The DeathCast Book Reviews

Synopsis:

The First To Die At The End (Prequel):

Orion Pagan is an orphaned young adult from New York City with a severe heart condition. He had lost his parents to the infamous 9/11 crash and has been staying with his best friend Dalma and her family since. The sudden rise of the DeathCast program which has been confirmed to predict deaths (though not the specific outcome) has left him feeling uneasy and uncertain about his fate but he is determined to live his life however he can. To this end, he signed up for DeathCast and openly supports the program so he’ll have the ability to say goodbye to his loved ones in the event of an unfortunate death on his or anyone else’s end. On July 30th, 2010 however things changed, on the day of the Death-Cast party officially releasing DeathCast to the public an aspiring model named Valentino Prince moves to New York, quick to achieve his dream of being a successful model. He (alongside his fraternal twin sister Scarlet) is unfortunately estranged from his parents due to their religious views preventing them from accepting their son’s queerness. As such he and Scarlet intended to move to New York to pursue their interest in modeling & photography using their parents' college fund to pay for their expenses, however, Scarlet could not board a flight with Valentino leaving him to journey alone. However, Valentino did not mind this and was happy to see the city for the first time. He meets his landlord Frankie who almost immediately rubs Valentino the wrong way with his rude demeanor and discovers the apartment is much smaller than advertised (thanks to Frankie’s scheming and expert photography skills). After settling in, Valentino calls Scarlet who implores him to attend the DeathCast event both desiring to see if the program is indeed real or not. While there he meets Orion and Dalma and reveals his thoughts on DeathCast while learning about their history. Realizing this is an opportunity to confess his story, Orion reveals much of his past that led up to his heart condition (tearing up in the process). Inspired by Orion’s words, Valentino signs up for Death Cast moments before its official launch. At midnight, a DeathCast call suddenly came through on Valentino’s iPhone much to everyone’s surprise and unnerve. Valentino confidently answers believing it was a mere misunderstanding only to be addressed by Joaquin Rosa himself. Rosa informs him that he is indeed the first decker and is stated to die in the next 24 hours leaving Valentino and everyone around him stunned. After calmly ending the call, gunshots are heard and a panic ensues, Valentino is too stunned to respond but is pushed away from danger by Orion who begins to go under cardiac arrest from the sudden stress and excitement. Dalma pulls him out of his trance and requests Valentino to help carry him to a specific hospital rather than wait for an ambulance. With Valentino waiting in the hallway he attempts to use the hospital line to contact Scarlet (having dropped his phone in Times Square in the confusion) to no avail. Eventually, Dalma allows him to see Orion in his weakened state. The 2 consult with Dr. Emeterio who expresses her sympathies over Orion’s unfortunate condition and being waitlisted by his primary doctor. Suddenly Valentino leaves and Orion follows despite Dalma’s protest. Confronting him in the waiting room, Valentino is grateful to Orion for saving him, acknowledging his impending mortality, and wishing to repay his kindness offering his heart to permanently solve his dilemma. Orion is taken aback and reminded of an old story he had written and reacts with disbelief unsure whether or not he is a match for Orion but Valentino confirms he is an O Blood type which makes him a universal donor. Orion is both touched and saddened that Valentino will die giving Orion a new life. After undergoing test in the ER, Dr. Emetario confirms that Valentino and Orion are indeed a match and theoretically the transplant can be successful however Dr. Emetario warns that complications can ensue and Orion’s body can reject the heart and implies that for the procedure to be a success he would have to be in a coma while the heart is extracted explaining that usually matches are already brain dead allowing for the surgery to proceed ahead of talking to the right people for a go ahead. She also explains that should anything happen, ethically they have to save Valentino first. Scarlett eventually calls Dalma’s phone and Valentino answers, he deliberately avoids telling her about his dilemma but informs her that he is indeed a decker. Naturally stunned by the revelation the 2 have a back and forth with Scarlett attempting to downplay DeathCast and becoming hysterical and Valentino having to calm her down and goad her to drive to her flight. Seeing Valentino downtrodden and unwilling to have his final day spent in a hospital, Orion sends Dalma back home and leaves with Valentino to prepare the apartment for Scarlett and do all he can to make his final day perfect. Meanwhile, back at Deathcast central, Joaquin Rosa is observing the calls from his heralds, despite being visibly unnerved at hearing a shooting occur shortly before his call with Valentino ended he began to oversee his program being run until 2 AM. Although the calls had been quick and steady he noticed one particular herald having trouble with a decker due to a call spanning over 40 minutes. The herald, Rolando explains that the call was from an old man Clint Suarez whom he told his long story. Understanding the dilemma, Rosa reasons with Rolando that they still need to meet a quota and contact the other deckers in time and believes he can only get better at this job with experience. Sensing his empathy is hindering his job which can in turn hinder the entire program, a fellow herald Andrea offers her assistance in his performance with everyone achieving their calls by the end of the entire shift. However, his customer success engineer Aster Gomez informs them that there had been a few complaints as one of the victims of the shooting in Times Square was indeed a decker and neither he nor the emergency contact received an End Day call and this fault does not lie within the heralds but within an unseen error forcing Rosa to personally handle the situation and retreat to a hidden vault for answers. Back at Orion and Valentino, the 2 arrive at the latter’s apartment and bother a grumpy Frankie to open the door after he lost his keys the 2 converse and prepare to get some rest all the while Frankie next door is attempting to contact Rolando to use his position for his benefit but keeps getting left in a voicemail to Frankie’s frustration while his wife Gloria thinks about her life choices with Frankie. In other news, Scarlett was preparing to board her flight at midnight to reunite with her brother however complications ensued when the pilot suddenly got a call from DeathCast and the flight was delayed confusing and shocking the passengers including Scarlett herself as neither of the twins can reach each other due to lack of service. Eventually, the Pilot is escorted out when he suddenly has a heart attack and collapses dead. Things were no better on the Rosa's end as Naya Rosa (Joaquin’s wife) attempts to mediate the situation by supervising the mandated group counseling service between the heralds and she noticed how distraught and intense everyone is from their end-day calls. Rolando in particular was disgusted by the dehumanizing nature of the calls and despite agreeing that Death Cast can help the world and change lives, he refuses to take part in their program any further and effectively quits the job, leaving to find Suarez. At 6:30 AM Valentino and Orion awake and leave for Valentino’s photo shoot by the time they leave, Rolando calls back Frankie, despite the 2 men resenting each other, Frankie offers his assistance and reveals the first decker is indeed Valentino to Frankie’s shock and delight however Valentino is nowhere to be found to Frankie’s frustration again as he props a chair behind the door to hear if they come back or not. Upon arriving at his agency however due to the cameraman being a victim of the shooting that occurred earlier the photo shoot was postponed with them unable to find a replacement photographer with Scarlett out of town and his agent unable to believe the possibility of Valentino being a decker forcing the 2 to leave in unrest. Worst Scarlett calls and informs Valentino that she was unable to leave due to the pilot’s end-day call. Unwilling to have him wait for her she beckons him to go out and explore while she finds another plane to board. Orion also encourages him to pursue his dream of exploring New York and capturing his moments on camera. Valentino agrees on the condition that they use a real camera instead of an iPhone. With the department stores closed, the 2 stop at a pawn shop that was recently broken into by looters. The owner Fernan takes pity on Valentino’s situation and opps to give him the camera he needs when his son Rufus finds them a Canon PowerShot which Fernan gives them for free. Observing his relationship with his son and recognizing his own failed relationship with his parents, Valentino offers to buy Rufus the bike he wants off the pawnshop to Fernan’s surprise as he grasps his familial relations in comparison and believes his deceased mother may have led them to his shop. Orion and Valentino spend the rest of their time capturing their first around the city and sightseeing, the 2 suddenly see a copy of the New York Times where they see a photo of Joaquin Rosa calling Valentino. Trashing the paper in frustration, Orion decides to take Valentino to another spot that he hasn’t visited yet. Concurrently, Rolando was in the coffee shop in front of them waiting for Clint Suarez, when the 2 meet, Clint happily recalls his life and fascination with adventure when he first left Argentina to escape his abusive father with his mother and fled to the United States. Likening this story to that of Gloria & Frankie, Clint persuades him to tell Gloria how he feels about her and Frankie. Convinced he calls Gloria after Paz’s audition and asks her (and Paz out to lunch) at Desiderata’s the restaurant where he first told her that he loves her. Meanwhile, Orion and Valentino begin to bond more as Valentino reveals more of his history such as his namesake and when he was conceived. Orion brings up the topic of not attending the memorial service mainly because their bodies were never recovered despite having headstones and believes that he won’t survive it. With Valentino’s encouragement, he agrees to visit what Orion calls “Ground Zero”. However while attempting to visit, Orion backs off due to the emotional emptiness of knowing his parents aren’t buried there which Valentino correctly attributes to his mind attempting to delude itself into believing his parents may still be alive. Receiving some closure, Orion shows Valentino a secret subway station not long after before taking him to Brooklyn Bridge where they have their first kiss. On Joaquin Rosa’s end, he discovers that 12 people have somehow slipped through the cracks of the DeathCast system 11 people reported deceased without being notified with only 1 person that’s registered yet unaware of their impending death. Realizing the severity of the matter, Rosa is forced to release a statement about the glitches in DeathCast. While on the train home, Orion puts on an impromptu dance number on the train making a fool of himself in front of an amused Valentino and the annoyance of the passengers. When he finishes he convinces Valentino to do a runway with the other passengers encouraging him upon discovering that he is a decker. Concurrently however due to the Death Cast complications the flights have been grounded and delayed forcing Scarlett to return home in tears accepting the fact that she may never get to say a proper goodbye to her twin brother in person. While walking through Times Square the 2 meet Mateo Torrez and his son Mateo Jr. The former offers to take their picture while on their first and only date and expresses approval when he watches them kiss. At this time plenty of the characters in the book come together while this is happening as Rufus and his family are there as well and talk about Valentino being a decker and doing a heart transplant to save Orion. Gloria, Rolando, and Paz were also at the park with the former 2 talking about Gloria’s relationship with Frankie and putting up with his abuse despite Frankie’s unfaithfulness and destructive behavior. Rolando reminds her of what would happen when Paz grows to be an adult and she can no longer plan her life out like she desired to. Convinced, Gloria decides to make the decision to divorce Frankie. Mateo Jr. also anxiously tries to make an effort to play with Paz and Rufus but his nerves get the better of him and he decides to leave with his father. Dalma later informs a despaired Orion about the mishap putting him on edge about the possibility that he may die before receiving Valentino’s heart and Scarlett informs Valentino of her predicament. Desiring to say a proper goodbye to his adoptive family, Orion takes Valentino to his home in the Bronx. There they find a surprise to Valentino by Dalma’s family (whom Orion affectionately nicknames Team Young collectively) as they welcome Valentino into their home. Touched, Valentino thanks them and addresses Orion as his boyfriend for the first time. He then adds that he will finally call his parents and inform them of his end day. During the call, Valentino takes the time to call out his parents for their behavior and actions against them and informs them that he is grateful to them for driving him away as it allowed him to meet Orion and live the happiest day on earth. His parents however merely stare in unrest but do not respond leading Valentino to despairingly terminate the call effectively cutting off his parents for good. As he relays the one-sided conversation to Orion and Team Young they offer sympathy and advise Orion to not let Valentino’s death be in vain. The 2 then head up to Orion’s room where they have sex for the first time. After getting cleaned up, the 2 agreed to head back to Valentino’s apartment in prep for the surgery. However by this point Gloria finally confronts Frankie over his abuse desiring full custody of Pazito, believing Rolando is the cause of this, Frankie lashes out striking both Gloria and Rolando. By the time Orion and Valentino arrive at the apartment, they hear the commotion and cries for help. Despite Orion’s pleas, Valentino bravely enters the apartment and tries to restrain Frankie but winds up being beaten by his landlord and kicked down the stairs in front of Orion. Paz seeing Frankie about to kill his mother decides to grab Frankie’s gun and shoots him dead. The shots are heard by all the tenants in the apartment as well as Team Young who scramble to the location. Orion frantically tries to revive Valentino but to no avail as he would not regain consciousness. Realizing this, Team Young & Orion frantically get him to the hospital on Lenox Hill where Dr. Emetario and her team of doctors quickly rush him to the emergency room. Realizing that Valentino may not make it out alive, Orion informs Scarlett of what happened to her brother. Dr. Emetario then comes out and reveals to everyone that Valentino is showing signs of Brain Death and thus the surgery for Orion can proceed with Scarlett’s urging, Orion is rushed to be prepped for the surgery but not before seeing Valentino one last time. The transplant was a success with Scarlett being informed by Dalma of her brother’s passing and revealing that she has a family in the form of Team Young and Orion. Gloria, Rolando, and Paz head to the Police Station to report what happened with Gloria expressing worries for Paz not only for having to see his father dead but also for being the one to kill him as Rolando comforts her. A few days later Orion is in a stable condition but still heartbroken over the loss of his boyfriend. He is caught up on Frankie’s story and reveals that he was the final Decker that did not receive his end-day call while Joaquin Rosa released a statement ensuring that measures are in place to make sure the slips never happen again. Despite knowing the service will scare people, Orion believes it will change lives and protect those around everyone, Dalma inspired by the recent events decides to create The Last Friend App to tie into Death Cast and allow deckers to interact and spend their end days together. Orion supports her idea agreeing it could change lives. Orion also learns that Valentino died at 9:11 PM to his visible despair. Scarlett later visits and thanks Orion for being there for Valentino when she couldn’t and receives the camera Orion used to capture Valentino’s moments. With multiple programs and government agencies allying with DeathCast with the potential to go global, Joaquin reflects on how successful his company is becoming whilst lamenting the failures to uphold his promise to 12 deckers who never received their calls. Because of this Joaquin spends long hours at headquarters ensuring everything runs accordingly. On August 7th, Orion is allowed to return home and is greeted by Scarlett who gives him a photo album of all of Valentino’s moments. Despite still grieving for Valentino, Dalma, and Scarlett briefly bother him to give him a hard drive containing a video from Valentino addressed specifically to Orion. With his computer set up, he plays it and discovers Valentino recorded 2 videos separately while Orion was in the shower earlier. In the video, Valentino explains that he recorded the video if his death catches the 2 off guard. He goes on to explain that despite their short time together they had grown to truly love each other and don’t know what to do without each other however with his impending mortality, Valentino implores Orion to continue living without Valentino in his life and to not give into his grief and assured him that he can find love with someone else and can make the first move as he did before reminding him that he is sharing his heart and Orion needs to live for the both of them. Touched and recognizing his long life ahead of him, Orion vows to discover more first and never hold back. He even considers writing a story about Valentino.

