Alex Landragin's Crossings is a glorious, mesmerizing, complex story of stories, an extraordinary, genre-bending and -blending tale. Read either front to back or jumping across chapters in the "Baroness Sequence," Crossings combines three narratives: a ghost story by Charles Baudelaire, a noir romance of Paris on the brink of Nazi invasion, and a fantastical memoir of a woman following her love across the centuries. The totality is reminiscent of Nabokov or Oyeyemi - clever, metatextual, labyrinthine in all the best ways - but also wholly moving, beautiful, and earnest, a love story and a paean to the reader's love of stories. Whichever direction you read Landragin's stunning debut, the result is a breathtaking and inventive masterpiece.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Meant to be read in various ways, to gain the story through vignettes, or chronologically as three separate tales, this is a tale of a love story stretching romance throughout infinity through body snatching and searching for the one true love. I highly recommend this wonderful novel told in a unique style, rampaging through times and cultures, infinitely fascinating. I received a digital copy from the publisher St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC digital copy. I have not been compensated for my opinion and this is an honest review.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish reading this ARC digital copy before it was archived. The book remains on my Goodreads "want to read" list and I will update my review to reflect an updated opinion once I have the opportunity to finish.

Wow, Crossings by Alex Langragin totally took me by surprise. Each story and character in this book is so unique and thoughtfully written. I can't believe I didn't realize it's set up with two different ways to experience it, which is SO fun! I might have to reread it the other way around. I was drawn in from the beginning and highly recommend it!

#'Crossing' by author # Alex Landragin is a explosive debut novel. A story that has a massive scope. Weaving through many generations. Three distinct works interwined. This is on my Christmas list for a paperback.🎁🐾🐾
Thank you,
#Netgalley, # Alex Landragin, and # St. Martins Press for the advanced copy

Crossings begins with the line: “I didn't write this book. I stole it.”

We learn in the prologue which is "written" by a bookbinder that he received a manuscript that consisted of different books - "The Education of a Monster" written and narrated by Charles Baudelaire, "City of Ghosts" which is made up of diary entries from Walter Benjamin, and "Tales of the Albatross" which tells the tale of Alula, who lives on a remote island in the Pacific.

Crossings can be read normally or the Baroness way (which gives page particular page numbers one has to jump to at the end of a chapter and intertwines chapters from each section). To give more information on the plot (or maybe, I should say, many plots) would risk giving the novel away. but it takes you through time and space.

I have to give props to how creative the book is but I found it hard to connect with the characters. The story reads like a puzzle which is challenging in a good and bad way but ultimately, this wasn't one that will stick with me.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & the author for a copy to review.

Alright everyone…this was was something completely different, and it was wonderful! You get to choose which way you want to read this one. You can read it the regular old way, front to back…OR you can be adventurous and read it the Baronness’ sequence way. I chose adventure 😉, because seriously, I can read a book from front to back any old time, but bouncing around is something rare!

Crossings is a story about the journey of two souls through a multitude of bodies trying to right a wrong. If you read this the chronological way, it is a book broken into three separate stories. I did not choose to read it this way, so I don’t have a lot of information on the experience of reading it like this. I chose the Baronness’ sequence. Reading the story this way, at the end of a chapter, it will send you to a new page number. When that chapter is over, you jump to a new spot in the book, all the way through.

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading the story this way. It created one seamless story that really answered questions that I had as the story progressed. I would definitely recommend being adventurous and reading this way!

This story was fantastically written. The story weaves around in time, so when I had a question about something in one person’s life, later in the story, I would find out what happened. It always left me feeling so satisfied! This author did an amazing job creating such an intricate timeline and characters. It was completely amazing!

Overall, I loved this book. The story was fascinating and utterly engrossing. I felt completely fulfilled after reading this. I closed the book thinking that this is how all books should end. It was amazing.

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

It really isn't the type of book that I would pick out to read.but I thought it would be interesting. The many lives that the main character had kept me reading.. I read the book in the normal way and maybe if I read it going to different chapters as another way to read it as suggested I would have found it more interesting.

Crossings
Alex Landragin

Sometimes you read a book so special you just stop and say, WOW no further words needed. This is one of them.

I read this through chronologically as I was also listening to the audiobook which was amazing. I plan to read this in the future again with the chapters out of order (Baroness’ sequence) to experience this book again in a different light.

The writing is simply divine and the language beautiful. It is a genre all on its own with sprinkling of fantasy and magical, suspense and mystery, historical fiction, romance, and futuristic scifi. With an amazing world building and character development, this was a masterpiece.

Exquisite book well told.

Since I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC, I really had very little idea about what to expect from it, except that it sounded intriguing. It is presented as a manuscript that was brought to the original narrator, a bookbinder, who becomes the owner after his customer, a wealthy baroness, is murdered. Following the introductory section are three intertwined stories that can also be read in an alternate sequence, which presumably provides a different narrative flow. (I followed the sequence of the original book.) The main theme of the book is that of “crossings,” which is essentially the transmigration of souls between already-living bodies. The first part is an allegedly unpublished story by the author Baudelaire, the second is the tale of a German Jew in a Paris on the brink of German occupation in WWII, and the third starts with the original crossing done by two lovers in an island culture which is just being discovered by Europeans and follows them through their different lives.

While this is a fascinating concept and I did keep reading, it really didn’t work that well for me, possibly because I’m not a fan of books that follow characters through multiple lives. Also, the characters didn’t really come to life for me. Others, for whom it is a more compatible choice, may enjoy it more.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately intrigued by this book because I've never seen a book before that can be read two different ways. I chose to read the baroness sequence. At times, it was a little complicated to keep track of all of the characters, but I loved the way the time period constantly shifted and the story revealed itself. I am definitely interested in reading it again straight through to see how that story unfolds. This was a very well done, interesting novel and I would recommend it. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I requested this back in July, and it sounded interesting, but then got pushed to the bottom of my list. It was also an emailed title from Netgalley, and I can't decide if those are good titles or ones that need a bigger plug with early reviews.
Either way I didn't read this and sounds like a bit of a dark rabbit hole. I decided not to go down...

This book blew me away, in the best way. It’s format is so unique and the story so captivating. Recommending it to all my reader friends!

An intriguing read, full of symbolism and multi-layered themes.

All the best to the publisher and the author for his future endeavors.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved the concept and plot of this book. It was such an interesting book to read, the story really latches onto your mind and makes you think a great deal.

I admit that I did not finish this book. I was not what I thought it was going to be, and really wasn't my style.

I was afraid that the “reading order” may be a cheap gimmick to spark conversation and grab a wider range of readers, but it’s to Landragin’s credit as a writer that I have never felt so motivated to instantly reread a book to see what other layers I could unravel in one of the most genius books I’ve ever read. Truly, this novel is one of the highlights of 2020 for me, and I can’t wait to share this book with my students.

I really enjoyed this book and was a about half way through when the links stopped working. I was not able to find the next chapter as they seemed to be named differently than what was listed in the order of how to read. I wished I was able to finish it as I was deeply involved in the characters at that time.

This is a most unusual book. There are three different parts, and depending on how you choose to read it, the story presents itself in different ways. It is a time-traveling marvel that can still be confusing at times if you are not really paying attention. I think this book will likely be quite divisive, as some people will love it and others may find it difficult and frustrating. Either way, it challenges the reader and that is something that I really did enjoy. I read the whole thing straight through, then opted for the other way to read it, which is an alternate chapter sequence. I think the alternating chapters is way better and less confusing, but you do you. I cannot imagine the amount of planning author Alex Landragin had to do in order to write this tome, but it has a big, epic scale and feel that is very satisfying, especially as this book finally finds its way to the 21st century in its storytelling. Try it. Put it down, but be sure to pick it back up again later. It is not an easy read but is quite satisfying if you make it through.