Book Review: Find My Way Down to You by Julian Winters

Official Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old August is trying to navigate life after the sudden death of his boyfriend left him devastated, aimless, and feeling guilty. Years after the tragic accident, August mistakenly stumbles into a world beyond his own—the Underworld. Unlike his own gray existence, the underworld is a lavish extravagant place, full of mystery and a flurry of charismatic gods, all curious about August’s arrival in their world. Realizing right away the opportunity in front of him, August goes searching for his lost love, guided by Cary, the smoldering, broody ferrier of souls. But the more time August spends down below, the more his intentions begin to blur. Is he visiting this realm to reunite with his soulmate? Or is he desperately, inexplicably, intoxicatingly drawn to Cary? With his own world in pieces and a dangerously seductive realm promising him a new existence at a heavy cost, August must choose: a life with grief or a love that might destroy him.

This book is an absolutely beautiful novel about love, loss and moving through grief on your own timeline. August is still working through the sudden death of his boyfriend two years ago in a car crash he believes is his fault. August feels lost, wandering in a world that he didn't plan for, looking for anything to guide him that way that London did. When he sees mysterious boy, who keeps appearing and disappearing around him, he is intrigued. The issue is every time the boy disappears a body is found from someone who has passed. Determined to figure out who this boy is and what is going on, August follows him into an unexpected place...the Underworld.

August likes how new the Underworld feels to him, how full of extravagance and mysterious people. August wonders if he can find his late-boyfriend there, apologize for what happened and maybe have a chance to move on...but mortals aren't meant to be in the Underworld, especially not for long, and the grumpy ferrier of souls doesn't seem to like August at all. But then August keeps seeing Cary everywhere, even when it feels like he is the only one who sees him at all. As he travels back to the Underworld with Cary, the more the mortal world seems to not feel the same, especially when he starts to forget things with each visit. But there is a limited number of times August can go to the Underworld and he is running out of time to see London again.

One thing I really liked about this book is how we got to see August move through his grief in real time. He was struggling, still hoping for a chance to apologize and basically walking through life like a zombie. When he meets Cary, something changes, at first it starts as a mission to see London again but slowly morphs into something else, feelings for Cary that both scare and confuse him, since Cary is definitely not mortal. I also liked how each person around August understood that grief is different for everyone, even in the times he was snappy or avoidant, but they still showed up, invited him out and hoped that one time he might say yes. Even when it got frustrating, no one just left him behind they just were there to support him.

Another part of this book that I also really enjoyed was how through flashbacks we got to see August and London's relationship, and how his own view of the relationship may have been very 'rose-colored glasses', with moments of them disagreeing or August changing for the whims of London. I think having this view of the relationship while seeing August in the 'after' was a helpful way to see how grief can make you hold onto things that you may have always been destined to lose. Through meeting Cary, August was able to see how people can be equal and work together in their own ways, instead of carving themselves into someone else to keep them.

This book is beautifully written, with strong themes but also a lovely story of love. I really liked how the mythology of the Underworld was worked into the story and by the end I was definitely crying. If you are looking for a book that will give you hope but also will hurt your feelings a bit...this is definitely the book for you. Also, did I spend a lot of this book humming songs from Hadestown maybe...I have no regrets.

I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars!

Find My Way Down to You comes out August 4, 2026!

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