i think, overall, i did enjoy the story. I like our two characters, and the setting. Buy something about iy just didn’t work for me, it felt as if the whole time i was just wanting more. i’m not really sure why, but it simply wasn’t keeping my attention.

At The End of the River Styx is a beautiful and heart wrenching story about grief and trauma and loneliness and healing. I really loved this book, and it’s definitely one I’m going to cherish.

RATED 4.5 STARS

Bastian Barnes barely survived the horrible car crash, but his mother did not. Heavy with guilt and grief, Bash uses his mother's inheritance money to buy an old rundown bookstore, holding on to the memories of his mother. But he's failing all his high school classes, he fights off panic attacks every single day, his friends seem to want him to be "normal" again, and what's worse is that his perfect twin brother Dorian has starting to heal and move on while Bash has not.

After Alexander's mother died, he found one of her old pagan books and followed a ritual to trade his life for hers. 500 years of service to the Ferryman, helping souls cross the river Styx, and his mother would get to live. Zan is 499 years into his service and close to gaining his own life back, but then a strange boy appears over and over again, refusing to be handed over to the Ferryman.

Bash shouldn't have survived the crash and is marked for death. If Zan does not hand him over to the Ferryman, he risks his own soul being eaten. But the problem is that Bash makes Zan feel more alive than he's ever felt, and Zan makes Bash feel seen. Feel like himself again.

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"Live for me," he whispered against Bastian's lips.

This book was a beautiful and raw depiction of grief and loss. Bash's grief was the most explored out of the two, and I think that it was an authentic understanding and representation of grieving, depression, trauma, and mental illness. Between Dorian and Bash grieving in different ways, their friends getting upset with Bash's attitude and snippiness, Bash making some not-so-great choices, and the way in which Zan and Bash could comfort and relate to each other... authentic and raw and real.

The book is written in third person POV, and while most of the time it focuses on Bash and his inner thoughts, sometimes it would switch to Zan instead. The switch wasn't always very clear, however, and I wish we got more of Zan's specific POV. I also go back and forth on if it was paced well, or if I wanted another 50 pages of the two spending more time together.

Ultimately, I loved the book and loved the story of the two boys who found life in each other. The raw emotions of love and grief intertwined perfectly (and I definitely cried at multiple points).

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Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street YA for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Zan is a teenager fulfilling a debt to the Ferryman. For the past 499 years he has been helping souls cross the River Styx. In all that time he's only failed to cross one soul.

A year earlier, Bastian, his brother Dorian and their mom were in a major car accident, leaving one of them dead, and another one convinced that they should be.

Unable to tell if it's real or just a crazy dream, Bastian visits Zan at the entry to the River Styx. They develop a relationship, traveling between memories of the previous lost souls -- this is the only way Zan has been able to experience life.
The Ferryman wants what is owed to him and both boys needs to make a decision.


Cool idea, and Zan and Bash were fine, but I wasn't completely sold on the love story.
I did enjoy Riley's character, and of course, Cat. But for the majority of the book I just didn't feel invested in the story.
I'd say give it a try for yourself if you're interested in Greek mythology, YA romance, queer relationships, grief/death/drugs, and magical realism.

3.5 stars

Michelle Kulwicki’s At the End of the River Styx is a captivating and emotionally charged story that masterfully weaves together themes of love, sacrifice, and the enduring power of hope.

Zan’s 499 years of servitude to the Ferryman set the stage for a compelling narrative filled with tension and heartache. His unexpected connection with Bastian, a grieving young man seeking purpose after tragedy, is both tender and transformative. Their bond grows naturally, offering moments of profound vulnerability and hope amidst the shadowy backdrop of death’s realm.

Kulwicki’s evocative writing brings every memory and setting to life, from the eerie yet poignant office of the Ferryman to the vivid, bittersweet memories of the dead. The exploration of these memories adds a dreamlike quality to the story, beautifully complementing the boys’ fight against fate.

The stakes are high, and the choices both Zan and Bastian face are heart-wrenching yet inspiring. Their journey toward selflessness and courage is deeply moving, culminating in a conclusion that lingers in the heart long after the final page.

This is a gorgeously written and emotionally rich tale that will resonate with readers who enjoy deeply human stories set in fantastical worlds. At the End of the River Styx is a must-read for fans of poignant, character-driven fantasy.

What a lovely and original story! I was surprised at how taken I became with Zan and Bastion. While Bastion is dealing with the loss of his mother and blaming himself here on earth, Zan is almost at the end of deal he made to save his mother but assisting the ferryman for 400 years. Bastion, it seems, was supposed to have died in the accident that killed his mother, and it is Zan's job to see him over to the ferryman. But somehow, between worlds, the two form a bond that cannot last.