They Both Die At The End (First Book):

Approximately 7 years after “The First To Die At The End” the story focuses on Mateo Torrez Jr. and Rufus Emetario, Mateo had grown up extremely introverted and rarely left the house besides going to school. He had little friends and is often described as a loner usually spending his free periods at school sleeping due to staying up late playing video games. His only best friend is Lidia who is currently raising her only child Penny. His father had recently been hospitalized and is currently in a coma for the past 2 weeks leaving Mateo alone. As for Rufus, he lived in an orphanage for some time after losing his family to a car accident during an attempt to visit Albany and because of that often spends his time with his closest friends fellow foster teens Tagoe Hayes & Malcolm Anthony with the 3 calling themselves the Plutos. His ex-girlfriend Aimee was also a member of the gang however Rufus and Aimee had split due to Aimee desiring space from Rufus and wanted a fresh clean slate after her aunt was able to obtain custody of her. The 2 boys both received a call from DeathCast and were informed that they were deckers and had less than 24 hours to live. Remorseful and frustrated over not being able to live and wasting his life worrying about hidden dangers, Mateo decides to push himself to truly live by downloading the Last Friend app. On Rufus’ side, he gets a call while in the middle of beating up Peck, Aimee’s new boyfriend out of frustration for Peck gloating at Rufus for having “won” Aimee. Upon getting the call further frustrated that he’s now dying, he lets Peck go and decides to return to his foster home to plan a funeral for him convincing Aimee to attend and say their final goodbyes. However, the funeral is interrupted by Aimee who brings a bruised Peck to the ceremony. While Aimee and Rufus converse about Rufus’ actions the Plutos continue the funeral, however it gets interrupted when Peck alerts the police in an attempt to get Rufus arrested for assault. While the Plutos distract the police, Rufus is forced to flee unable to say a proper goodbye to his family. Lamenting on what has transpired, Rufus refuses to die alone and opens the Last Friend App. The 2 boys have some initial struggles finding someone genuine as many of the people contacting them are either looking for sex or weed. However, they eventually meet each other online and agree to become each other’s last friends. The first thing they do is visit Mateo’s comatose father in the hospital where Mateo says his final goodbyes and leaves a note, the second thing they do is visit Mateo’s best friend Lidia and his goddaughter Penny where he cryptically implies his fate and leaves behind some money for Lidia blocking her number shortly so she can’t call or text him. While this is going on Malcolm and Tagoe are arrested but are more concerned for Rufus, a woman named Delilah is informed to be a decker but she believes it to be a prank by her ex-fiancé Victor who also works as a herald for DeathCast, and decides to go about her day interviewing Howie Maldonado, Peck still seeking revenge on Rufus regardless of it being his End Day decides to attempt to kill him himself with him and his gang tracking Rufus through his Instagram. The 2 deckers then visit the Make-A-Moment location where deckers get to live out “experiences” via simulations. Rufus immediately dislikes the idea during this time Aimee calls and informs them that Malcolm and Tagoe were arrested. Rufus is outraged when Aimee didn’t break things off with Peck and temporarily breaks contact with her. Mateo witnessing the conversation quietly attempts to leave Rufus only for him to catch up and is confronted on what happened forcing Rufus to explain. He goes into his past which led to his family getting a call from DeathCast & the car accident that claimed their lives. Afterward, the 2 decide to go to Make-A-Moment where they do a virtual sky diving which they admit was subpar and underwhelming. Afterward, the 2 go to a ditch with abandoned pay phones and agree to visit the cemetery where Mateo’s mother is buried. En route the 2 build a sanctuary out of legos on the train to take their mind off things while the train is temporarily delayed. During this, the 2 begin to grow more and learn more about each other along with their goals and interests. The influence on the 2 allowed Mateo to become bolder and attempt risk while Rufus learned to take color pictures. At the graveyard, Mateo discovers his plot being dug up next to hers and after shooing away the gravediggers has a one-sided conversation with his mom expressing his desire to meet her in the afterlife. After that the 2 sit in Mateo’s grave where they talk about the afterlife and their beliefs of what happens there then they go to a pier in Chelsea where he invites Rufus to be alone with his thoughts and find some closure over losing his family. After venting and crying to himself Rufus softens and the 2 deckers continue on. However, complications ensue when the 2 narrowly survive a bomb that goes off at a nearby gym shaking the 2 up, especially Rufus. Feeling stressed Rufus convinces Mateo to ride with him on his bike to calm themselves. On the way they past Deirdre Clayton who worked at Make-A-Wish indirectly convincing her to opt against suicide upon witnessing them try to live on their last day. In Althea Park, the 2 begin to talk and it starts to become apparent to Rufus that Mateo is developing feelings for him (and is somewhat jealous of his past relationships) which he is beginning to reciprocate but intentionally acts ignorant. The 2 play Gladiator in the Jungle gym and Rufus knowing Mateo is still uncomfortable with the bike gives it away to an older kid playing basketball nearby. After riding the train and playing traveler to past time the 2 leave behind a book which is picked up by 2 last friends. The 2 meet an incensed Lidia at the World Travel Arena where they can do dangerous events such as “freefalling” off a cliff into a river despite Rufus’ initial refusal to do so. After that, the 3 arrive at Clint’s Graveyard (an underground club) where Rufus convinces Mateo to perform karaoke well aware that he does not like singing in public. Mateo agrees if Rufus sings with him. While this happens Peck and his nameless gang finally catch up with Rufus and quickly rush to his location inadvertently creating a car crash that kills celebrity Howie Maldonado unbeknownst to them. After dueting a song, Mateo finally works up the nerve to kiss Rufus who happily reciprocates the affection before reuniting with the Plutos as Malcolm and Tagoe are released. While Mateo converses with Lidia over his affection to Rufus the 2 spot Peck and his gang threatening Rufus with an armed gun. Despite knowing the danger and Lidia’s protest, Mateo starts a commotion by punching Peck narrowly avoiding being hurt himself when one of the members recognizes him as the same kid who gave him shoes after he lost his. In the confusion, Malcolm and Tagoe hold off the rest of the gang members while refuse disarms Peck and remove the bullets to prevent any damage before fleeing to protect the other passing by Dalma and her younger sister Dahlia in the process. During the commotion, Peck and his gang are arrested for attempted murder as well as manslaughter. After running away, Rufus chastises Mateo for nearly getting himself killed while Mateo laments their situation as they already miss their friends but know they are too dangerous to be around so Mateo offers to bring Rufus to his home to wait out the rest of the day before their deaths come. The 2 clean up Mateo’s room and take pictures of Mateo having come far into a more daring persona. After that, he boldly decides to sing a song for Rufus (which he records) despite being off-key and the 2 take a selfie together with Rufus possessing Mateo’s glasses and Mateo awkwardly smiling due to his poor vision. After that, the 2 confess their love for each other and fall asleep out of exhaustion. Mateo wakes up first and attempts to make food but absentmindedly forgets that his burner was broken due to him leaving a note for his neighbor to not fix it creating an explosion that instantly chars and kills Mateo and starts a fire as a frantic Rufus futilely tries to wake him up however paramedics declare him dead on the scene. Arriving at the same hospital as Mateo’s dad, Rufus out of respect for Mateo, despairing informs Lidia and the Plutos of Mateo’s fate and visits Mateo, Sr. still comatose where he has a one-sided conversation with him about his son before leaving a note detailing who he is and where to find pictures of Mateo on his Instagram. Unwilling to stay at the hospital and knowing Mateo would want him to keep living, Rufus leaves and plays the recording of Mateo’s singing from earlier. Around this time Delilah (who survived the earlier car crash while interviewing Howie) calls her ex-fiance desiring to know if he pranked her or not but Victor confirms he was unaware that she even got the call and frantically rushes to her location where they first met. However, while driving his rushing causes yet another accident when Rufus steps into the road without looking presumably killing the boy instantly while Delilah meets an unknown fate.

The Survivor Wants To Die At The End (Part 2):

Set 3 years after the original book and nearly 10 years after the prequel, the 3rd DeathCast story focuses on Paz Dario and Alano Rosa both aged up to 19 years old and unfortunately have seen better days with the shadow of their fathers looming over them in their ever-growing life both figuratively and metaphorically. Paz in particular has dealt with the repercussions after the murder of his father which led to scrutiny around his name despite his innocence which led to him being blacklisted from potential roles and unable to land any acting gigs or even attend school due to harassment which led to him being homeschooled by his now-stepfather Rolando. The blended family later winds up moving a year before the events of the book following Rolando being laid off from his job working as a career advisor for a local university. Things only get worse when a docuseries “Grim Missed Calls” about the lives of the deckers who did not receive their phone calls despite being registered bro DeathCast, the episode in particular (despite efforts from both Gloria and Joaquin to get the show barred from airing) depicts a young Paz in a more negative light using footage from the courtroom to paint him as a villain who intentionally conspired with his mother to kill his father. Despite Paz being declared innocent of the act and his record wiped clean, the controversy once again resurfaced due to the exaggerated dramatization (a clear smear campaign against DeathCast) which led to Paz deactivating his Instagram account and attempting suicide by overdosing on antidepressants only not dying because he was caught by his mother and taken to the hospital to get his stomach pump where he hears his mother despairingly threatening to take her own life if she loses her son. After that, Paz spent 3 days in a psych ward. The book also reveals that the DeathCast universe had experienced a COVID-19 epidemic much like the real world only difference is that the quarantine had ended a lot sooner thanks to DeathCast and the CDC working together to ensure everyone followed the safety guidelines imposed by the government. After putting on an act for his mom Gloria and Rolando, Paz attempts to audition for a role in the film adaption of Orion Pagan’s Golden Heart series inspired by Valentino Prince’s life & sacrifice. Not wanting to attract negative attention and wishing to sell the role he adopts an alias “Howie Medina” over the late Howie Maldonado and his mother’s last name and dyed his hair blond to further sell the role. Despite Orion supervising the audition, Paz instantly sells the audition and attracts love from both Orion and the casting directors. Speaking privately with Paz, Orion reveals he knows of his identity and the controversy that happened over the years. Being honest, Paz reveals his suicidal tendencies and his love for the Golden Heart series. Remorseful over not being able to check with Paz after the incident that cost Valentino’s life, Orion agrees to look out for him on the condition that he reveals his true identity and works on himself (the latter of which Paz lies to do). Despite Paz retaining some hope over obtaining his dream role, Orion later calls and informs him that because of the controversy surrounding Paz and his unwillingness to face a boycott, the producers of the film are forced to go with another actor. Disheartened and disillusioned Paz decides to plot his death. Before he tried to wait until the anniversary of his father’s death but decided to do it as soon as he found out his mom and Rolando were expecting another child (as he was sure she wouldn’t commit suicide if she was caring for another child), taking into account of the X-Factors from suicide survivor forums that prevent suicide and unwilling to have any outside interference, Paz sneaks into the Hollywood Hills determined to end his life only leaving behind a note for his mother to find and taking the gun he brought online.

