Book Review: Well-crafted novel brings us along on two men’s ‘Last Day’

Adam Silvera’s smart and well-crafted novel brings us along on these two young men’s Last Day. It’s a double-stranded adventure exploring the difference between a vague awareness that you’re going to die one day and the abrupt challenge when you know it’s going to be today.

Death-Cast start making their calls at midnight, and if you get the alert – ‘a distinctive and endless gong, like a church bell one block away’ – it’s certain you’ll be dead within the next 24 hours. A polite but harried call handler provides a bland standard message of direct condolence, but no information about exactly how or when your death will arrive. Twenty-four hours to say goodbye and the chance for one final intense attempt to live life to the full.

Mateo feels he’s got a lot to catch up on; Rufus wants to put things right. One way or another they each find themselves alone until they find each other through the Last Friend app. Turns out, it’s not just weirdos on there, although it’s reasonable for them to be wary when they first meet.

Like people in a crisis situation often do, Rufus and Mateo quickly connect and get close, telling their stories and sharing experiences together. They are ordinary young men on the journey of a lifetime, and they set about revisiting important places and discovering new territories together.

Their shared story intertwines with the snippet tales of the other people they cross paths with, intricately interconnected without knowing it, part of an unseen community. Coincidence and happenstance weave together into a tight-knit story. It’s a satisfying way to share a day. Sad, but satisfying.

It all ties up neatly at the end, and remember, the title gives it away from the start. But there’s one question left open and it’s one that’s worth asking: What would you do if you knew this was your last day?