Y’all this book wrecked me. It was so uplifting yet heartbreaking at the same time.

The overall concept is it’s present day but people have the ability to signup for Death Cast which is a company that has developed a way to determine when you will die, and if you’re a subscriber to their service, they will call you after midnight on the day of your demise to let you know that sadly, today is your last day to live. They don’t know how you’ll die, or when – just that today is your End Day as it’s called in the book and sometime before 11:59 PM you will die.

As the synopsis mentioned the book focuses on the alternating points of view of teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emetrio. Mateo is sweet and kind and shy and almost a recluse. His mother died when he was born and his dad had a stroke and is unconscious in the hospital, so he lives alone while he waits for his dad to wake up. Mateo is also a member of several online forums where people post about their Death Cast Call and what they did on their last day. He also knows all about the apps that are available and the perks some businesses have available to “deckers” on their last day. (Deckers is what they call those who are on deck to die that day).

Mateo knows that he needs to get out of the house. He’s played it safe his entire life and he needs to go out and live. He knows he needs to go see his dad in the hospital, visit his mom’s grave and see his best friend before he dies.

Rufus Emetrio is a foster kid whose entire family died in a car crash. Somehow he managed to escape with his life and harbors some resentment over it. Rufus receives his call from Death Cast right as he’s beating the crap out of some guy. Because of the assault, the police are now on his tail, but he’s not about to spend his last day on earth in jail. Mateo and Rufus end up meeting one another on the Last Friend app and they are exactly what the other needs on their final day. Over the course of the book we learn that Matteo is gay and Rufus is bisexual and the two experience a lot of firsts, find the love and comfort they’ve so desperately needed in each other.

The entire time I read the book I kept wondering if I would want to know if this was my last day alive. I’m not sure that I would. I think I would spend my entire day thinking about all of the friends and family who live in other states that I won’t be able to see, and all of the traveling I never did. I think I’d rather just kick it without knowing it was coming. Otherwise, I feel like I’d die with all of these regrets and coulda-shoulda-wouldas.

As the title implies, they both die at the end, and peppered throughout the book we get glimpses at other people’s lives that they interact with throughout their final day. It’s a sweet read, and you’ll definitely need to keep the tissues handy.