Concurrently while this is happening, the story dives more into Alano’s POV where he has begun working at DeathCast determined to climb the ladder to succeed his father eventually and become the new chairman of the board. For now, he works as an executive assistant with his hyperthymesia (perfect memory) instrumental to his role. This role also allows him to be seated during important meetings such as a recent meeting with the “Last Friend” App creator Dalma Young who was to be rewarded at the Decade Gala with the DeathCast Life Changer award and using his natural charisma was able to even convince her to accept the award when she began to air her doubts about the program after incidents with the “Last Friend” serial killer caused a lot of lost lives. Recognizing his empathy and charisma, his father decides that he is ready to work as a herald, a position that Alano has been dreading. Like Paz, Alano has seen better days due to the burden of running a large and somewhat controversial company such as DeathCast looming over him and due to his status as a public figure and the heir of DeathCast this also led to Alano living an abnormal life while growing up and was forced to get security and drop out of college after facing attacks from pro-naturalist (people who feel the world was better without Death Cast) and Death Threats from the extremist Death Guard. His life has led him to make little friends from the outside world and only has 2 best friends, Rio and Arianna, the latter is the daughter of the head herald Andrea Donahue who is known for managing to complete her roster of calls without much trouble. Despite her coping methods not being shared by the Rosas she has become something of a family friend to the Rosas and is often excused whenever she is late due to her medical condition and perfect record. Alano also has a somewhat tense relationship with his father due to the heavy burden of DeathCast but feels a natural responsibility to complete his task and keep Death Cast from going under and help give people time to live and grieve. However, things would later change when Alano begins working as a herald, his very first call gives him a panic-induced asthma attack when the Decker he called almost immediately commits suicide via gunshot. Despite being extremely haunted and traumatized by the event, Alano continues his job. During a brief break period to collect himself, he discovers Andrea Donahue selling a story about his first call as a herald as well as the circumstances of a famous decker to the vultures for additional money for Arianna’s college fund. Andrea later sees Alano and the 2 make a deal to not speak of the incident to their loved ones if they get their jobs done. Naturally, Joaquin is outraged by the leak making the press and immediately calls for a meeting with the heralds during the next shift. By this end Alano learns the decker Andrea leaked information about was killed by paparazzi, realizing the severity of this he informs his father of her actions and he later terminates her in front of the other Heralds and informs her a legal investigation will be done to prove she has violated her NDA. Andrea indignantly takes her leave swearing vengeance. Once the news of Andrea’s betrayal and termination spreads, Alano finds himself confronted by Arianna over this. Deeply conflicted and upset at her friend for putting her mom in jail as well as understanding Alano is in an impossible position to start a new life she breaks off contact with him as well as her friendship with him. Not even a couple minutes later, Alano finds himself nearly assassinated by a Death Guarder (whose uncle was amongst the victims that were not called by Death Cast). Despite not suffering serious injuries, Joaquin decides to temporarily relocate to their estate in Los Angeles to recuperate and lay low until the Gala. Having a private conversation with his personal security guard Dane (who was nearly fired by Joaquin for his negligence) he suggested going towards the Wisdom Tree to ease his mind and find some solace. Dissatisfied with being unable to leave to attend to the tree himself or write a journal entry without being noticed, Alano plans to sneak there later that night by himself. Before he does, Alano makes a bold choice to terminate his DeathCast account and live pro-naturally. After sneaking past the guards, he drives to the tree to read the journal entries and even leaves an anonymous message of his own when he spots someone breaking into the gate and climbing on top of the Hollywood Sign ready to kill himself with a gun. Despite not knowing him, Alano follows and bravely climbs the sign stopping Paz from killing himself at the last second.

The 2 boys are stunned to see each other before being hounded by a police helicopter demanding that they leave for trespassing. After a moment of convincing, Paz agrees to leave with Alano (albeit still suicidal). In an effort to convince him to give life a chance, Alano makes a deal with Paz to stay alive for the next 2 hours in hopes of convincing him that life is worth living, and if he can’t then Alano will help Paz commit suicide, and make sure he does not fail. They first stop at the Hollywood Walk of Fame where despite Paz’s dying aspirations of making it onto the high honor attraction he managed to remember how his mother gave him a premier showing of his own when they couldn’t attend the actual showing. Next, they go to a store called “Present Time” that sells “time” for deckers to send to their loved ones. While recording messages for the gifts, the shop is suddenly attacked by a hostile Death Guarder who begins ransacking the shop. Paz seeing this as a sign to risk his life to save Alano attempts to use the gun to kill the Death Guarder but Alano convinces him not to arguing that he’s not a murderer and does not want the Death Guarder to become a martyr. Fortunately, police managed to scare him away allowing the 2 to escape unharmed. At 2 AM they stop at The Hollywood DIEner where Alano convinces Paz to write a eulogy of himself in the next 80 years, despite Paz writing a heartfelt obituary he still believes his life is not worth living and leaves to commit suicide. Honoring his part of the deal, Alano agrees to hold the gun to Paz’s head but not before he in an act of desperation begs him to choose living. Recognizing, Alano’s determination to keep him alive, Paz has a change of heart and decides against it to Alano’s relief. Afterwards, the 2 dispose of the gun and bullets and Alano takes Paz home where they agree to meet again but not before Paz informs Alano of his BPD influencing some of his thoughts and actions. Nevertheless, the 2 promise to start living their "Begin Days". By the time Alano returns home, he finds the police at his door due to recognizing him on the Hollywood Sign. Joaquin once again outraged at Dane for not catching Alano sneaking out fires him on the spot much to Alano’s fury. Things weren’t any better when Alano revealed that he deactivated his DeathCast account creating another spat between the 2 men as Joaquin struggles to understand his choice. Attempting to mediate and be supportive, Mina Rosa reminds him that they’re trying to be supportive and worries that the weight of everything on him could very well push him to a psychotic break but agrees to try and lighten up the burden on him and supports his decision to help Paz. Joaquin also agrees to support Alano’s decision (albeit begrudgingly) as well as reinstate Dane as his personal bodyguard on the condition that he is home at a certain time. Following this, the Rosas find an unexpected visitor in the form of Rio who had taken a flight to Los Angeles out of concern for Alano (and finding out their location through a random Twitter account that stalks their private jet to Joaquin’s annoyance), he invites Alano out to a friendly outing at Universal Studios the next day as well as inquiring more about Paz. On Paz’s end, he tries to show more positivity in his life though due to his BPD, he nearly regresses when Alano does not reach back out and nearly makes an attempt to self-harm before Alano contacts him at the last second. The 2 then make plans to hang out at the Santa Monica Pier where they stop at a nearby Make-A-Wish moment to find Paz an acting gig. Speaking with the manager, Paz submits his application and Alano (against Dane and Paz’s wishes) suggests an impromptu audition with Alano as his acting partner for the role. Playing a “first date” scenario, the 2 boys immediately sell the role and impress the manager. As the “fake date” continues Paz begins to notice Alano’s unspoken attraction towards him as the boy has begun flirting with him. The 2 also learn many fun facts about each other. After Alano comforts Paz over his grief and anger over killing his abusive father when the topic was raised the 2 return to Paz’s home where Alano agrees to have Paz clean his stab wound and reapply his bandage (with Dane allowing it provided he searches the house and pat down Paz’s parents). While in the house, Alano learns more about Paz as well as his self-harming. Wanting more time with Alano, Paz invites him out to the farmer’s market for an hour before he must meet with Rio. There the 2 buy gifts for each other whilst their feelings for each other begin to grow. Unwilling to end their “second date” in just an hour, Alano beckons Paz to come with him to Universal Studios with Alano having Paz use Rio’s spare ticket while he pays for himself when Paz rejects the offer. Agreeing the 2 travel to Universal Studios and meet Rio. Speaking privately, Rio makes it clear that he does not trust Paz and believes he is a danger to Alano due to watching Grim Missed Calls despite Alano’s claims that much of the show was a fabricated campaign against Death-Cast. Regardless he remains cordial towards Paz for the time being. Paz also began to notice how strangely intimate both Rio and Alano were during their time there but remained silent and put on a “happy Paz” facade to avoid making a scene in public. However, while eating tensions between the 3 boys begin to rise when Alano and Rio begin to disagree with both boys revealing that they are living pro-naturally (despite Dane’s attempts to silence them due to the public eye), Rio further explains that he holds a grudge against DeathCast blaming them for the events that orchestrated his brother’s murder and even plans on voting for Carson Dunst despite knowing of his desires to undo DeathCast raising concerns from Alano and Paz, the latter finally snapping at Rio defending pro-naturalist when they’re campaign has put Paz under a negative light which creates yet another heated argument that nearly led to a physical confrontation and Rio intentionally slipping that he plans to live with Alano ultimately causes Paz to leave in disgust. Alano catches up and attempts to explain his complicated history with Rio, revealing he asked him to be his boyfriend but was turned down and further reveals that despite all Alano and Rio continued to have sex up until recently. Unable to control his emotions, Paz lashes out and nearly assaults Alano (while the entire event is recorded by bystanders) causing a disheartened Paz to depart realizing he almost hurt his friend and crush just like his father had done to his mother.

The story quickly makes local news and becomes viral with journalists & newscasters trying to get Paz to comment outside his house but to no avail. Not only that but Paz has been rejected by Make-A-Wish due to the negative attention surrounding him and he learns that Death has been cast by his competitor Bodie in Golden Heart (who hasn’t even read the book series furthering Paz’s disliking of him). Convinced that “Begin Days” are dead, Paz falls back into his depression and self-harming stabbing his foot in the process even as Gloria tries to weigh in, Paz only views himself as a monster and is determined to end his life more than ever. Meanwhile, on Alano’s end, Joaquin isn’t pleased by the turn of events and wishes to press charges though Alano remains convinced that Paz is still a friend and his BPD is to blame for his reaction despite being taken aback himself even Dane sympathized with Paz’s struggles. Later Rio visits Alano still having ill feelings towards Paz and not even apologizing for escalating the situation that caused Paz’s reaction (not knowing this is an unfortunate side effect of his BPD) much to Alano’s exasperation. In the heat of the moment, Rio confesses the reason he did not want to be with Alano was mainly out of fear that one day Alano’s status would get him killed and then finally (as Paz predicted) confessed that he is still in love with Alano and wants to be with him. Touched but no longer reciprocates the feeling due to his feelings towards Paz. Alano politely turns him down creating a heartbreak within Rio. Unwilling to witness Alano build his relationship with Paz and despite their friendship, Rio takes leave breaking off their friendship in the process and leaving Alano truly alone and downtrodden as he had lost his other best friend. Turning to his parents he airs out his concerns over Paz, though Joaquin remains indifferent due to Paz’s recent actions Alano is concerned over his well-being and the idea of Paz potentially getting himself killed like the Decker earlier did in similar situations and quickly leaves (with his mother’s blessing) to check on Paz managing to show up (with the star rug he brought Paz at the Farmer’s Market) in a nick of time when Paz was about to run back out to again commit suicide determined to end the cycle between him and his father. Tearfully embracing, Paz apologized for his actions and words while Alano apologized for not telling Paz the circumstances of his and Rio’s relationship. Here Alano (and the reader) learns of Paz's inability to have a normal childhood after the shooting and was treated like an unstable killer and frequently mocked which led to him being transferred to a Catholic school only for things to get worse due to the parents and students hazing which led to Paz fighting back and getting expelled. Sympathizing, Alano beckons Paz to undergo Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for his own good. After apologizing again, Alano declares he’ll still be there to help Paz get through his dilemma and stays with him for the next few days to help his emotional wounds with the 2 learning more about each other. After informing his livid father of his decision as well as having additional security detail survey the house, Alano and Paz agree to watch the whole episode of Grim Missed Calls. As the 2 anticipated, the episode is very triggering to Paz who tearfully watches as the documentary progresses each minute getting worse as Paz is being made out to be a sadistic villain without nearly any evidence of Paz’s reasonable defense being shown. Gloria hears his crying and remembers how she wanted to sue the makers of the Docuseries for defamation but decided against it due to being unwilling to have her son in another courtroom and awaken traumatic memories. Concerned that Paz may relapse and attempt his life during the anniversary of his father’s death (and DeathCast launch), Alano decides to stay with him for the time being even if that means missing the Gala (and again disappointing his father). The next morning things were no better when Carson Dunst holds a rally in front of pro-naturalists and death guards and reveals that he knows of Alano living pro-naturally and even brings about Andrea Donahue (in hopes that Dunst can pardon her for her crimes against DeathCast) to further antagonize Joaquin Rosa all the while Paz and Alano helplessly watch in horror. Upon receiving word of the incident, Joaquin and Naya travel to Paz’s home to inform Alano that they are traveling back to New York to provide damage control and prepare for the gala before they leave, Alano invites the 2 to dinner. Although the 2 families remained cordial towards each other, Joaquin (under the influence of alcohol he had been drinking earlier) winds up creating an argument with Paz, Alano, and Rolando with his behavior and rude demeanor the former accusing him of ruining his life, and not doing anything to help when Grim Missed Calls released and Alano believing that DeathCast should be shut down in amendment to the survivors and those who had an effect of the first end day gone awry. Joaquin apologizes and confesses the reason for the blunder was due to a supposed “system error”. As the 2 families begin to clean up, Joaquin Rosa learns that the promotion of one of the employees of their secret Project Meuccui promotion turned out to be a decker. Getting an idea, Alano suggests that Paz films the promotion in New York. Joaquin and Paz are skeptical but Alano beckons them arguing that since DeathCast is responsible for ruining Paz’s career and reputation it can be essential to granting him another chance at building the career he desperately hoped for as well as clearing the ongoing spread of rumors of both Paz and Alano being secret Death Guarders. Agreeing with Alano’s vision, he makes the arrangements with Paz and his family. However, later that night complications ensue when Gloria and Rolando discover Paz’s second attempt at suicide when the shop-keeper at present time delivers the gifts Paz had sent to the house causing Gloria to have a nervous breakdown. When Paz returns for his belongings, he winds up getting into an argument with his parents who attempt to forbid him from traveling to New York out of fear of his irrational mindset but Paz, unwilling to let them stop him from facing his father’s ghost and passing up an opportunity to get his life back on track, leaves anyway though Naya sympathetically keeps Gloria updated on Paz to give her a peace of mind. After landing and Alano getting fitted for clothes for the Gala the 2 head to Althea Park (the same park where Orion and Valentino took a picture at, where Mateo nearly met Rufus, and the park Paz played in while Rolando persuaded Gloria to leave Frankie) where they reflect on their history including a near meet by the 2 boys and meet Teo Torrez, Lidia and Penny (now grown into a 6-year-old girl) the latter whom recognizes Paz from his acting debut. After taking a picture and gaining some happiness over being recognized for his talent rather than his controversial past, Alano confesses his hyperthymesia which is a condition that allows him to remember everything no matter how long time has passed and what allowed him to remember everything easily and oddly. Astonished and also guilt-ridden, Paz apologizes for causing some stress to Alano’s mental state during their fallout. Alano also reveals that he had set up an appointment to “check out” Paz’s old apartment complex (which is now being set up for rent) and wanted to try to help Paz confront Frankie’s ghost as well as move on from his past. Arriving at the room, Paz takes in the place before breaking down emotionally and reading off the words he wrote in the letter to his father before taking his leave. After returning to the Rosa residence where Alano helps Paz get situated, the 2 spend the rest of the day preparing for the Gala. Alano feels an obligation to register for DeathCast only to discover to his frustration and anger that his father had once again gone behind his back and reactivated his account. Feeling disillusioned and haunted by his father’s betrayal and violation of his trust and privacy, Alano reaches a psychotic break and nearly attempts to kill himself by jumping off the rooftop despite Paz’s pleas, only backing down when Paz confesses that he loves him and the 2 share their first kiss. Convinced the 2 retreat back to safety however Alano still refrains from telling a secret that greatly affects Paz as he is the cause of Frankie and the Death’s Dozen not getting his End Day call ending the book on an unresolved mystery.

Thoughts:

I read this (They Both Die At The End) book during my trip to Los Angeles for Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival. I had gotten through half of it during my flight there and finished it when I left. Although this is one of Adam Silver’s most popular and well-known books post-2020. I never had the honor of checking it out until 2024. Rather the first book I read co-written by him was What If It’s Us and Here’s To Us (which is on my top 5 listing). My friend Zachy suggested I check out the book in 2023. I resisted a bit because the title is self-explanatory and it’s hard to get emotionally invested in characters for them to meet a horrific fate at the end but eventually, I relented and decided to give it a spin since the other books I read haven’t reached top 10 status yet maybe this will. And it did because it was heartfelt but also more emotionally charged than the other stories I read. The death-cast storyline is a little confusing but seeing as this is a what-if scenario I just kept reading without asking questions… yet. I love how Adam tells the story of 2 boys coming of age and from humble beginnings but living two very different lives and soon realizing that they are destined to die but choose to live the rest of their time trying to come to terms with their familial situations and make peace with how everything may turn out. I won’t lie I was a little disappointed in how Mateo died first because I was convinced that the 2 may die together and it would end right there. In some way, I also had hope that they would meet in the afterlife but I guess that’s a headcanon and up to how the viewer interprets it. Adam made a point though if anything this was more of an experiment and an idea of personal growth and not taking life for granted because any day could be your last. I disagree that it would be great to know exactly when you will die because honestly, that makes it worse knowing that this day is your last instead of having the illusion of hope that everything can and will work out. One thing I enjoyed was how the book is also told from other points of view and stories from other characters the boys encountered indirectly or not as they all played a part in how the story played off whether it’s running past the girl responsible for creating the App Last Friend that brings the 2 together or encountering a disgruntled wrestler who commits murder-suicide after feeling he has nothing left to lose. I like both the boys equally although Rufus’ method of speaking (as a kid from the hood) cracks me up a bit; they’re both likable yet infuriating because of their own struggles. Adam was right too even though the title gave it away, it was the journey that mattered the most. He still completed the assignment, did the research, and did some reflection and growing himself so you can’t say he never learned anything while writing the story and personifying the protagonist. I also appreciate the whole gay POC protagonist which gave the book more points from me instead of it being one white and one POC. The ironic part about both their deaths was that the 2 were careless (or maybe Rufus just stopped caring after Mateo died) and had forgotten. This raises questions on what would’ve happened if they didn’t get the call and were allowed to live on freely and let death come to them instead of anticipating it. They wouldn’t have met and likely were able to live their lives and maybe crossed paths some other way. Or perhaps they wouldn’t have become their best possible selves. I like how Rufus senses Mateo’s feelings for him and does not reciprocate them but gives Mateo the honor of making the first move in order to give him his confidence. Howie Maldonado’s story is probably the deepest because he bitterly reflects on his time as an actor and how his wealth only created more walls than bridges for him and his family while he’s not lonely he has many regrets and feels he might’ve been better off without the fortune.

Here’s what I think happened… both Mateo and Rufus had met up in the afterlife and reconnected with their deceased loved ones or if you don’t like that ending perhaps they were reincarnated in new lives and were able to meet and fall into love again somehow and someway. Honestly, I don’t know perhaps in my alone time I might make some fan fiction of it. It’s a cute but sad story.

One thing I love about Mateo is he reminds me of myself, a kid who spends his time indoors instead going outside instead of going outside, making friends, and experiencing life. Growing up I always felt different from everybody else and no one understood me. I didn’t get a chance to explore life and be outside until 2018 when I started catching feelings and started going out with people more. I do regret not being able to connect with people on my own, I wish I could’ve maybe things would’ve been different, I would’ve gone to a different high school, probably made more friends, and experienced life outside but unfortunately, I was playing it safe. Every day I couldn’t wait to go home. Nowadays I enjoy leaving the house and just experiencing life, walking downtown with friends, holding hands with significant others, and performing my original work at karaoke. Rereading this book I feel I truly understand where he comes from to an irritating extent, I wish the book didn’t end in tragedy but in my headcanon, they met again in the afterlife and had another adventure! Props to Adam Silvera for once again making another memorable read, he’s one of my favorite queer authors probably my favorite overall but I enjoyed it.

After reading the prequel I have a better understanding of DeathCast. I enjoy the dark humor and how it all came to be as well as the Easter eggs and ongoing motif that everything is connected in some way and somehow. Adam managed to make the story not just focused on the protagonists Valentino and Orion but also managed to (like before) give other side characters arcs and stories of their own while giving the reader some perspectives to not be surprised by the turn of events that affect the main characters. The Rufus and Mateo Easter eggs also did it for me and I loved how the story connected with Rufus in some way and we saw that they nearly met long ago (highlighting the fact that they were both destined to be together). As with the previous book, this one also focuses more on the journey of living rather than the abrupt end and turn of events, and as usual, Adam outdid himself and kept his end of the bargain with the obvious foreshadowing. Valentino getting beaten to near death and becoming brain dead by an unstable landlord was a pretty dark way to go out but he likely knew this and did it anyway even though Orion knew what would happen. In some way, I found his death way worse than Mateo whose death was more abrupt and anticlimactic. Also, I feel as though his attempted murderer Frankie got off way too easily, yes he was a piece of shit that nearly killed his wife more than once just because she wanted to leave a toxic marriage, criticized Valentino for his lifestyle, frequently complained and was ungrateful about what he was given, showed signs of jealousy towards his son (though he never put hands on him, of course, it was only a matter of time), and even tried to make a profit off his tenant by attempting to capture his death though ironically he was the cause of it, to begin with; in all honesty death was too merciful a punishment for him. Yeah, he’s probably going to hell or whatever passes off as an afterlife that condemns and punishes the unrepentant and forces them to relive their sins over and over again and suffer for it but honestly the living is not finished with him… he deserved justice, he deserved to be arrested and sued for assault, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, and murder itself of course. Death was the easy way out he deserved to suffer and lose everything before being dealt a final blow to end his suffering. His only child Paz (who’s not dumb but tries to see the best in his father and paternal figure) being the one who killed him despite being only 10 years old was a crazy plot twist you wouldn’t expect. Yeah, the story alluded to Frankie’s meltdown and made it obvious brain death would happen to Valentino somehow because of him getting involved but I thought his wife Gloria or her best friend Rolando would be the one to kill him. Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Orion did it in vengeance. But still… I never expected it.

I’m still curious about the big mystery of how DeathCast knows who will die soon and why. I guess that’s a mystery for Adam to know and for us to figure it out on our own. To be honest, though there are 2 sides to the story and a double-edged sword. On one hand, you’re saving billions of lives but on another, you’re also causing panic and fear as displayed by the book. It’s disturbing to have a job telling people that they are going to die and even if they’re trained to be as neutral as doctors telling people the same thing it still kills you inside especially when people vent about how miserable they are or haven’t gotten the chance to truly live.

Valentino’s final message to Orion was also heartwarming. He tells him how proud he is to have lived and despite dying he still is technically living through Orion. I also like how he knew well enough to understand how much despair he must be suffering because of his death but despite that, he still encourages him to be brave and live his life for the both of them not let his death be in vain and that includes moving on from Valentino and finding love in someone else who can give him more moments he deserves. I’m so curious if Orion’s story is done here or will he be the next on Death cast’s list in the sequel to the book series since Adam says he’s not finished with that world yet. Overall it’s a bittersweet story and I love how it encourages you to live your life to the fullest.

Fast Forward to May 2025… Adam Silvera had just dropped They Both Survive At the End, I just refreshed my mind on the series and reread both the prequel and first book as well as finished updating the book reviews.

“Are you ok?” Is what I text my ex-boyfriend while reading it. Adam Silvera once again delivers on the assignment but makes the overall journey way darker than both books combined. A psychological horror is probably the best way to describe it and the book is a solid 10/10. The story is very suspenseful and Paz and Alano’s stories are heartbreaking. While I’m happy to see more of Paz after he shot his father dead it is a shame how it did no good in terms of the public eye and people looked at him as an evil child instead of a kid trying to protect his family and things got so bad that he resorted to self-harm. Alano’s story is also beautifully written as a gifted kid with a privileged life yet under a lot of stress that he felt he never deserved. Both boys never got to grow up normally due to the circumstances they were brought in. I love how Silvera also used more heightened points of view and reflected on the dark nature of death cast despite its noble intentions and even highlighted Joaquin Rosa as something of the anti-villain of the story due to it. His behavior is much more complex than what was previously depicted and it would appear that he’s become something of a hypocrite as he’s an advocate for change yet he sees the world in a more black-and-white fashion and cannot seem to fathom his son’s idea for a different path or understand the repercussions from Death Cast’s supposed error requires more than an apology. What especially makes this book stand out is the story isn’t over yet. Not so much of a cliffhanger but more of questions left unanswered as implied by Alano’s POV after Paz stopped him from committing suicide. In the most Marvel way possible Silvera alludes to his next book presumably starring the 2 once again. I enjoyed the read but the story honestly made me want to check on all my loved ones. I never knew anyone feeling suicidal like Paz or Alano but I did have a scare with one of my good friends, without getting too specific she posted a note and I had to rush over there to see what was going on when everyone was wondering asking me if she was ok even people I haven’t spoken to in years. It was a lot to juggle but long story short she’s fine. I sent a text and gave a call to my ex wondering if he was ok and explaining why I felt compelled because it would break my heart if I knew he was even considering it. He said no I’m not trust me and I believe him because I refuse to be that person that allows such methods to escape the pains of life. I was fortunate enough to not have anyone I know facing that type of depression and hope to keep it that way for as long as I live.

