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They Both Die At The End
They Both Die At The End
Adam Silvera | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (22 Ratings)
Book Rating
Heartwrenchingly good
It's truly a sign of a good book when you get to the end feeling emotionally battered and drained, yet ultimately satisfied and this is exactly what this book manages.

The idea behind this is fantastic and such a unique one. The notion of a an entity called Death-Cast notifying people that they'll die today is a frightening yet thought provoking idea. I spent the entire wondering what I'd do. Whilst this is obviously a book about dying, it focuses really on the two main characters attempts at living within their last hours and it's a truly wonderful read. Rufus and Mateo are likeable and well rounded characters and you get so invested in their lives, but with the added foresight that you know they will die at the end. And there's also intrigue in trying to figure out how they're going to die - I'll admit I didnt predict it and the ending in general is just so sad and bittersweet. This is the first book I've read of Adam Silvera's but I'll definitely be reading more, his writing style is so easy to read and simple yet effective. No overcomplicated prose here.

Yes this is about death but it's also about life and love and really does get you thinking about everything you take for granted. I dont see how anyone could read this book and not shed a tear by the end.
  
The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile (1999)
1999 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Contains spoilers, click to show
A wonderful film about selflessness. This is what it really seems to come down to. It is a story about doing what is right no matter the cost.

Tom Hanks is Paul Edgecomb, a guard for the death row inmates. Michael Clarke Duncan is John Coffey, the newest inmate on death row for the rape and murder of two young girls. But Paul soon discovers that John can heal illnesses and injuries

After both Paul and a pet mouse are healed by John, the guards risk their jobs, their lively hoods, to sneak John out so he is able to heal the warden's dying wife.

Each time Coffey heals someone it takes something out of him. Taking the darkness of disease and injury costs Coffey a piece of himself. The jail break could have cost the guards their lives in a manner of speaking.

The execution of Coffey remains one of the most tragic deaths on screen. It effectively drives home the darkness of the world we live in and the need for goodness in it.

The whole film is brilliantly acted by a stellar cast. The script has a good flow and a few touches of humor. It never loses its impact.
  
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Superman: The Final Days of Superman
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
"Superman is dying"

There's just something about those words, isn't there? Maybe it'sthe fact that he's the most famous Superheor of them all, or the fact that he is oftne portrayed as (effectively) a benign God-among-men, but those 3 words immediately hook you in.

Of course, we all know that it's not going to be permanent: perhaps it would be fairer to say "This incarnation of Superman is dying"!

Also, unlike [book:The Death of Superman|154795], this time his death is not caused by (essentially) being-hit-really-hard (Doomsday), but is instead an equivalent of cancer caused by a combination of events he has been through (none of which I had read): this Superman has the time to say his goodbyes over the course of this story arc: an arc that sees him slowly succumbing at the same time as another (Super)man appears, a man who claims to be Clark Kent and has all the same abilities.

It's hard, I think, to write a good Superman story: after all, the Man of Steel is virtually indestructible, so any approach that humanizes him is a good thing. Of course, that's not to say there's not lots of fighty-punchy within this (a Superman story without such? Nah!), but it's still interesting (morbid?) to see how he finally succumbs, even if it does leave several plot thread hanging!