one will live.
one will die.
both will fall in love.
When guilt-ridden Bastian finds himself on the River Styx after barely surviving a car crash that claimed his mother’s life, he doesn’t expect to fall in love with the Ferryman's servant—a boy cursed to log the dead for 500 years—but when the Ferryman demands one of their souls, the two must decide what the value of a life truly is before one of them crosses the River Styx forever.
what readers are saying…
“At once a dazzling dream and a nightmare, this love story that transcends time, place, and the fragile limits of this life. In their gorgeous debut, Michelle Kulwicki explores grief and love as two sides of the same precious coin.”
―Jen St. Jude, author of If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come
A gorgeous and heartbreaking tale of love, loss, and finding the strength to move on. At the End of the River Styx is a journey through myth and memory, brought vividly to life by Kulwicki's rich, emotionally resonant storytelling.
-Rochelle Hassan, author of The Buried and the Bound and The Summer Queen
“Kulwicki ingeniously weaves together mythology, fantasy, and contemporary reality to create a stirring exploration of grief, loneliness, and the many permutations of love.”
―Madeline Claire Franklin, author of The Wilderness of Girls
“With its haunting dreamscapes, deft prose, and two lost boys finding love while confronting death, Kulwicki’s debut guides readers through an innovative reimagining of myth and unflinching contemplation of loss and healing. Bastian and Zan’s heartrending story will stay with you forever.”
―Leanne Schwartz, author of A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore
“Beautifully written and atmospheric, this is one of my favorite reads of the year.”
―Sophie Cameron, author of Out of the Blue and Last Bus to Everland
“Kulwicki shows the tension of hope and disappointment acting like a wedge between the characters, their love of each other strained by their need to escape from a place without a future.”
-Locus Online, 2022
Before he can be reborn, Zan has spent 499 years bound in a 500-year curse to process souls for the monstrous Ferryman―and if he fails he dies.
In Portland, Bastian is grieving. He survived a car accident that took his mother and impulse-purchased a crumbling 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.
The boys borrow time hiding in the memories of the dead while the Ferryman hunts them, and Zan must decide if he’s willing to give up his chance at life to save Bastian―and Bastian must decide if he’s willing to keep living if it means losing Zan.
more about AT THE END OF THE RIVER STYX
you’ll like this book if you like:
✨slow burns
✨liminal dreamscapes
✨bisexual pining
✨snarky soulmates and found family
✨ALL the hurt/comfort
✨death bargains
✨first kisses
✨last kisses
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* Schuler Books is excited to partner with Michelle Kulwicki to offer signed and personalized copies of At The End Of the River Styx! Each preorder will also receive a bookmark, sticker, and art print.
about
Michelle Kulwicki grew up in the Pacific Northwest overturning every rock and stick in an unending quest to find portals to worlds far more exciting than her own. After moving to the mountainless Midwest, she earned her bachelors and master’s degrees in music performance, and spent years in the symphony and musical theater pit circuit. She’s now a mom by day, musician by night, and writer in all the spaces in between—a life that is somewhat lacking in portals, but is still full of magic.
Her short fiction has been both Locus Recommended and Hugo nominated, and her first full length novel, At the End of the River Styx, will be debuting in Spring of 2024 from Page Street Kids.
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Michelle is represented by Connor Eck at Lucinda Literary
For inquiries regarding blurbs or speaking engagements, please email kulwickiwrites@gmail.com