“The First to Die at the End” by Adam Silveria is the prequel to “They Both Die at the End” by the same author. The book, “They Both Die at The End,” is set in present times where there is an organization called Death-Cast that oversees telling people the day they die. This premise is the same for “The First to Die at the End” except it is seven years earlier, the first day Death-Cast was started. This book’s two main characters are Valentino Prince, who has just moved to New York with his sister in hopes of becoming a model, and Orion Pagan a stranger Valentino ends up meeting in Times Square. They end up having a connection immediately, but will this connection be broken by one phone call?  I loved the previous book because of its captivating storyline and interesting subplots throughout the book. The first book and prequel are both very good references for representation for Puerta Ricans and the LGBTQ community. Another thing I love about these books is that they are split up into five parts.  

I really enjoyed the first part, Death-Cast Eve, because the reader gets to see the background and history of the characters. Along with the characters meeting for the first time. One thing I was not super happy with is that the first part was kind of slow and repetitive. In Adam Silveria’s books he has a motif of fate and hope which was shown in this first part.   

I loved Part 2, Death-Cast because this is where the conflict begins. These chapters showed a new perspective of Juaquin Rosa (the creator of Death-Cast) that we have not seen in “They Both Die at the End.” I read the whole entire section in one sitting. It was so engaging because of the small subplots and different points of view. 

Part 3, The Firsts, was about 350 pages which made it hard to keep me interested but I did really enjoy the storyline throughout these chapters. However, I do have one complaint about how this part mostly focused on outside perspective instead of the main characters, which made it hard for the reader to understand what they were feeling.  

                Part 4, The End, was probably my favorite because of how quick but meaningful it was. This section mostly focused on the more romantic part of the book versus the mystery side.  

                The final section of the book, The Beginning, was very quick, but I always like this part in Silveria’s books because it makes you want to know more of the story almost like a cliffhanger. He does this in his other books as well.  

I personally think that this book was one of my favorites and I recommend it. One thing I did not really like was how the chapters were split up. There we five parts and it was 550 pages causing the reader to have a hard time breaking it up. Overall, it is a very good mystery and romance book.