On a lighter note it was nice to see Orion again and how he’s keeping his word in keeping Valentino’s memory alive, a shame he couldn’t be the one to bring Paz out of his never-ending funk but could relate to his struggle to a degree since they were both there at the time. The same can be said for Dalma, Teo, Lidia, and Penny. Despite their minor roles, I love how the book is still keeping its “interconnected” theme in which every character plays a part in the story no matter how minor it is. Overall the story is a fantastic read and I can’t wait for the 3rd book to come out.

Ranking:

Overall Score:

• The First To Die At The End: 9/10

• They Both Die At The End: 10/10

• The Survivor Wants To Die At The End: 10/10

Characters:

• Joaquin Rosa: The creator of Death-Cast which is by the first book a globally known organization dedicated to informing people (known as Deckers) of their impending death. Its credibility has even been recognized by the government. It is unknown how the company knows of when Deckers will die with only Joaquin himself knowing the details and secrets the company hadn’t revealed to the public. His idea of the company is presumably fueled by humble intentions as his goal is merely to have deckers take control of their lives and spend their final moments truly living and saying a proper goodbye to their loved ones despite the company gathering controversy and accusations of being inhumane or practicing Satanism. The program even saved many lives as an airline pilot in Arizona had received a call shortly before takeoff thus saving passengers from potential death. He tries his best to make sure his company is run properly and oversees his workers (heralds) to ensure that they have everything they need and requests that they do not become attached to their deckers despite the emotional distress they may have. His very first (and possibly only) call was to Valentino Prince just minutes after he signed up for the program right before its launch. The first decker managed to not only live his life and find what he was looking for before coming to terms with his mortality but also managed to use his death to give another soul life as he had done to his boyfriend by giving him his heart shortly before death. The connections that followed had allowed an aspiring coder to create a new app for deckers to find their last friend and make a meaningful connection with them which led to their latest set of deckers Mateo and Rufus finding each other before death. While the program proved to be credible with many confirmed deaths under DeathCast warnings there were loose scruples to the program that Joaquin had to personally resolve due to some deckers (referred to as the Death’s Dozen) including Frankie Dario (unbeknownst) not being informed of their impending deaths despite having registered on the day the program launched creating some sense of uncertainty with the public which in turn led to a nationwide discourse and a community of people known as pro-naturalist who believe that world should return to its original ways without death cast. This even led to the creation of the extremist Death Guard who go all out of their way to send warnings to DeathCast and even murdered deckers using the last friend app. By Mateo and Rufus’ end day, the program had become a global success though many feel as though it creates more harm than good. By TSWTDATE, Joaquin Rosa would have more of his character and personality explored (as the book is in his son Alano’s POV). The book reveals him to be more of a complicated person due to the heavy burden of his company. While still fueled by his humble intentions to have DeathCast allow deckers to live their lives and grieve properly, he is “haunted” by the ghost of the deckers who were not warned by DeathCast or were even murdered because DeathCast had a hand in pushing their fate. He is shown to have a large ego as well due to his creation which his wife has been trying to temper and even made a rule to never accept anything they can pay for themselves. Occasionally his ego and stress have caused him to have a bit of limited perspective which is what drove a wedge between him and Alano who sees the world differently as well as creating arguments with his wife who tries to mediate in order to keep their family together. Alano was even afraid to come out to Joaquin due to this. All the same, his relationship with Alano remains tenuous at times largely due to his overprotectiveness causing him to be an overbearing parent at times (even to extreme measures breaking protocol at one point and viewing the list of the Deckers in New York before the calls went out to ensure Alano was not on there as well as reactivating his son’s DeathCast account against his wishes nearly causing a psychotic break and Alano to lose trust in him) and partly due to him forcing the DeathCast legacy onto Alano despite the boy being resentful of the program and the heavy burden it comes with along with his inability to live normally amongst people without being threatened or harassed. His demeanor can also come off as cold even towards Alano not having any real sympathies towards him losing Arianna and Rio as friends and even wanting to press charges against Paz for nearly assaulting Alano even though the boy was unharmed. Despite being a calm man on the surface, when pushed over the edge he can become incredibly spiteful and arrogant with a heavy ego due to his creation being a rare phenomenon and this led him to snap at those who would push or threaten him or his family. This has even led him to shout or terminate those who fail him or go against his wishes as he fired Dane twice (even though the second time he was unaware of Alano sneaking out) and humiliated Andrea Donahue for leaking information about DeathCast to his enemies. His ego and blatant disregard for emotional empathy have led many to have a very low opinion of him such as Andrea and Rolando both of whom have rightfully called him out on. Even his son had bear witnessed this when he once drunkenly snapped at Alano for not bearing more than he could handle at DeathCast & another incident when Andrea leaked Alano’s time as herald to their enemies and smashed his tablet against the wall in anger. Naturally due to his paranoia, general trust issues, the DeathCast secret as well as various death threats and attacks this has led to Joaquin establishing his own personal security force ShieldCast, and even has them pat down and inspect all guests and often shies away from communicating the secret of DeathCast with his wife due to fear of bugs around their private facilities and technological devices. Despite his flaws, Joaquin genuinely believes he is doing the right thing, and the best thing and tries hard to make sure his family is safe and happy more than willing to undertake the amount of stress it takes to run the company while they relax as well as making sure his employees are as comfortable as possible while working at such a company and trying his hardest to decrease the cost of DeathCast to make it available for everyone. It is heavily implied that Joaquin is well aware of Alano’s interference with the uninformed Deckers on the first End Day but kept the secret to himself unknown to his family and much of the world of course.

• Mateo Torrez Jr.: A skinny, timid, and anxious teen who’s often reclusive of his thoughts. He is an avid overthinker he tends to exaggerate things and people. Because of this, he spent most of his life inside. He retained a very close relationship with his father in turn and also feels somewhat guilty for being the cause of his mother’s death as she died during childbirth. His decker profile reads him as 5’10, 165 Ibs, Interest include Music & Wandering, and is of Puerto Rican decent. He is also older than his last friend Rufus as he is 18 by the time of his End Day. In 2010 a young Mateo and his father would meet a couple by the name of Valentino and Orion. Unknown to him the former was a decker, he observed the 2 kiss while taking a picture at a park and was later persuaded by his father to try and make friends. Indirectly he spots Rufus and nearly approaches him but backs out at the last minute. 7 years later Mateo received his End Day call while his father was in a coma. Desiring to truly live he decided to download the Last Friend app which led him to Rufus again and the 2 agreed to spend their end day together with the 2 growing closer together despite coming from different backgrounds. As their friendship deepened, Mateo became more confident with himself and helped Rufus come to terms with his past after losing his family and Mateo would visit his comatose father in the hospital and his mother’s grave. After singing karaoke Mateo finally works up the courage to kiss Rufus who in turn reciprocates the feeling. After saving Rufus from Peck the 2 retreats to Mateo’s home where they confess their feelings for each other however Mateo in an attempt to start breakfast absentmindedly turns on a burner that had not been fixed by his neighbor yet (as Mateo told him not to do it) which causes an explosion killing Mateo instantly and forces Rufus to flee the building. Rufus would later join Mateo in the afterlife when he suddenly dies in a car crash. In an effort to keep Mateo’s memory alive, Teo would then use the Last Friend App becoming its top user for deckers in need of companionship.

• Rufus Emetario: A street smart rebellious teenager who’s often open about his thoughts in life despite coming off as brash or rude sometimes. He is of Cuban descent and heavily resembles his father. Dalma’s POV describes him with a buzz-cut and brown complexion. He is younger than his last friend Mateo as he was 17 by the time he received his end-day call. His decker profile shows him to be 5’10, 169 Ibs, and an interest in cycling and photography. He is also openly bisexual. As shown in the prequel he is much like his father and resembles him in many aspects, Rufus is shown to often be argumentative and challenges authority such as his father which leads to their various spats despite having a deep love for each other. Opposite of Fernando, his relationship with his mother is somewhat distant because of her working long hours at the hospital. He has an elder sister named Olivia whom he is very close with. Before becoming orphaned, Rufus had met Valentino the very first decker who buys a bike for him from his father’s pawn shop after seeing his troubled relationship with his father. He continued to ride it up until his end day when he finally gave it away. His indirect connection with Valentino led to not only Orion’s life being saved when his mother did a heart transplant on him but also gave Orion’s best friend and adoptive sister Dalma Young an idea to create the app Last Friend which later led to him meeting Mateo a fellow decker on the day where DeathCast contacted him to inform him of his mortality. Ironically enough the prequel also shows that Rufus and Mateo had nearly met in the past when playing in a playground but Mateo opted not to connect with or befriend him. In the first book, he is an orphan after having lost his family in a violent car crash which led him to relocate to a foster home and meet his lifelong friends (aptly titled The Plutos). Though a good kid at heart, he does suffer some insecurities which led him to make questionable mistakes such as violently jumping his ex-girlfriend’s then-boyfriend which led to his and Mateo’s life being in danger when said boyfriend attempted to kill him.  At the end of the book, Rufus is confirmed to have died from a car crash after carelessly crossing the street and failing to look both ways (along with him being distracted listening to Mateo’s singing) despite being told various times to pay attention. To keep Rufus’ memory alive, the Plutos would spend the anniversary of Rufus’ death becoming last friends to deckers in need.

• Peck: Real name Patrick Gavin. Rufus’ rival and Aimee’s ex-boyfriend and the main antagonist of the TBDATE. He is a white teen around the same age as Rufus. As shown in the book, Peck is somewhat arrogant and rude as he already took a dislike to Rufus before the events of the novel. He was the one who convinced Aimee to break up with Rufus as she desired a fresh clean slate though it becomes clear this was due to Peck’s feelings for Aimee. He later gloats about this to Rufus which led to him getting jumped and assaulted by him and the Plutos in response leaving him with a bruised face. Peck seeking revenge on Rufus attempted to have him arrested on his end day interrupting his funeral (much to Aimee’s frustration at his selfishness). When Aimee confronts him about this he accuses her of not caring about him. Knowing Rufus escaped and determined to get revenge Peck allied with his gang and decided to kill Rufus himself by tracking his location via Instagram, his quest for vendetta led to them killing Howie Maldonado when they ran in front of his car while he was conducting an interview with Delilah. Peck manages to track him to Clint's Graveyard where he attempts to shoot Rufus but is confronted by Aimee who attempts to reason with him allowing Mateo to cause a commotion by punching him inciting a brawl which ends with his target escaping and Peck and his unnamed gang being arrested themselves. It is implied by Alano that he still in custody by 2020. Alano also revealed that Peck was once responsible for attacking Alano as a kid.

• Aimee Dubois: Rufus’ and Peck’s ex-girlfriend and a member of the Plutos. Her parents are incarcerated after robbing a convenience store and assaulting the owner and his son forcing Aimee into foster care where she met Rufus and the Plutos. She is tough as nails and like Rufus always speaks her mind. After her aunt is able to salvage money to take her in, Peck convinces her to break up with Rufus mainly because she desires a fresh clean start which later leads to Rufus beating up Peck out of jealousy and frustration after gloating to him. Her relationship with Peck became strained when he called the police on Rufus on the day of his funeral (uncaring about it being his end day or not) and later witnessed him attempting to kill Rufus himself.

