends her day doubting whether or not it’s actually true since her ex-fiance works at Death-Cast and might be playing a nasty prank, and interviews a famous actor from a Harry-Potter like movie series who is also destined to die that day, has nothing to do with Mateo or Rufus, and the connection to one of them is so slender that this seems pointless. The actor’s interview actually has some interesting thoughts to it, but the rest of Delilah’s parts don’t have much to offer since there is not enough of her to really feel for, and she herself has nothing to do with the main plot.
On the positive: Mateo and Rufus really do develop a sweet connection, and the impact of the Death-Cast system on those destined to die, those around them, as well as those who deliver the news has really intriguing potential. The frustrating thing is that most of these things aren’t really given sustained attention (Mateo-Rufus being the exception).