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Find My Way Down to You
Not yet published
Expected 4 Aug 26You've Reached Sam meets Hadestown in this enchanting, intoxicating romance across the mortal world and the underworld.
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 a life with grief or a love that might destroy him.
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 a life with grief or a love that might destroy him.
384 pages, Paperback
Expected publication August 4, 2026
2 people are currently reading
5067 people want to read
About the author
Julian Winters
25 books1,239 followersJulian Winters is the author of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award-winning Running With Lions; the Junior Library Guild Selections How to Be Remy Cameron and The Summer of Everything; and the forthcoming Right Where I Left You. A self-proclaimed comic book geek, Julian currently lives outside of Atlanta, where he can be found reading or watching the only two sports he can follow—volleyball and soccer..
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 12, 2026
This cover!!! So, so gorgeous! Julian Winters is one of my favorite authors, so after seeing this mesmerizing cover and reading the fantastic blurb, I wanted only one thing: to dive into this story. And then Viking Books granted me access to the ARC. I was over the moon.
”That’s what it’s like living with grief. Loneliness, even while you’re surrounded by people.”
I have a soft spot for sadder books, especially when the grief is written really well. Find My Way Down to You is such a story. The publisher compares it to You’ve Reached Sam, which is of course a great comparison, but to me it feels closest to Michelle Kulwicki’s At the End of the River Styx.
August—Auggie—lost his boyfriend two years ago in a car accident and hasn’t really lived since. Now eighteen, he waits tables at a restaurant and lives with his best friend, who, unlike Auggie, has started college. Everything shifts when he meets Cary, the ferrier of souls, and Auggie’s world is turned literally upside down.
The boys in this story are all nice guys, but also flawed. And I actually love that, because people can be kind and still imperfect. London was a planner with big dreams. Cary is brooding and quiet, but also a giver—a boy who looks after others before himself. And Auggie wants to make people happy, so he lets others have their way and rarely pushes back. Auggie and Cary mirror each other in surprising ways, and they lift each other up.
Even though this is a speculative YA story, it’s incredibly readable and leans more toward contemporary romance than fantasy. It’s a story of growth, and in the final part I kept feeling tears well up in my eyes. Not because it’s that sad, (it certainly has its moments) but because Auggie finally chooses to start living again.
It’s a story that stays with you long after you close the book, and I’m so happy I got the chance to read it early.
Actual rating 4.5 stars, rounded up to five.
Thank you, Viking Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss, for this beautiful ARC.
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”That’s what it’s like living with grief. Loneliness, even while you’re surrounded by people.”
I have a soft spot for sadder books, especially when the grief is written really well. Find My Way Down to You is such a story. The publisher compares it to You’ve Reached Sam, which is of course a great comparison, but to me it feels closest to Michelle Kulwicki’s At the End of the River Styx.
August—Auggie—lost his boyfriend two years ago in a car accident and hasn’t really lived since. Now eighteen, he waits tables at a restaurant and lives with his best friend, who, unlike Auggie, has started college. Everything shifts when he meets Cary, the ferrier of souls, and Auggie’s world is turned literally upside down.
The boys in this story are all nice guys, but also flawed. And I actually love that, because people can be kind and still imperfect. London was a planner with big dreams. Cary is brooding and quiet, but also a giver—a boy who looks after others before himself. And Auggie wants to make people happy, so he lets others have their way and rarely pushes back. Auggie and Cary mirror each other in surprising ways, and they lift each other up.
Even though this is a speculative YA story, it’s incredibly readable and leans more toward contemporary romance than fantasy. It’s a story of growth, and in the final part I kept feeling tears well up in my eyes. Not because it’s that sad, (it certainly has its moments) but because Auggie finally chooses to start living again.
It’s a story that stays with you long after you close the book, and I’m so happy I got the chance to read it early.
Actual rating 4.5 stars, rounded up to five.
Thank you, Viking Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss, for this beautiful ARC.