• Lidia Vargas: Mateo’s best (and possibly only) friend having known each other since they were very young. Originally she intended to graduate, study politics, music history, architecture, and travel to various countries such as Spain, Columbia, and Germany but she winded up pregnant with her daughter Penny. Originally her boyfriend Christian intended to sell his grandfather’s “weird daggers and swords” he inherited to support their child but winded up getting a call from DeathCast and had hitchhiked with another decker in an attempt to return to Penny causing them both to die. He tried to reach Lidia but was unable to as she was sleeping so Lidia winded up raising Penny with her grandmother as she was not close to her family and Christian’s family lives in Florida. She learns of Mateo’s fate as a decker through his cryptic statements. He later invites her out to spend time with him and Rufus at the World Travel Arena and witnesses him perform karaoke and kiss Rufus at Clint’s Graveyard before chaos ensues and forces Mateo to separate from Lidia to protect her from harm. By the time Lidia returns home she learns of Mateo’s fate through Rufus and becomes determined to keep Mateo’s memory alive. She reappears in The Surviver Wants To Die at the End where she meets Paz Dario and Alano Rosa the death cast heir the latter whom she & Penny are a fan of after his acting debut in a film franchise. She also spends time with Mateo, Sr. on occasion.

• Mateo Torrez, Sr: A minor character in the prequel and a supporting character in the 1st & 2nd book. Nicknamed Teo by his friends, he is of Puerto Rican descent and has lived there before moving to New York where he met his wife who rejected his initial attempts at proposing until they both discovered she was pregnant with Mateo. However, she died during childbirth to Teo’s shock. He raised Mateo by himself and often tries to get him to open up and socialize with himself or others understanding his reclusive nature. At one point he and Mateo met Orion and Valentino the latter being first decker (though Teo likely didn’t know this) and offered to take their picture for them. He attempted to get Mateo (11 years old at the time) to try and make friends but he opted out so they returned home. His relationship with his son is extremely close with Mateo regarding his father as one of his best friends (not verbally admitting it however) and would often tell stories about his time in Puerto Rico or with his wife. 2 weeks before the novel Teo would fall into a stroke related coma, sadly for him his son would lose his life during this time but not before visiting him in the vegetive state, leaving a note, and singing to him. Following his death Rufus would also visit him out of respect for Mateo also writing on the note of all the things they did on their end day. Eventually, Teo wakes up from his coma and discovers his son’s fate, he becomes determined to honor his son and Rufus by signing up on the Last Friend app and becoming a companion to those who need it managing to rack up over 130 last friends during his time on the app. It is implied he also spends more time with Lidia and her daughter Penny as he was present with her in the park when they all meet Paz and Alano.

• Orion Pagan: An 18-year-old New York native. He is vegetarian and white passing much like Valentino. He is kind-hearted, somewhat courageous, and a little vulgar. His name comes from the constellation Orion after his mother rejected the names Jesus and Ernesto Jr. Tragically he had become an orphan 8 years old when he lost his parents to the infamous 9/11 and was adopted by his best friend Dalma Young’s family. Because of this, he supports Death Cast because it will give him the chance to say final goodbyes to his family and loved ones properly after being denied the chance to do so by his own parents. He likes to write stories in his spare time. As he grew, however, he would come to suffer a severe heart condition called vital cardiomyopathy that causes him to suffer severe attacks whenever he becomes too excited or stressed. Because of his condition, Orion seemed somewhat pessimistic about life and even resigned to potentially dying sooner because of it as his condition is not severe enough for doctors to recommend surgery from donors. This changes when he meets Valentino Prince, his first boyfriend, and the first decker. On the day when Death Cast was officially launched in Times Square, Valentino got a call from Joaquin Rosa himself about his incoming death and soon after, a shooter appeared with Orion pushing a stunned Valentino out of harm's way causing his heart to suffer another cardiac arrest. After being helped to the hospital, grateful to Orion for saving his life, and wishing to return the favor, Valentino offers up his heart to Orion after his death. Accepting his offer but still desiring to have Valentino live his final hours exploring the city he wanted to see so badly, he accompanied him throughout his time in New York with the 2 growing closer by the minute and even having sex for the first time. The 2 manage to buy a camera to document the entire story and Orion humiliates himself by doing a poor dance routine on the train like Valentino desired. Inevitably Valentino suffered brain damage from his violent landlord and was taken to the hospital where he was declared brain dead allowing them to safely remove his heart and transfer it to Orion at the cost of Valentino. While recuperating Orion bonds with Valentino’s twin sister Scarlet and they discover a video Valentino recorded in secret where he advised and told Orion to move on from his grief and live his life for the both of them and find love and joy in someone other than Valentino. During the years following Orion would begin his career as a successful author and created a book series named Golden Heart based on Valentino’s life (of which Paz is also a fan of) and is determined to keep his memory alive whilst still grieving his death, said series would later be adapted into a movie. Though he maintained a well-meaning relationship with his adoptive family, he and Dalma would unfortunately fall out as friends after she challenged his love for Valentino despite only knowing him for a day. Despite Orion’s attempts to make amends and reconcile it becomes clear to him (to his chagrin) that Dalma does not wish to and doesn’t bother to stick around during his book signing tour instead maintaining her distance. Despite being hurt over potentially losing his best friend, Orion keeps his promise to Valentino by continuing to live his life, he maintains his bond with Scarlett who becomes a sister figure to Orion in Dalma’s place with Orion even taking a break from promoting his book to celebrate Valentino’s birthday. Orion would also find love again with another man, bonding with a bookshop owner Joel who manages the Open Bookstore, Orion’s favorite indie. Due to his struggles with moving on from Valentino, it had taken a long time for Orion to finally admit his feelings for Joel and even longer trying to settle into his relationship despite pushing him away. He briefly broke up with him following a terrorist incident from a nearby gym next to the store thanks to a self-destructive decker. This was largely due to Orion being scared of losing his love again before receiving various talks from his loved ones and grief counseling allowing him to reconcile his relationship, Joel’s patience attributed to that as well. The 2 even have talks about marriage. During his book signing tour he is visited by Valentino’s parents in their hometown, despite Orion expressing dislike towards Orion’s parents and refusal to forgive them for driving away Valentino even before death, Orion decides to speak to them passive-aggressively of course, and tells them the circumstances of Valentino’s death, despite their remorse Orion still refused to truly forgive them. 10 years after Valentino’s death, Orion is living his best life as a movie adaptation of Golden Heart is in the works. While in LA, he meets Paz again (after deducing his identity) when he auditions for the role and tries to advise him upon learning of his suicidal tendencies. Despite loving his audition and signing his book, unfortunately, things went beyond Orion’s control and his production team was forced to deny Paz a role in the film as Death due to his controversial history (despite Orion knowing that Paz isn’t to blame for the incident) and had solemnly called to inform him of the decision before leaving for New York with the role being cast to another actor named Brodie (despite him not reading the books).

• Valentino Prince: An aspiring 6-foot-tall model from Arizona who is Scarlett’s elder fraternal twin by 2 minutes. He was raised Catholic and was named after Valentine’s Day (which he happened to be conceived that day when his parents got engaged). He is kind, humble, mild-mannered, courageous, understanding, and often curious. Being raised catholic he tends to shy away from cursing out of respect for the values he was brought up to believe despite not sharing them until being convinced by Orion to be more explicit. He is also the very first decker having received the call from Joaquin Rosa himself. He (along with Scarlett) has a rather strained relationship with his parents following his coming out which later led to him leaving home. Ultimately Valentino originally moved to New York to start his modeling career coming across and meeting his first and only boyfriend Orion in the process while exploring the city in Times Square and the boy encouraging him to sign up for DeathCast despite not originally believing in the program. Upon being given a call from DeathCast and surviving a near-death experience thanks to Orion, despite being disheartened about not living his dreams as he wanted. Valentino began to consider his fate and decided to repay his potential sacrifice by offering his heart to Orion before death. Orion unwilling to let him die without living his dream managed to use his remaining time to explore the city and achieve his modeling dream (despite not being able to walk in on an official runway). Throughout his journey, Valentino became more comfortable and confident with himself and found love within Orion who grew protective of him and determined to prolong Valentino’s death. Eventually, he came to see Orion as his boyfriend and first love and was confident enough to attempt to talk to his parents hoping to settle things (though they remained silent and still reluctant to reconnect with their son). Eventually, Valentino dies at the end of the book but beforehand he selflessly puts himself in harm's way when he hears and sees his landlord Frankie about to kill his wife and impulsively attempts to intervene and pull him away from her only for Frankie to retaliate in blind and repeatedly beats Valentino and kicks him down the stairs causing severe brain damage and was unresponsive when Orion took him to the hospital. Ultimately he was placed in a coma and his heart was successfully transplanted to Orion with Valentino passing away the same night at 9:11 PM to Orion’s visible despair. Scarlett was also informed of his death and their connection with Valentino had brought them closer together. Through the camera they had brought from Emetario’s Pawnshop, Orion discovered a secret 4-minute message Valentino recorded for him (that Orion briefly walked in on). The message details Valentino encouraging Orion to move on from his grief & guilt he has over Valentino and live his life for the both of them as in a way Valentino is living through Orion. He even went as far as to acknowledge that Orion can even find love in someone other than Valentino. The message brings Orion to tears as he becomes determined to appreciate the life he’s been given and determined to not let Valentino’s sacrifice be in vain. He would follow up on that by creating Golden Heart inspired by his experiences with Valentino and his determination to keep his memory alive which would then pivot Orion to a successful career as an author. The book became a large success and would then be adapted into a movie. Paz even attempted to audition for a role in the film but wouldn’t get the part due to his controversial history with Death Cast. A deck of a ship located in New York has been named after him to commemorate his status as the first decker. Although he is in a new relationship, Orion is still overly protective of Valentino and his memory openly admonishing and referring to Frankie as a monster for killing him and is still angry at Valentino’s parents for turning their son away before Death and has made a habit of grabbing “their” heart as if to console himself and remind that Valentino still lives through him.

• Scarlett Prince: Valentino’s fraternal twin sister. Born after Valentino himself and named after Valentine’s Day hearts. Scarlett and Valentino have a deep bond with Scarlett being the only one to call Valentino by his nickname (largely because she was unable to pronounce it in full when she was young). Out of the more mild-mannered Valentino, Scarlett is much more daring and slightly obnoxious especially when people are rude to her. At one point she had gotten into a car accident before but had made a full recovery and abstained from texting or talking on the phone while driving due to it. She compliments Valentino’s goal of being a model by being his photographer. Her relationship with her parents much like Valentino’s is heavily strained largely due to their rejection of Valentino’s sexuality and agreed to move to New York away from them to further pursue their goals of modeling professionally. Originally Scarlett and Valentino had boarded at the same time but due to photographing the DeathCast launch in Phoenix and would not make it into the next morning. However, complications ensued when her flight was delayed due to the pilot being a decker and would later have a heart attack postponing her flight to the next day. The day gets worse when she discovers her twin is the first decker and despite maintaining communication via Dalma and Orion’s iPhones and Macbook, Dalma then confirms Valentino’s fate and assures her that she has a home with her and Orion’s family to comfort her as she grieved his passing. Journeying to New York she bonds closely with Dalma and Orion becoming a sister figure to them while mourning the loss of her twin. In the years following Scarlett would continue to have a bond with both Orion and Team Young, her relationship with her parents however would permanently be severed after they pushed Valentino away despite their attempts to reconcile.

• Dalma Young: Orion’s adoptive sister and the creator of the Last Friend App. She is a dark-skinned Afro-Latina. An aspiring programmer much like her mother who builds websites for bigger businesses, Dalma sought to create a revolutionary app that ties directly with Death Cast in response to its immense popularity. Her relationship with the last Decker Valentino as well as witnessing his relationship with Orion inspired her to create the Last Friends App which later led to Mateo & Rufus meeting. As his adoptive sister and childhood best friend, Dalma retains a very close and protective relationship with Orion affectionately referring to him as O-Bro, and is almost always there to comfort him whenever he is distressed and understands his plight regarding his heart condition. Having lost her dad at a very young age she relates to losing a parent. Valentino compared her relationship with Orion much like his own sibling relationship with Scarlett. She has a minor role in TBDATE, as her app has quickly become a global sensation after being officially released and allowed for deckers such as Rufus and Mateo to meet. Dalma also revealed that she received grants, advertisements, and a commencement speech by Joaquin Rosa himself at her graduation. At the time Dalma was meeting with developers for Twitter and Facebook to pitch an idea to release a Last Message software patch that will allow deckers to release a final meaningful message on their profile however her app has come with some drawbacks as Dalma discovered that the app is responsible for serial killer related deaths the previous summer and even considered selling the app despite it’s major success blaming herself for what happened. Regardless it is implied that she spends her days out of town and frequently travels to further promote Last Friends with her younger sister attempting to work with her. Oblivious to the events that just transpired concurrently she and her sister Dahlia walk around Clint’s Graveyard where she takes notice of Mateo and Rufus in bewilderment unaware that they are both deckers and Last Friends. It is also revealed that Orion and Dalma had fallen out as friends throughout the years after she challenged his love for Valentino despite having known him for a day creating a heated argument between the 2. Despite talking things out, Dalma still kept Orion at a distance and had no real intention of resolving their friendship despite Orion’s attempts making him feel frustrated with Dalma especially when she was late at attending his Book Signing Tour in promotion for Golden Heart and didn’t bother to stick around to greet him only leaving flowers. By 2020, she was in a meeting with Joaquin Rosa himself and was to be the recipient of their Death Cast Life Changer Award at the Decade Gala however she still felt as though due to the serial killer incident she felt unworthy of the award despite Joaquin’s insistence however Alano convinces her to accept the award and prepare a speech. Her friendship with Orion still remains strained which Alano took notice of when she learned that he had already RSVP’d to the Gala.

