At the End of the River Styx
At the End of the River Styx
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Publisher's Hardcover ©2024--
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St. Martin's Press
Annotation: Before he can be reborn, Zan has spent 499 years bound in a 500-year curse to process souls for the monstrous Ferryman--... more
 
Reviews: 1
Catalog Number: #383718
Format: Publisher's Hardcover
Copyright Date: 2024
Edition Date: 2024 Release Date: 07/30/24
Pages: 379 pages
ISBN 13: 979-88-900396-0-6
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2023945411
Dimensions: 22 cm
Language: English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews

Two boys from different worlds find one another through griefIn Greece 499 years ago, 18-year-old Zan sacrificed himself to the Ferryman of the River Styx to save his mother's life. His centuries spent leading souls to the Ferryman are nearly up when something unexpected happens a year before his servitude ends: He meets Bastian, a boy living in present-day Portland, Oregon, who's deeply troubled by the untimely death of his own mother. Zan has one job: to lead Bastian to the ghoulish Ferryman, who will devour his soul. But something about Bastian is different. Bastian's friends and twin brother are determined to help him heal from the trauma of losing his mother. He keeps finding Zan in what initially seem to be recurring dreams, but as Bastian finds himself drawn further into Zan's world (which is cobbled together from past souls' memories), the two find their connection growing. Zan must decide whether he can sacrifice Bastian to the Ferryman and finally end his sentence-or serve for 500 more years. Bastian, meanwhile, must consider his own mortality. Told in alternating perspectives, this queer contemporary spin on Greek mythology is a thoughtful portrait of grief and healing. Bastian's guilt and sadness are palpable and will resonate with readers as they cheer him on. Bastian is racially ambiguous; his mother had "warm ochre" skin.Poignant and hopeful.(Fiction. 14-18)

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Kirkus Reviews
Reading Level: 6.0
Interest Level: 9-12

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.


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