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2026
March 12, 2026Black History Month TBR
Pride TBR
Valentine's Day TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers
Pride TBR
Valentine's Day TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Rounded down from 4.25
Reflective, magical, and sincere, Find My Way Down to You is a potent and masterful narrative about navigating loss.
The loss of a partner is messy and unnavigable at any point, let alone as a teenager. This story lets August be messy and depressed and still deeply caring in a way that my teenage self would have been moved and comforted by. His feelings of isolation in grief despite being loved by his family and friends feel palpably real.
I found myself frequently distracted by how obscure the motivations of the Aides characters and the mechanics of the underworld are. That said, the strength of August's story is far more impactful than the mythical elements are distracting to me.
If you are looking for a reflective YA romance about grief, growth, and all the tangled feelings wrapped between them, you are in the right place. I'm very glad I read it.
Reflective, magical, and sincere, Find My Way Down to You is a potent and masterful narrative about navigating loss.
The loss of a partner is messy and unnavigable at any point, let alone as a teenager. This story lets August be messy and depressed and still deeply caring in a way that my teenage self would have been moved and comforted by. His feelings of isolation in grief despite being loved by his family and friends feel palpably real.
I found myself frequently distracted by how obscure the motivations of the Aides characters and the mechanics of the underworld are. That said, the strength of August's story is far more impactful than the mythical elements are distracting to me.
If you are looking for a reflective YA romance about grief, growth, and all the tangled feelings wrapped between them, you are in the right place. I'm very glad I read it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Sometimes a book finds you at the exact time to destroy and then put you back together. That's the case here.
Find my way down to you was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I've loved every Julian Winters book and I knew it would be a great one because I loved the concept and trusted him to deliver. But then I lost a friend a couple weeks ago and that changed everything.
Nothing will change you more, and make you think about that as much, as losing someone that is younger than you. It leaves you feeling aimless because how could a life be cut so short, they had everything still to live and suddenly they are no more. I constantly think about death, not because I am afraid of it, I have too many mental health problems for that, but because I have a crippling dread of being left behind, and that intensified since the tragedy happened.
So this is the headspace I was in when starting this book.
Find my way down to you was beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful. I cried multiple times and upon finishing I sobbed just thinking about how you should enjoy your life because you never know what'll happen tomorrow. It's a cliche but it's the truth. I love how grief was explored, there's one scene with an elder woman that was wholesome and completely destroyed me emotionally at the same time. It also deals with nostalgia and how it can be dangerous in certain situations, what we remember or what our brains tell us that happened might not be entirely true. The present is all we have and while yearning for the past is something we all do sometimes it is fruitless and could be damaging.
I had commented with friends that I still hadn't found a book to put in my favorites of the year yet, even though I've read more than 50 already, and now I've found the first.
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin/Vinking for the ARC. And Julian, thank you for such a brilliant and important book.
Find my way down to you was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I've loved every Julian Winters book and I knew it would be a great one because I loved the concept and trusted him to deliver. But then I lost a friend a couple weeks ago and that changed everything.
Nothing will change you more, and make you think about that as much, as losing someone that is younger than you. It leaves you feeling aimless because how could a life be cut so short, they had everything still to live and suddenly they are no more. I constantly think about death, not because I am afraid of it, I have too many mental health problems for that, but because I have a crippling dread of being left behind, and that intensified since the tragedy happened.
So this is the headspace I was in when starting this book.
Find my way down to you was beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful. I cried multiple times and upon finishing I sobbed just thinking about how you should enjoy your life because you never know what'll happen tomorrow. It's a cliche but it's the truth. I love how grief was explored, there's one scene with an elder woman that was wholesome and completely destroyed me emotionally at the same time. It also deals with nostalgia and how it can be dangerous in certain situations, what we remember or what our brains tell us that happened might not be entirely true. The present is all we have and while yearning for the past is something we all do sometimes it is fruitless and could be damaging.
I had commented with friends that I still hadn't found a book to put in my favorites of the year yet, even though I've read more than 50 already, and now I've found the first.
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin/Vinking for the ARC. And Julian, thank you for such a brilliant and important book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews