They Both Die At The End

"I've spent years living safely to secure a longer life, and look where that's gotten me. I'm at the finish line but I never ran the race." 

Hey, what would you do if you found out you only had one day left to live ?

Okay, a little mention of the author's words at the beginning of the novel : his text touched me deeply. I don't know if it's because a part of me identified a little with it, but his words moved me. Anyway, what can I say about this novel ?

In a futuristic society where we are told the day we will die (but we don't know the exact time or how we're going to die, hello angst !), here we are following the alternate viewpoints of two young boys : Mateo and Rufus. They don't know each other, but they have one thing in common : they know they're going to die today.

The writing is easy to read, the chapters are short, and the characters very touching and extremely endearing. Several moments brought tears to my eyes (spoiler alert ! for those who have read the book : the extract with the homeless, what Rufus says to Mateo at one point, or even the passage where they sing together). What's so beautiful about this book is how the author gets us interested in every single moment of Mateo and Rufus, even if they're not going to experience crazy things : it's beautiful.

In addition, while finishing the novel, I saw a TikTok where people said that the Instagram accounts mentioned in the book (will understand who can) did indeed exist. I went to see, and I saw posts that corresponded to the novel. I was moved, especially seeing the hundreds of comments where each person had written the time and the country where they had written those words. It probably sounds absurd, but just seeing all these people bonded by this love for this book made me want to cry even more.