Described as ‘a love story with a difference’ They Both Die at the End brought Adam Silvera to fame in 2017 and marked him as an author skilled at handling difficult topics with sensitivity....
Silvera was born in the Bronx in 1990 and felt compelled to write from a young age – often forgoing his homework to write stories. A voracious reader, he has credited Cassandra Clare for providing a turning moment in his life. Reading her series The Mortal Instruments as a teenager was the first time he encountered a gay character in fiction, and it introduced him to the idea that there was a place in novels for a more diverse range of characters than he had previously read about.
After building ‘my own MFA’ by working as a bookseller for Barnes and Noble, attending writers’ workshops and reviewing books, Silvera debuted with his first novel, More Happy than Not, in 2015. It follows 16-year-old Aaron Soto, struggling to piece his life back together after his father’s suicide and come to terms with the intensity of his feelings for his new friend Thomas.
Two years later, Silvera published two similarly emotional novels: History is All You Left Me , in which Griffin and Jackson are united in grief when the boy they both loved drowns, and They Both Die at the End – the novel that propelled him into the spotlight. It tells the story of Mateo and Rufus, who have just learned they only have 24 hours left to live and have met through an app called Last Friend. Together they visit each other’s friends and family to say their goodbyes, realizing as the day progresses how deep their feelings are for one another. While there could be no happily ever after for the boys, their extraordinary tale resonated with thousands of young adult readers and the novel became a New York Times bestseller.
Silvera has published a further five novels since 2018, including a prequel to They Both Die at the End and the first two instalments of his fantasy trilogy Infinity Cycle. The third book, Infinity Kings , is due to be released in 2024.
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