• Frankie Dario: A self-absorbed apartment owner and Valentino’s obnoxious and shady landlord. From first impressions, Frankie is shown to be rather selfish, rude, greedy, insecure, unstable, and arrogant. He frequently complains about his life and is always quick to make a get-rich-quick scheme and is willing to take advantage of others to get they’re uncaring of whether or not they get hurt or in serious trouble. This is shown when he scammed the Prince Twins into leasing a room in his building & attempted to stalk and capture Valentino’s death upon learning he was a decker in an attempt to either prove that Death Cast was wrong or make millions off his death (which ironically he was the indirect cause for). He despises his current situation and despite having inherited the building from his father is not satisfied with where he is in life and is shown to be rather ungrateful with what he has. He has a very toxic and abusive relationship with his wife Gloria and seems to neglect his only son Paz and hardly pays attention to his interests. As such his wife deeply regrets being a committed marriage with him as she was under the belief that Frankie would change his ways especially after their child was born only to be disappointed when he remained the same and at times would even physically assault her when she steps out of line. Although he was only 10, Paz is well aware of Frankie’s abusive tendencies as Frankie does not attempt to hide it compared to Gloria though Frankie does try to remain calm around his son, and Paz like Gloria tries to see the best in Frankie. He is also shown to be homophobic which instantly sets him apart from his newer tenant Valentino almost immediately due to how he presented himself and even made it clear to himself that he would reject Paz if he showed similar traits. Beneath Frankie’s arrogant personality and abusive behavior, he is shown to be rather insecure with himself which makes him come off as unstable and hypocritical at times. This is best shown when he disapproves of Gloria’s relationship with her best friend Rolando (mainly due to their feelings towards each other) yet has no problem committing infidelity himself (which Gloria was well aware of unbeknownst to Frankie). He also displays some jealousy toward Paz for achieving his dreams while Frankie is still miserable. It is implied that Frankie possesses a toxic masculinity which causes him to dominate others and feel insecure when others branch away from his control. In the end, Frankie’s unstable behavior & insecurities would be his undoing as when Gloria finally declares she wants a divorce Frankie ultimately loses composure, assaults Rolando, nearly kills Gloria, and violently beats Valentino with a leg from a chair when he impulsively attempts to intervene causing him to get severe brain damage and be declared brain dead as a result. This violent outburst caused Paz to grab Frankie’s gun and shoot him twice killing Frankie instantly but not before witnessing his son holding the gun. Frankie’s death was viewed as self-defense and his assault on Valentino allowed for a successful heart transplant to his boyfriend Orion at the cost of Valentino dying not long afterward. Gloria disassociated herself from Frankie but was still determined to protect Paz. While Gloria was able to find peace with Frankie’s death and abuse as well as her being able to start over with Rolando, Frankie’s death, however, would have a violent effect on Paz’s life as despite the court ruling in favor of Paz and Frankie’s death being regarded as self-defense the general public however would not see it that way as Paz was frequently accused of murder by his peers and other parents forcing Paz to be homeschooled due to this mistreatment and later relocate to Los Angeles. Things certainly did not get better for Paz when the docuseries Grim Missed Calls (which was a smear campaign against Death Cast) used the footage from the courtroom to paint him to be a remorseless kid conspiring with his mother to kill Frankie causing controversy to resurface which would ultimately prove detrimental to Paz’s career as an actor causing him to be blacklisted from many roles including his dream role which led to Paz becoming extremely depressed and suicidal resorting to self-harm to cope with the distress and was even determined to kill himself on the 10th anniversary of Frankie’s death and Death Cast’s launch to finally end the pain but was stopped by Alano who convinced him to live. Paz would later revisit Frankie’s apartment complex and the room they lived in so he could finally confront “Frankie’s ghost” and receive some closure.

• Gloria Dario (née Medina): Frankie’s (former) wife, Rolando’s Life Partner, and Pazito’s mother. She is shown to be kind and caring yet flawed and complicated. In the past, she was prone to making impulsive decisions such as marrying Frankie who later turned out to be heavily abusive to her and was unfaithful to their marriage though she deluded herself into believing that Frankie would change for the better only to be extremely disappointed, unhappy, and regretful when Frankie remained the same and as such she fears and despises him. Deep down she had more love for her best friend Rolando but had turned down his offer to be with her due to her relationship with Frankie. Rolando frequently urges her to try to leave Frankie (mostly out of fear for her safety) but she refuses partially due to the commitment she made with Frankie (which he does not even honor) and mostly because she doesn’t want to intentionally separate and alienate Pazito from him because of his positive view of his father (though he is well aware of the suffering she endured from him). In the present time, she encourages her son to explore his dreams as well as attempts to plan for the future even secretly registering her family for DeathCast despite knowing her husband disagrees with it (risking her husband’s wrath in the process). While out with Paz for an audition she meets with Rolando who after meeting a decker decides to encourage her to leave Frankie’s abuse by this point Gloria had resigned to her marriage with Frankie and believed it was best to remain with him despite not loving him but Rolando reminds her of who could care for Paz if she dies from another one of Frankie’s violent outburst (which could potentially get Frankie arrested and Paz put in foster care) which causes her to reconsider and with Rolando encouraging her decided to finally stand up to Frankie. Back at home, she decides to have a conversation with Frankie detailing that they are not happy together and desires a divorce with full custody of Pazito. Unsurprisingly this again sets Frankie into murderous rage when he assaults Rolando when he attempts to mediate repeatedly punches Gloria to near death and even bashes a tenant in the building for intervening causing him to get severe brain damage. Paz seeing his father is beyond reasoning and scaring everyone chooses to protect his mother by grabbing the gun Frankie refused to get rid of and shooting him twice killing him instantly. Gloria was both shocked and horrified and blamed herself for forcing Paz to make the choice instead of doing it herself but still chose to protect and stand with him all the while disassociating herself from Frankie and reclaiming her maiden name. With Frankie’s death ruled as self-defense, Gloria was able to move on and start anew with Rolando becoming his “life partner” and later moved to Los Angeles becoming an intake coordinator for a women’s support group using her own experiences to guide women of abuse onto new lives. She would later be pregnant with another child. However, lately, Gloria has grown more concerned about Paz as she is well aware of his misery and even threatened to kill herself after she found Paz attempting suicide. She is still overprotective of Paz and tries her best to keep him happy and shield him from the world but to no avail. She supported his relationship with Alano and even hosted the Rosas (which quickly became a heated discussion due to Joaquin’s intoxication bringing out his ego). However, she then finds out about her son’s secondary suicide attempt and self-harm and has a mental breakdown which results in an argument with Paz when she attempts to forbid him from leaving for New York out of fear for his safety but Paz leaves anyway but not before informing Rolando of her threat she made to Paz creating an air of uncertainty among the 2. Naya Rosa however would keep in contact with her and inform her of Paz's well-being to give her peace of mind due to Paz avoiding her.

• Paz Dario: Nicknamed Pazito by his mother. Frankie and Gloria’s only son and an aspiring actor. As a child, he is shown to be brave, curious, and heavily extroverted however over the years this quickly became replaced with feelings of misery, self-doubt, irrational anger, and emotional instability which he hides well under a “happy Paz” facade. Though Paz is a happy-go-lucky child and enjoys living his dreams he unfortunately comes from a toxic household due to his abusive father physically and verbally assaulting his mother which she attempts to shield Paz from to avoid traumatizing him and attempts to put on the impression that she and her husband love each other despite her clear hatred towards the man. Having witnessed his father’s meltdowns before, Paz is not ignorant of his father’s actions but seems to (like his mother) attempt to see the best in his father due to acknowledging him as his parental figure. Frankie also seemingly shies away from lashing out at Paz but pays little attention to his interest implying that he neglects him somewhat. Frankie implies that despite his flaws he does genuinely want to be the one to care for and raise Paz although it is heavily implied that this is merely due to Frankie’s insecurities and the idea of another man raising his kid to be a challenge to his masculinity. Eventually upon witnessing his father violently beat his mother, injure his surrogate uncle figure, and nearly kill a random person for attempting to intervene, Paz seeing the monster his father is decided to protect his mother by grabbing a gun his father hid in the house and shoots his father with it twice killing him instantly. Frankie’s death was viewed as self-defense with Paz releasing an official statement on why he had to kill Frankie which became a popular new story alongside Valentino’s sacrifice and heroism. Although Gloria still worries about Paz knowing the amount of trauma this would weigh on him for years to come and feels remorse for not being able to deal the blow herself. Despite the death being ruled as self-defense and the records hidden away, Paz would then face public scrutiny as the general public believed him to be a killer and was often a social outcast due to it even going as far as to be bullied & hazed which led to him transferring schools and later being expelled for fighting back and forced to relocate. Because of the controversy and Paz’s profession, this led him to be blacklisted from many acting roles he auditioned for despite possessing natural talent. His past would later come back to haunt him when the docuseries Grim Missed Calls was released and began to paint Paz in a more negative light which further messed up his image and later triggered his severe depression and his attempt at self-harm and suicide when he overdosed on antidepressants and had to get his stomach pumped. Paz would start attending therapy where he discovered that he has Borderline Personality disorder which leads him to question everything and further doubt himself. Upon being rejected for the live-action adaptation of Golden Heart due to his past, Paz completely disheartened and disappointed attempts to prove Death Cast wrong by committing suicide on the Hollywood sign but is stopped by the Death Cast heir himself Alano Rosa who begins to have him reconsider and try to enjoy life. His relationship with Alano begins to grow from friendship to genuine feelings as Alano keeps Paz from growing too unstable and helps ground him. Despite complications from Alano’s friend Rio calling him a monster and Paz impulsively (nearly) attacking Alano and being the face of another public scrutiny, Alano determined to help Paz refused to leave his side and comforted him (despite clear disapproval from his parents) during his difficult time. Eventually, Paz becomes determined to live for Alano and even works to prevent Alano from committing suicide when he is about to give in to his despair confessing that he's in love with him and does not want to live without him.

• Rolando Rubio: A former Herald of DeathCast who previously worked as a guidance counselor at schools helping children identify their issues with their grades dropping and often deduced it was due to grief but parents failed to inform the schools of any behavioral shifts (to Rolando’s chagrin). He is also a very close friend of Gloria Dario and was actually in love with her and became an uncle figure to her son Pazito but also despised her abusive and neglectful husband Frankie. The feeling is indeed mutual due to Frankie not approving of their relationship and feeling as though Gloria may cheat on him (ironically Frankie himself has cheated on his spouse which she is not ignorant of). Frankie did attempt to use Rolando’s position in the company in order to make a profit only for it to not work in his favor. While working as a herald however despite being trained extensively for the role and being noted for his empathy, Rolando found himself quickly despising his role as a herald after he had to inform Clint Suarez an elderly man of his mortality and listen into the call which took an extensive amount of time to Joaquin and his coworker’s growing concern. After his first shift while convinced that Death-Cast can help the general public and change their lives, he was disgusted with the idea of dehumanizing himself in favor of running the corporation effectively and after airing his grievances to Joaquin’s wife Naya, he decided to quit not believing in the company’s methods to protect their interests. Rolando then sought out his first call to a decker Clint Suarez after having heard his story through an extensive call briefly taking notice of Valentino and Orion (unaware that the former was the first decker). He meets with Suarez to offer condolences and give him support after the man claimed he was alone. Suarez was grateful for Rolando’s kindness after learning he too was a child who witnessed abuse from his mother who desired to escape his abusive father. The story relates to Rolando who is encouraged by Suarez to go to her and change her mind. Determined to make things right he meets with Gloria in hopes of changing her mindset. She resisted the notion at first before being reminded of her future when Paz has grown and she is left alone. Realizing this, she returns to her apartment with Paz and Rolando to demand a divorce from Frankie. Her husband only accuses Rolando of influencing the choice and demands he leave when he attempts to calm him down. Eventually, Frankie loses his composure and attacks both Rolando and Gloria, striking the former so hard he has a bloody nose leaving him incapacitated and unable to assist further. Paz seeing the whole thing manages to obtain Frankie’s gun and shoots him dead. Rolando stayed by Gloria and Paz’s side as the story became public. Rolando and Gloria quickly rekindle their relationship and he becomes a stepfather to Paz trying his hardest to differentiate himself from Frankie in Paz’s eyes while Paz appreciates Rolando he refuses to put him in the same category his father once was. Gloria eventually proposed to Rolando to become his “life-mate”. As Rolando was laid off by Claudi University due to funding he struggled to find sustainable work to support his new family which led to them moving to Los Angeles where he tries to remain supportive of Paz and protect him from himself. The 2 would later discover that Gloria is pregnant again.

