Adam Silvera

Adam Silvera (born June 7, 1990) is an American author of young adult fiction. His work frequently centers on queer characters and explores themes of identity, grief, and mortality. He is known for the bestselling novels More Happy Than Not, History Is All You Left Me (2017), and They Both Die at the End (2017), which gained renewed public interest in 2020 through Tiktok's BookTok sub-community.

Early life Adam Silvera was born and raised in the South Bronx in New York City. His mother, Persi Rosa, is Puerto Rican and worked as a social worker. He began writing at a young age, producing fan fiction for franchises such as Harry Potter and Marvel, beginning around age eleven. Silvera has stated that he was interested in storytelling throughout his childhood, often prioritizing writing over schoolwork. He later worked at the independent bookstore Books of Wonder and as a reviewer for Shelf Awareness. Silvera has explained that these roles, along with courses at the Gotham Writers Workshop, served as an informal education in publishing and craft. He has said that he “built (his) own MFA” by working in the book industry and taking writing courses. In a 2021 interview, Silvera stated that he initially wrote "straight narrators" because he had not encountered mainstream books featuring queer characters during his adolescence, noting that increased industry support for diverse stories helped make his own career possible.

Career Silvera’s debut novel, More Happy Than Not, was published in 2015 by Soho Teen. His second novel, History Is All You Left Me, was released in January 2017. Later that year, Silvera published They Both Die at the End with HarperTeen. The novel was optioned for television in 2019 and has since been reported as in active development, with Silvera attached as creator, screenwriter, and executive producer. Silvera also co-authored What If It’s Us with Becky Albertalli, published by HarperTeen in 2018. Film rights to the novel were acquired the same year, with Brian Yorkey announced as screenwriter. A sequel, Here’s to Us, was released in 2021.

Silvera also expanded into the fantasy genre with the Infinity Cycle series, beginning with Infinity Son in 2020. The series continued with Infinity Reaper (2021) and Infinity Kings (2024). Silvera has described the Infinity Cycle as a long-developed project, noting in interviews that earlier versions of the story date back to his late teenage years. followed by The Survivor Wants to Die at the End in 2025. He has also announced an additional installment, No One Knows Who Dies at the End, scheduled for release in 2026.

Literary themes and academic reception Silvera has stated that writing queer characters is central to his creative practice. In a 2021 interview, he explained that his early experiences as a queer Puerto Rican reader shaped his commitment to centering queer protagonists in his fiction, noting that he does not feel compelled to contribute to what he described as an already extensive body of heterosexual narratives. By his early thirties, Silvera had published eight young adult novels, all of which feature queer main characters.

He has also explained that his exploration of mortality in the Death-Cast novels was shaped by events from his adolescence. In a 2022 interview, he explained that witnessing the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, along with the subsequent death of a family member in a plane crash, contributed to his interest in stories about the unpredictability of death and the desire for characters to confront what remains unsaid in their lives.

A 2024 study positions the novel within broader trends in contemporary young adult fiction, arguing that it moves beyond narratives focused primarily on coming-out stories or sexuality-based tragedy. According to this study, the book has been discussed in relation to themes such as intimacy, agency, and grief.

Discussing the themes of They Both Die at the End, Silvera noted that the novel’s focus is “about the journey and not the destination.”

Several of Silvera’s works have also appeared in school book ban discussions, and More Happy Than Not was listed in PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans following its removal from multiple Florida school districts during 2022–23.

In 2021, They Both Die at the End experienced a major rise in readership. According to Deadline, the novel reached No. 1 on the New York Times Young Adult Paperback Best Sellers list and became the bestselling YA novel of 2021, with the report attributing the renewed visibility to reader activity on TikTok’s BookTok community and increased print runs to meet demand.

In November 2022, the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover Best Sellers list included They Both Die at the End among the top-selling titles, reflecting the book’s continued commercial reach several years after publication.

In October 2022, The First to Die at the End debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Young Adult Hardcover list, marking a strong commercial launch for the Death-Cast prequel. A subsequent New York Times list from September 2023 showed the novel remaining on the hardcover bestseller list for 48 weeks, indicating sustained readership over nearly a full year.

In May 2025, the New York Times Children’s and Young Adult Series Best Sellers list included Silvera’s Death-Cast series among the top-selling book series in the United States, demonstrating continued interest in the novels and their cultural presence beyond their initial release periods.

Publications Novels

Standalone books

More Happy Than Not (SoHo Teen, 2015)

A novel exploring identity, sexuality, and the relationship between memory and selfhood.

What If It's Us series

What If It's Us, co-authored with Becky Albertalli (HarperTeen, 2018)

A contemporary YA novel about chance connection, romantic possibility, and queer relationships. (Don't) Call Me Crazy (contributing writer) (Algonquin, 2018) Silvera contributed “Happiness Goes On” to this collection, a personal essay reflecting on mental health and identity.

Film rights for What If It’s Us, co-authored with Becky Albertalli, were acquired by Anonymous Content in 2018, with Brian Yorkey announced as the screenwriter for the adaptation.

As of December 2025, no release dates have been announced for the television or film versions of his works.