I enjoyed listening to this book. We grow to see how each of the two main characters are hurting and how each plays a beautiful role in the others life. This is a sad story, but also an uplifting one. Readers should be aware going in that the plot deals with depression grief and suicide ideation. These are heavy topics, but Kulwicki handles them well and in an age appropriate way that represents the struggle deftly along with the cost. Overall this is a story about what it means to live and what makes like worth living. It is thought provoking and will likely stick with me for a long time. A reminder of how precious life is and how much of a difference our connections to each other can make.

2.5/5 Stars

Pros: I enjoyed the relationship between all the characters, not just Bastian and Zan. The character work in this book is very well done especially Dorian, who was my favorite character. The characters feel real and their grief is palpable from the very first pages. The concept of the book is very interesting and I think the bones of the book are solid.

Cons: My main issue with this book was that it felt at several points in time like it was trying too hard to do too much in a form it is not suited to. The concept is fantastic and I think it does succeed in making you care about these characters and what they are going through, but at the same time the tone and writing was juvenile. This is a YA book and I acknowledge that, but there were times that certain aspects of the trauma that Bastian and Zan had gone through were mellowed out, which deeply contrasted with the very vivid displays of PTSD. This is a YA book about death and grief and guilt, and on some level I think these topics were too heavy to be fully explored in a 300 page book. I think this could also be a case of 'this book was not written for me', so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Overall, I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it, but I think I am not the intended audience for this book and it's not something I'll pick up again.

I tried too many times to read this one and finally downloaded the Netgalley audio version thinking this would be the kick in the butt to get into it but alas it still didn't pull me in.

There wasn't enough of a foundation to meet the characters ahead of all of the grief that was overtaking them and I'm in a rut regarding books on grief as many people get into their feelings over the characters feelings of grief but I'm not and that's a problem with an empathetic connection. There are two characters, one grieving his dead mother where he buys a bookstore with the insurance money and the other who is the Ferryman of the River Styx who has one more year to go before he's free of the curse of ferrying those across. The two of their worlds collide.

It felt like stuck spinning wheels, nothing quite happening enough but something is certainly going on. It didn't work for me.

Michelle Kulwicki’s At the End of the River Styx is a haunting, emotionally charged exploration of grief, memory, and the afterlife. With lyrical prose and a deeply reflective narrative, Kulwicki weaves a powerful story that delves into the complexities of loss and redemption. The evocative setting and rich character development make this a compelling, thought-provoking read. Perfect for fans of introspective and supernatural fiction.

An achingly beautiful exploration of grief with tremendous world-building -- these characters leap off the page

I’d never heard of this author before but I was drawn in by the title of this book and it did not disappoint! I loved the storytelling and characters and I really enjoyed how it explored the myths of the underworld and all that that entails

This was a really thoughtful and somewhat intense exploration of grief that proved to be a very meaningful reading experience. The story takes place between Portland and The Styx and follows teen Bastian as he attempts to deal with his grief after losing his mother in a car accident. It's not the easiest read and I think it's important to be in the right headspace to get into this one, but it's absolutely worth the read. I thought the characters of Bastian and Zan were incredible well crafted and developed throughout the book and I really liked following them on this journey. As an Ancient Greece enthusiast, I also really enjoyed the mythology aspects and the inclusion of the River Styx elements overall. I think the ending will be a bit love or hate for many, but it fit the story perfectly.

I'll confess that I went into this book perhaps a little bit expecting this to be another YA romance using overdone Greek mythology concepts as a prop and a marketing ploy, but this book really defied both my expectations and the generally expected genre conventions and felt like something truly unique and all its own.

Even two months after finishing it, I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about this book. The writing style had me hooked almost instantly, and immediately gave me hope from the start that this could be a 5 star read. The way that this book explored grief and loss and healing was absolutely harrowing and showed a deep desire to show the stages and aftermath of mourning and the ways it looks different for everyone. The fantastical elements of this book in some ways reminded me of the vibes of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and while it didn't bring it home well enough to come near to my love of that book, I do think there are things that fans of the yearning and wonder of that book could find to enjoy in this one. This book also had a fun little used bookstore renovation side plot that was pure wish fulfillment for every devoted reader who has dreamt of quitting their job to run a cozy used bookstore, and I ate up every vicarious second we got of it.

This wasn't perfect; there were some points where I lost interest, some themes that it felt were a bit overexplored to the point of redundancy, and I wasn't quite sold on the romance subplot. However, especially for a debut I think this book had a lot of offer, and I'll definitely be curious to keep an eye on the books Kulwicki writes in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a stunning, devastating, hopeful, heart-rending, triumph of a book that took every emotion I had, tore them all to shreds, and then tenderly pieced them back together time and again. That is to say, I utterly adored every sentence of this story and would break down over it again without hesitation. Michelle does an incredible job of capturing grief, guilt, trauma, anxiety, longing, living, and all those hard-to-express feelings in between.