• Alano Rosa: The son of Joaquin and Naya Rosa and the heir to DeathCast. As a child he expressed a behavior typical of him such as being cheerful and upbeat despite having to bear the burden of running his father’s business one day, Joaquin even suggested Alano possibly be gay or queer in the future. His suspicions later proved correct. He has heterochromia a condition where he possesses 2 different color eyes one green and one brown. He has a minor role in the prequel before being the focus of TBSATE alongside Pazito. As DeathCast had grown to be a world-renowned corporation, Alano quickly found himself working within the ranks before becoming Joaquin’s successor. Using his hyperthymesia, Alano retains a perfect memory which allows him to recall every exact detail and event without thinking too hard and enables him to excel at many classes, trials, and feats, and would later aid him in his job at DeathCast working as Executive assistant. Since his youth, Alano has been confirmed to be a genius. Unbeknownst to everyone, Alano can remember well past his birth even that of the DeathCast secret. Despite his privileged lifestyle, being well traveled, extremely intelligent, and offered opportunities most kids can dream of, unfortunately, Alano suffers, many drawbacks due to his father’s burden of him becoming the successor for DeathCast as well as him being a public figure made it difficult for him to truly live as a normal person being unable to attend college and having little to no friends besides Rio and Arianna. His position within the DeathCast hierarchy even leads to various Death Threats or assaults by the extremist Death Guard or pro-naturalist prompting his parents to hire a personal bodyguard and pat down both Alano and Rio every time they visit. His hyperthymesia cast a larger burden on himself as he can remember both good and bad memories and relive them when triggered (implying he suffers PTSD as well). Upon working as a herald, witnessing the very first decker he called commit suicide, witnessed Andrea Donahue betraying the company and selling out secrets to DeathCast enemies, having a falling out with Arianna, nearly assassinated moments after and forced to seek asylum in Los Angeles to recuperate led him to fully question his identity and role in the cooperation, feeling as though he is not living his life due to his father’s many desires for him to succeed the DeathCast Empire, this even led him to attempt suicide before after Joaquin had blown up on him before about leading the company and taking on more than he can handle. Desiring to fully live his life, Alano deactivates his DeathCast account and sneaks out without his bodyguards knowing. This action later led him to Paz when he attempts to suicide, before Alano stops him and in time managed to convince him that there is a life worth living and becomes determined to help guide Paz and become a “safe zone” for him despite his many problems and the public scrutiny around him (as well as Joaquin’s clear disapproval). His friendship with Paz later turned into genuine feelings which later caused a fallout between him and Rio when he also admitted to having feelings for Alano after having flown out to ask him on a “date”. Despite this, Alano remains present for Paz and is determined to help get his life on track even sharing some personal secrets. However, secretly Alano harbors guilt as his tampering with the DeathCast system as a kid led to some of the Deckers being uninformed including Paz's father Frankie Dario.

• Naya Rosa: The wife and matriarch of the Rosa Family. She has known Joaquin since they were 18, the 2 having met in a coffee shop and became friends though Naya played hard to get until Joaquin finally asked after Valentine's Day for her to be his boyfriend. The 2 had been together since and Naya worked closely with Joaquin during the creation of DeathCast and was one of the few to be trusted with secret knowledge of how the program works. She also works to temper Joaquin’s large ego following the success of the program making a rule that they can’t accept any offers, donations, or requests of anything they themselves can afford to ground her family. Like many couples, she sometimes finds herself at odds with Joaquin at times particularly when their only child Alano is concerned due to Joaquin’s limited worldview clashing with Alano’s. She is more concerned about the mental health of both her husband and son believing that the stress they both have to endure can lead to a psychotic break. It is implied that while devoutly loyal to her husband and family as well as supportive of Joaquin’s vision she does hold some slight resentment towards DeathCast largely due to the effect the program had on their personal lives as Naya and Joaquin had to distance themselves from family and close associates who desired to know the secret behind DeathCast, as well as the 2 being public figures constantly under threat from their enemies and even expressed some joy in the idea of DeathCast being a failed experiment when the Death’s Dozen were not alerted of their end day despite registering for the program. Compared to Joaquin, Naya is more sensible and tries to keep her hardheaded husband’s rash decisions in check such as sparing Dane from termination due to his service keeping Alano safe and overlooking Andrea’s tardiness out of respect for her condition, good service, and their children’s friendship. Having had over 12 miscarriages before giving birth to Alano, Naya tries to use a more passive approach when confronting her son so he does not alienate her even if that pits her against her husband, and often reprimands Joaquin for how he addresses him.

• Homie Maldonado: A famous actor who received a call from Death Casts and meets Delilah and her boss for a final interview. During the interview, Howie admits that despite being extremely successful he harbors regrets on his career choices admitting to not seeing his family, nor spending time with the women he loves due to the nature of his career and being dissatisfied with how he is known for. He would then meet an abrupt end when Peck and his gang cause their car to crash.

• Vin Pearce: A former boxer who despite his training and dedication was prevented from competing due to a genetic muscle disease. Angry at the world and unwilling to die alone he commits murder-suicide by blowing up the gym he would train in using a homemade bomb an incident which nearly kills Mateo, Rufus, and Joel.

• Deirdre Clayton: An employee at Make-A-Wish she seems unenthusiastic about her job and is somewhat suicidal due to the homophobic mistreatment she had gotten from her peers. She once attempted to end her life but her best friend had prevented her. She again attempts suicide to finally prove Death Casts wrong despite not getting the alert but decides against it when she sees Mateo and Rufus trying to live their life. She later began dating Dahlia Young the sister of Dalma Young and the 2 were engaged by 2020. She also ruins a suicide survivor forum Edge-Of-The-Deck which Paz also frequents.

• Andrea Donahue: A Death Cast Herald who has worked with the company since its official release working to put her daughter Ariana through college, becoming one of its top reps thanks to her business-like mentality, unlike her coworker Rolando she remains indifferent over her job and doesn’t care about the DeathCast secret or informing her list of deckers of their impending mortality only desiring to do her job and move on and suggested Rolando do the same although this implies she does not care about the deckers it’s more so she believes that by keeping her interactions short and direct it allows deckers to truly live though her methods aren’t supported by the Rosa family. According to Victor, she does indeed despise her job but only works there for the money and health benefits. Despite her rough exterior, she remains a supportive and caring Mother doing all she can to fund her daughter’s dreams and education and making that fact clear numerous times even if her methods come off on a morally grey line. She is the same herald who is responsible for informing Mateo of his death 7 years later briefly mistaking him for another decker named Timothy. Mateo responds by rudely hanging up in response to her indifferent disposition. By this time she is still paying for her daughter’s tuition and attending physical therapy using a cane to walk. 10 years after Death Cast officially launched, Andrea had become the head herald of the New York Division and personally supervised the deckers. However, her highly decorated tenure would come to an end when she in an attempt to make additional money for Ariana’s college fund, sold a story about Alano’s first time working as a herald and informing the vultures (Death Cast’s enemies) that Caspien Townsend will die which led to him being killed by paparazzi. She was caught by Alano who later informed Joaquin Rosa of her deed upon learning of the circumstances of his death which led to Joaquin angrily terminating her in front of the other Heralds as well as inciting an investigation to prove that she violated her NDA. This later led to her daughter cutting ties with Alano and being forced to break off their friendship. Andrea would then get revenge by publicly supporting Carson Dunst (a pro-naturalist) and denouncing DeathCast, doing so hoping that (should she be incarcerated), Dunst could pardon her crimes against DeathCast. It is implied that she has committed more crimes against DeathCast than Joaquin has accused her of.

• Arianna Donahue: One of Alano’s now former best friends and the daughter of the former head herald Andrea Donahue. Arianna and Alano had met in late 2016 during the holidays when she came into work and had been firm friends since. She was even trusted with the secret of hyperthymesia. She heavily resembles Andrea from Alano’s POV. Arianna is an aspiring Broadway performer and her mother took the DeathCast Job mainly to help pay for her tuition and was currently studying for her dream college. Alongside Rio, the trio made plans to move in together for a separate house (largely so security can stop frisking them whenever they enter Alano’s home). Sadly however their friendship would come to an abrupt end when Alano discovers her mom selling a story about Alano and a famous decker which led to the latter being killed by paparazzi and Andrea getting terminated from her job as well as an ongoing investigation that could potentially get her arrested leaving her unable to pay for Arianna’s schooling. With her future at stake and knowing Alano’s position puts him in an awkward predicament she cuts ties with with him. Alano starts to grow frustrated with her when she does not bother to check on him following an assassination attempt moments after their falling out and despite Rio’s best efforts refuses to contact her out of spite.

• Rio Morales: One of Alano’s now former best friends and a former friend with benefits having met during his brother’s funeral and became firm friends a year later. The 2 have a complicated and somewhat intimate relationship but agreed to be just friends despite having mutual feelings for each other. Physically he is tall, light-skinned, has messier hair, and resembles Alano in some aspects which causes the 2 to be mistaken for blood relatives. The 2’s intimacy also causes them to be mistaken by their loved ones as boyfriends despite Alano and Rio’s stating otherwise. Alano confessed his feelings for Rio on the same day as Mateo & Rufus’ death only to be turned down. The reason is because of Rio fearing he would lose Alano like he lost his late brother Lucio. He plans on becoming a detective presumably working in the police force (or being a private investigator) working to solve crime and make the streets a safer place in honor of his late brother. Secretly however he holds a deep-seated grudge against Death-Cast holding them responsible for getting his brother killed by the Last Friend Serial Killer as well as a more transparent grudge against Dalma Young for creating the app. He had deactivated his DeathCast account a month before the events of the novel. His views align closely with pro-naturalism and even planned on voting for Carson Dunst despite knowing of his rivalry with the Rosa family and his plans to shut down DeathCast for good. Although generally kind-hearted with an easygoing demeanor and a very caring friend to Alano & Arianna he can come off as close-minded, ignorant, and even harsh when emotionally triggered to the point of blatant rudeness as shown with his interactions with Paz as he made Paz out to be and called him a “monster” due to watching Grim Missed Calls despite not knowing or researching the full story behind the exaggerated documentary. However, it can be implied that he is also somewhat jealous of Paz after seeing Alano’s feelings towards him. He is shown to be somewhat dramatic, or attention seeking and can at times make a situation about him when feeling triggered which caused Paz to hold some resentment towards him for his behavior (ahead of the boy already being jealous and hurt by their relationship). He had followed Alano to Los Angeles partly to check on him but mainly to finally confess his feelings for him. However, Alano confesses he no longer has feelings for Rio due to the time it took for him to admit it as well as Alano’s growing feelings for Paz. Heartbroken and unwilling to witness Alano build a relationship with someone else, Rio cuts off contact with Alano as well and breaks off their friendship.

• Victor Gallaher: A herald at DeathCast and Delilah’s then-fiancé. He was the one who gave Rufus his end-day call yet ironically was also the one who killed him by mistake. During his time at DeathCast, Victor had become very depressed due to the very nature of his job and because of this had fallen into a “funk” which began to interfere with his relationship with Delilah who tried breaking up with him due to it despite still retaining his grandmother’s ring. Delilah was convinced that Victor had pranked her by having his coworkers give her a Death Cast call which hadn’t been the case and later when she called to confront him about it he denied any involvement. Shocked and against his better judgment, Victor leaves work to try and see Delilah one last time but unfortunately, his carelessness and desperation to see his dying fiancé causes him to collide with Rufus in a car crash killing the boy instantly and Delilah meets an unknown fate. As revealed in the second book, Victor’s reckless actions as well as unprofessionalism when giving Rufus his end-day call had led to him being fired and arrested with authorities suspecting foul play.