I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Find Me Where It Ends by Cassandra Khaw Published by Tor Nightfire on October 6 2026
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 144
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Bookshop.org
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: A weird, magical story with nods to Greek mythology, Find Me Where It Ends is full of raw emotion and thoughtful reflections on life and death.
“As it moved, Antigone saw proof again of what it was: its pelt seemed to eat the evening light. It was a negative space, a hole cut into the universe in the shape of the dog. Or would be if not for those amber eyes, like coins for the ferryman, the luster rubbed out of them by desperate hands.”
Find Me When It Ends is an intimate and heartbreaking story about suicide, made even more real because Cassandra Khaw writes from personal experience—don’t ignore the Acknowledgments at the end of the book, which provides a glimpse into Khaw’s own struggles with suicide. But despite the serious subject matter, the author is respectful of the characters’ feelings and delivers the story with a delicate touch without lessoning the gravity of suicide.
Antigone is forty when her Death appears to her in the form of a black German shepherd. She isn’t at all surprised, since the women in her family have always been visited by Death when it’s their time to go. Antigone isn’t happy to see the dog, though, since she isn’t sure she’s ready to die. Her sister Lisa and her best friend Vera both want her to stay, and then there’s the stray cat who seems to have adopted her. The cat clearly needs someone to care for it, and as the days go by, Antigone discovers that she’s come to love her Death, who follows her everywhere and appears to be trying to comfort her.
When an old childhood friend arrives out of the blue, he forces her to take a hard look at what she really wants—and what she stands to lose if she dies.
This is a fairly short novella, so I’ve kept the story synopsis short as well. I loved the idea of Death as a psychopomp in the form of a black dog, and Khaw’s dog is both familiar and otherworldly. There is such a tender relationship that develops between Death and Antigone, and because the dog isn’t a dog at all and this isn’t your typical “human/dog” story, that relationship takes on new meaning as you realize that Antigone isn’t looking at a dog, but rather she’s staring death in the face and trying to make sense of how she feels about it. The author’s vivid imagery brings Antigone’s emotional turmoil to life, drawing readers into her conflicted thoughts and describing the mind of someone considering suicide in a way I’ve never seen done before.
But then there’s the cat, who seems to have chosen Antigone as it’s person, and arriving at the most inopportune time ever! What’s a girl to do when she realizes this creature needs her? How does that affect her plans? Antigone clearly has a lot to think about, and this push-pull made the story so emotional.
Khaw also explores mother/daughter relationships and shows how complex they can be. Even though Antigone’s mother is dead, her influence still colors Antigone’s life in both good ways and bad. In one scene, Antigone, who is sensitive to the spirit world, is asked to perform an exorcism for a woman who’s dead mother is tormenting her. The emotions swirling around these characters and the aftermath of the attempted exorcism were intense and frightening and one of the more horrific scenes in the story.
The ending was beautifully done without fuss or drama, which is one of the reasons I love Cassandra Khaw’s books—they feel honest and real while also delivering a good story.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy. Above quote was taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ in the final version of the book.
Leave a Reply