The Survivor Wants to Die at the End

The Survivor Wants to Die at the End is the third book in Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End series, which includes They Both Die at the End (2017) and The First to Die at the End (2022). The series has become a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller. The first installment won multiple Best Book of the Year awards from publications such as School Library Journal, Kirkus, Bustle, Paste Magazine, Book Riot, and BuzzFeed. The series is currently being adapted for a Netflix television series. Other books by Silvera include More Happy Than Not (2015), History Is All You Left Me (2017), and the Infinity Cycle series.

The Survivor Wants to Die at the End is told primarily using first-person narration, alternating between the viewpoints of the novel’s two protagonists, Paz Dario and Alano Rosa. A few chapters are told from the perspective of other minor characters, using a limited, third-person narration technique. The novel is set in the same cultural landscape as the preceding two novels in the series and continues the premise that it has become possible to predict a person’s mortality using an app called Death-Cast. This novel covers the same issues as previous installments by depicting the lives of those about to die and those who survive them. As the book describes the unexpected romance between Paz and Alano, it explores the themes of The Tension Between Free Will and Determinism, Resisting Social Pressure, and Love as a Reason to Live.

A sequel featuring the same central characters has been announced by the author.

This study guide and all its page citations are based on the HarperCollins 2025 Kindle edition of the novel. Please note that Silvera’s books frequently feature teen LGBTQ+ romantic relationships and have been banned in some areas of the United States.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death by suicide, suicidal ideation and/or self-harm, mental illness, child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, substance use, addiction, pregnancy loss, cursing, illness or death, child death, bullying, and sexual violence. The source text has been criticized for romanticizing suicidality and co-dependency in ways that may be harmful for some readers.

Plot Summary

Nineteen-year-old Paz Dario is obsessed with the idea of death by suicide. His story is intertwined with the lead characters in The First to Die at the End. After witnessing his father violently abuse his mother and kill Valentino Prince, the nine-year-old Paz shoots and kills his father to stop his murderous rampage. The boy stands trial for murder and is acquitted, but his budding career as a child actor in a famous wizarding-movie franchise is cut short. Ten years after these events, Paz is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and finds his thoughts and behavior difficult to control. His mother and stepfather watch vigilantly for signs of suicidal ideation. After Paz is turned down for a role in the film adaptation of Orion Pagan’s Golden Heart because of his history, his suicidal ideation advances so that he plans to shoot himself and then fall from the Hollywood sign, thus ensuring that he will beat Death-Cast’s prediction.

During this same time period, Alano Rosa, heir to the Death-Cast enterprise, has problems of his own. His father, Joaquin, has already mapped out his son’s future to serve the best interests of the company. Unbeknownst to his parents, Alano has already tried to die by suicide to escape the destiny charted out for him. He has hyperthymesia, which allows him to recall everything that has ever happened to him. This ability can be debilitating and threatens to cause a mental health crisis if Alano becomes emotionally overwhelmed. During the same week that Paz is planning to die by suicide, Alano is attacked by a Death Guarder who tries to kill him. Joaquin and his family leave New York and fly to their home in Los Angeles to temporarily avoid any further attacks.

Even though Alano has a full-time bodyguard, he slips out late one night to leave a journal entry at the Wisdom Tree in Griffith Park. During his trek through the woods, he encounters Paz climbing the Hollywood sign. Alano instantly recognizes Paz from his movie work and the murder trial. Alano tries to persuade Paz to go on living. Over time, the two boys become friends and fall in love. Both sets of parents create difficulties for the couple because they have their own notions of how Paz and Alano ought to live.

Paz accompanies Alano back to New York, where the latter has a mental health crisis due to the trauma of his knife attack and his father’s attempts to control his life. When Alano tries to jump from a rooftop, Paz volunteers to die with him. This act of devotion snaps Alano out of his spiral of despair. The boys plan a meaningful future for themselves as a couple, no matter what their families think. The novel ends with a hint that Alano was responsible for the first End Day glitch that ruined Paz’s life, but he is afraid of Paz’s reaction if he tells him the truth, setting up a sequel that may address this concern.