Seeing the relationship between Bastian and Zan grow as each helped the other through their pain and learn how to live again (as much as that can apply in Styx) was beautiful. And Bastian's relationship with his friends and brother felt so natural and messy and REAL. Everything about this book felt so real - broken and joyful and disastrous and dream-filled. For a book about dying, it carries a strong, unmissable message of all the best reasons to live. (Also, the Switch scene was amazing!)

So I’m going into this book. I knew that it had a lot to deal with the process of grief and dealing with grief..
So I pretty much went into it with an open mind and was curious to see how the offer would story that was Greek mythology inspired.
Overall, this book was definitely a total miss for me to be honest. I really wanted to like it, but from the get go, I could tell I was going to struggle with this book.
I really forced myself to finish it and was skipping through a lot of the Pages to get to the end of the story..
It was honestly for me really repetitive and I didn’t connect with any of the characters whatsoever.. None of the side characters or just the story in general was engaging enough for me to enjoy it. Even the cat couldn’t save this book..
I for sure would not recommend this book to people based on my experience, but like I always say in my reviews. If you are interested by the synopsis, go read the book because you could have a totally different experience than me.

I was so excited to read this book but the main character was hard to like. I understood he was dealing with a lot but his judgements on others especially his twin brother was harder to ignore when they were going through similar loss. He was rude and mean to his brother just because his brother was doing better than him. As if it was not about getting better and heal from the trauma but a competition of who handles it better. His brother reached out to him so many times and he kept being rude and judgmental.

This book was not for me but I would still love to read the author's future work, I liked her writing style and it was a good story with a very unlikable main character.

Before he can be reborn, Zan has spent 499 years bound in a 500-year curse to process souls for the Ferryman and if he fails he dies. Many have failed doing this “work.” In Portland, Bastian is grieving. He survived a car accident that took his mother. Bastian decides to buy an old used bookstore with the life insurance money. But in sleep, death’s mark keeps dragging Bastian into Zan’s office. It shouldn’t be a problem to log his soul and forget he ever existed. But when Zan follows Bastian through his memories of grief and hope, Zan realizes that he is not ready for Bastian to die. What will Zan do? Is Bastian willing to die?

The author tells in alternating perspectives, this queer contemporary spin on Greek mythology. It is a thoughtful portrait of grief and healing. Bastian’s guilt and sadness are palpable and made me relate to him. It is an emotional novel.

gorgeous gorgeous romance and i found it very interesting. the two protagonists, zan and bastian, were so sweet and the idea of the hopping into the memoires was so cool. tysm for the arc

I was super excited to read this story as I love anything to do with the Ferryman. Now it was just not about the Ferryman, but more to do with Zan who makes sure that the Ferryman gets the person who needs to cross over. With that said Zan is lonely as he has been working for the Ferryman for 499 years. The one and only human that he can actually talk to is Bastian. Bastian is dealing with the fact that he cheated death and we all know death comes for payment as well as the grief from losing his mom. Our story goes between both Bastian and Zan's POV and you can't help but feel sorry for both of them. Zan because all he knows is death and is almost free of the Ferryman and you just want him to be happy and done with it all. Bastian, we see how he deals with grief and you just want him to be happy. I was impressed once he was able to say no to the partying scene that was around him on more than one occasion. Grief is handled in a lot of different ways and seeing Bastian deal with his I was impressed that his brother was really trying his best to not only push himself through it but also try to get through to Bastian. I was impressed with how Bastian got to visit Zan and it seemed like time didn't pass so fast with that said I also liked how Zan got to visit places that were a memory for others.
As we kept reading and seeing how Zan and Bastian's worlds were coming together we were left with this. Who will be sacrificed? Would it be Zan or Bastian? Will love prevail?

“Maybe I’m trying to remember what it feels like to live too.”

Reading At The End Of The River Styx was pure marvel, and another “if I could give more than 5* I would” book. It was –of course– dark, as the main themes are death, grief, depression and (metaphorically) suicidal thoughts. Yet, it was also a story full of hope and magic, that left my heart light and fluttering.
The idea of exploring static memories, like a life left hanging –how relevant in the in-between that represents Styx, is one of the best images of depression I saw until now. But it is also a sparkle of joy because at the same time, in that frozen space, Bastien and Zan build their own memories together, and slowly return to life. They experience life together as other people are losing it. Zan guides Bastian, but in a different way than what he was supposed to do. Both characters’ trajectories, cursed and hopeful all at once, are also such a poetic representation of grief. Culpabilise. Move forward. Live and let go. Choosing the little prince as a recurring motif was such a great idea in that context, as that book deals with the exact same themes (the fact that it is one of my favorite books ever has nothing to do with it…).
The story is written like Styx. It flows but is full of turbulences that trigger so many feelings from dread to awe, from laugh to tears. I loved my journey through these pages, and I know this will haunt me for long. In the end, this book is about how Love makes you feel alive again, no matter the outcome. Hope.
I can’t wait to read this author’s next book.

Thank you Michelle Kulwicki NetGalley, Colored Pages BT, Page Street Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.