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Reviewed by: Heather Maneiro, High School Librarian Title: At the End of the River Styx
Author: Michelle Kulwicki
Publisher: Page Street YA
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 9-12 Genre/Type of Book: Fantasy
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: LGBTQIA+ Romance
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: Cybils Recommendation
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
How many years would you be willing to sacrifice to save the one you loved?
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Review:
Abstract and Mini-Review
Bastian is just barely holding on. After his mom’s death in a car accident that should have ended Bastian’s life as well, Bastian is just scraping by. Bastian is failing all of his classes, probably due to the fact that he rarely goes to school. His inheritance was likely meant to pay for college, but Bastian decides to buy a used bookstore instead. What may have been a crazy, grief-induced decision now is giving Bastian a reason to live. Bastian feels his mom’s presence through the bookstore with memories of reading and The Little Prince living on. But since Bastian should have died in that accident, death feels slighted and the River Styx calls.
Zan is nearing the end of his 500 year servitude on the River Styx, but then a wrench is thrown. A traveler keeps arriving and as Zan leads him through his memories on Styx, the final exchange of the soul never happens. Instead Zan grows closer and closer to this one lost soul who is a perfect match to his. Now Zan must make the decision of which soul can escape.
This sweet, blossoming romance between two young boys reminded me of one of my other favorite titles of this year: Evergreen by Devin Greenlee. Students who pick up the book for the title hoping for more of the mythology of Styx may be disappointed as the relationship takes center stage here.
Recommendation Justification
To go from little to no representation of blossoming LGBTQIA+ relationships in fiction to several options to offer to my students for them to feel seen and heard brings this librarian joy!
Uses in the Library/Classroom
Again, the mythology takes a back seat to the relationship building here, so probably most appropriate as an SSR selection.
Appropriateness of Artwork
The cover art appropriately shows the intertwining of the mythology and the relationship.
Number of party hats:
