Twelve year old Theodore Trumbull somehow found himself in a time shift while staying at the Baldwin Hotel in St. Louis. The one shift sends him back a year in his life, and so he’s able to prevent the tragic beating of his friend Woody, but the assailant dies instead. At age 28, now a video game developer, he applies for a job at DreamCo, When he arrives for the interview, he finds the revolving doors from the Baldwin Hotel have been installed as the entrance to the company. DreamCo is headed by the obnoxious Frank Cantwell, who seems o have it in from the start for Theodore, yet has some kind of connection to him from the events of sixteen years ago.

While there’s a great premise here, I found the story to be poorly developed, and confusing. The characters to me were one dimensional, especially Cantwell, who at times appears to be a caricature of a cartoon villain. Our hero’s mother just comes across as a cartoonish overbearing Mom. I almost gave up on the book,twice, but managed to finish it.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the novel.

A fascinating ride, . The dialogue was clunky in the beginning, but improved as the story wore on. I felt like the ending was a little rushed, but overall enjoyed the creativity and uniqueness of the story.

The description for this novel captured my imagination and I had high hopes for it.

When Theodore Trumbull was 10, he and his family visited St. Louis and stayed at The Baldwin Hotel. During this visit, Theodore, a fan of quantum physics, has a strange and life-changing incident when he uses the elevator and steps into a parallel universe where he sees things that haven't happened yet in the other version of his life. When he returns, he isn't believed by his parents and is subjected to ECT and dubious treatment by psychiatry. This teaches him to stay quiet about what he knows, but doesn't change his belief in it. Theodore uses the existence of the parallel universe to try to change outcomes in his life and prevent terrible things from happening to people he loves. But every action has a reaction and sometimes the changes have unforeseen consequences. As an adult Theodore becomes a video game designer and when he is hired by DreamCo, he thinks he has finally made it. But there at DreamCo is the same facade from The Baldwin Hotel and inside...the same elevator. The president, Frank Cantwell, acts very strangely towards him and seems to know Theodore already. Have their paths crossed before? And what will happen if Theodore ventures into the parallel universe again?

It is a great concept for a novel and I really liked the ethical questions that it poses for the reader. Is it acceptable to prevent harm to someone you love by harming someone else, even if that person is a criminal? It is wrong to take advantage of the knowledge one could gain by entering a parallel universe - for example lottery numbers or occurrences in the stock market? What about if your actions prevent one type of harm but result in a different kind of harm to other people, or more people?

However the execution does not live up to the promise. Where the novel falls very short is in the character development. Because we have so little insight into their motivations, backgrounds and desires, it is difficult to be invested in them. I found some of them quite baffling - for example, Theodore's brother Linus is very unlikeable and strangely antagonistic toward Theodore until we get to understand him slightly better at the very end of the novel. Likewise, the character of Frank Cantwell comes off as simply unhinged, talking to himself and with an unexplained venom and hostility toward Theodore.

The flow of the novel is problematic, as it is very disjointed and choppy. As the storyline flips back and forth between the two worlds, it is clear that Theodore struggles to keep track of what was said and done in each one, as one bleeds into the other. This is an interesting point, however it should never be that confusing to the reader!

As previously noted, I really did want to like this one, however there were too many issues with the execution. Many thanks to NetGalley for the copy to read and review.

I got drawn into this despite the confusing way it jumps around. When I realized it was all about time travel I couldn't put it down. I liked the characters and the ending was satisfying. I have read The Cabin on Souder Hill, by the same author and enjoyed this too. His writing is quirky and original.

I seem to be in the minority here but I found this one to be all over the place... I was highly intrigued by the concept and really looking forward to reading it, but almost from the very beginning it felt like it jumped around and couldn't quite decide what it wanted to be. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters, but especially Theodore / Edward / Teddy. And when I can't relate to or find myself interested in the main character it makes it very difficult to engage with the story on any meaningful level. It just wasn't for me

Theodore Trumbull understands the addictive allure of video games; Theodore had glimpsed the future or changed the past, he would never be sure, but the event destroyed his childhood,
Theodore is about to be given another opportunity to choose a different outcome, to save someone he loves.
Overall it was a good read

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of The Baldwin Hotel in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

I am a SUCKER for any book taking place in or centered around a hotel. They are always so atmospheric for me and I love getting engrossed in them.

Reading the synopsis, I was totally on board. At the mention of video games & unlimited do-overs, I immediately thought to this past weekend when my daughter, husband and I were all playing Super Mario Bros. on our new Nintendo Switch and how many times we died, but kept getting to do the levels over & over.

Our characters get a chance to go back and change the past, but in fixing one scenario, they cause another to happen. Helloooooooo..........Butterfly Effect!!!

The characters have to go back and figure out their connection and how to fix their future. The reading can get tedious at time, but stick with it, it's a fabulous read!!!

This was a messy read. Very hard to keep track of the details, what little details there were. Lots of nonsensical writing. The premise sounded good but it didn’t work for me in the end.

First up, if I saw one of the first reviews for an arc was a four or five star score, I would assume the reviewer was known to the author. This is not the case so please see this as the totally unbiased review that it is.

It can feel a bit risky to commit to an arc which has no or few reviews. But the premise enticed me and I have found winners in such situations before. My instincts with this book were justified, as I was totally engrossed from the get go and my interest never waned.

This book delivers on two counts: it's easy to read and entertaining yet at the same time it has the reader really thinking and questioning.

Strangely I have just watched a movie about parallel universes and it is a popular scenario but it is always fascinating. This version is written in a way that really let me get inside the main character's head and made it easy to get a feel for what he was going through. There was plenty of tension and drama as well as a cast of interesting characters. The author dropped hints about parts of the puzzle at a good pace and events didn't all pan out as the reader might assume.

Four and a half stars rounded up to five as I'd really like readers to give this a whirl. It reminded me of Scarecrow Has a Gun by Michael Paul Kozlowsky which also raised questions about science while being thoroughly entertaining.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. I could not put this book down. Great, unique, concept, and excellent execution.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this story, but I was absolutely intrigued by the whole premise. I cannot wait to read it again!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book.

I read this in one sitting! It was a very engrossing read filled with twists and turns. The character dynamics were refreshing and they really popped off the page. The storyline was just utterly captivating!