Ayanna and her twin sister Olivia - raised apart because their parents divorced when they were young, and gave each girl the choice of which parent they would live with - are identical in appearance and opposite in outlook, due largely to their different upbringings. Ayanna, raised by their father in the community he founded to explore one of the doors, is pragmatic, where Olivia is dreamier and conventionally religious, as she was raised to be by their mother. Together, they enter a door that only Ayanna was supposed to enter, in a coming-of-age ceremony commonly performed in Pathways, her father's community. After that experience, things are never the same.

The synopsis of this novel led me to expect fantasy, based on travel between worlds, powered by seven mysterious doors that appear in seemingly random locations across the planet. Instead, it was a meandering ghost story with strong religious overtones (despite the main character's disavowal of organized Christianity). I'm sure there are people who will read this novel and be fascinated by it, especially by the ability to see ghosts that Ayanna develops after exiting the door, by the philosophical and metaphysical ideas it somewhat explores, but it's not what I was expecting, and it's not particularly to my taste. Due to the complexity of some of the ideas presented, as well as to the death of a major character, this novel is recommended for readers ages 16 and up.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I've really enjoyed 2 novels from Megan Giddings in the past so I was excited to pick this book up. Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. I was expecting this story to be more focused on the speculative element (the doors, the other worlds they go to, why they appeared, etc.) and it does start that way, but then it starts to feel like a typical contemporary story exploring family drama. I found it to be meandering., slow, and not very engaging. I'd try more from the author again in the future though since I've enjoyed other books from her.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

Too bad. The premise of this book is really really interesting and the first chapter was super exciting, the kind of chapter that makes you want to keep reading.

But in the end, I just couldn’t enjoy this book at all. The writing style is actually really good, I admit I liked that a lot. But it just didn’t meet my expectations. Turns out, these doors lead people to create some cult or something like that, and I didn’t expect that at all because the synopsis didn’t mention it. I don’t know, I just don’t like stories that talk about stuffs like that. The story also felt like a coming of age one. It follows Ayanna from when she’s a child until she grows up, all mixed with strange beliefs about those doors.

That part really brought me down tbh. I was hoping for more sci-fi, fantasy, or mystery. Not... cult. So in the end, I just didn’t care anymore. I’m giving it 2 stars.

This book was so meandering I got lost, confused, and truly didn't know what the hell was going on after awhile. Lots of talk about grief and religion but still the plot felt unclear.

Thank you to Net Galley and Amistad for the ARC.

I'm fighting myself on whether I should give this 3 stars or 4, so we'll settle at 3.5 stars.

I wanted this story to be more about the doors. Exploring them, but maybe not learning where they come from. Instead, we mostly have a story about Ayanna's grief and the breakdown of her family.

Once I realized where we were going, I adjusted my expectations. Ayanna's grief after her sister disappeared is palpable. We follow her as she navigates college with the new ability to see spirits. Some benevolent, some a little sinister (talking about you Vincent...wtf, dude). The doors have all mysteriously disappeared to wherever and she deals with the prospect of never seeing her sister again, a mother who blames her, and a father who completely checks out and starts over.

CW: strong suicidal ideation, suicide attempt

This went from sci-fi to lit fic. The writing style is engaging with a third-person narrative. We start the story about the doors and what happens when they show up (cults/religions form and the military monitors them as potential threats) then we focus on Ayanna and Olivia's parents, then Ayanna and Olivia's bond, and then Ayanna post-expedition.

I was hoping we'd have a story of Ayanna actively searching for her sister, risking her life to go through these doors. And that's probably what we would have gotten if the doors hadn't disappeared, so we are left with a girl with strong "sad-girl energy" and the friends she manages to form deep bonds with.

Ayanna works with a professor who is interested in the doors and a love interest who knows about the spirits and provides offerings to them. Ayanna even helps some spirits with unfinished business with the people they've left behind. But we don't get enough of this either.

It would have been nice to have a little more focus. I did really like the ending and what happens when the Ayanna's door reappears though.

MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS was not the book I expected it to be - at every turn, it was tugging on my heart strings in new ways. The portrayal of a complicated mother/daughter relationship is always a hit with me, and Giddings did a great job at creating this. I loved the sister relationship found within here as well. This felt borderline like cult-fiction (though I know it was meant to be seen as a true religion and they had more liberties available to them then what is typically depicted in cult-fic). I wish it could have gone a bit deeper with that aspect.

This is a story about seven mysterious doors that appear in the world, once opened they lead to a different universe.

This is more the story of two sisters Olivia and Ayanna, who go through those doors. It's about choices and consequences and why we believe what we do. it's a story about family, loss, grief and finding oneself.

I liked this one because it made me wonder and think even when i had set the book down

It is a beautiful study that will stick with the reader for a long time.


Thank you NetGalley and Amistad for the advanced digital copy of the book in exchange for my honest review

I’m truly unsure how I feel about Meet Me At The Crossroads, which is similar to how I felt after I finished The Women Could Fly - so perhaps Megan Giddings’ writing style is something that I simultaneously enjoy and struggle with.

I found the first 20% and the last 20% of this book super engaging - which happen to be the parts that focus more on the doors and the supernatural / paranormal aspects of this story. The middle 60% was a very thoughtful exploration of grief, which I felt was meandering but still very well done - I just didn’t particularly LIKE it in comparison to the first and last bits. At the same time, I can’t imagine this story would have had the same impact without that section.

The sibling love, the Ayanna’s guilt, the disappointment in both parents for different reasons, it all felt so vivid, understandable, and REAL. The found family of Jane, Felix, and Stephen made my heart happy for Ayanna, especially when she realized it too.

I do think it will need to be carefully classified genre-wise, as this book is definitely more speculative fiction than fantasy or sci-fi, and the long sections tackling Ayanna’s grief and growth in the middle is ripe for a literary fiction category.

Everything wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly in the end for me, especially after so much drawn out nothingness happening in the middle section, but I was pleased overall and would definitely recommend this book to fans of literary fiction.

This is a genre-defying read. Dark, sci-fi ghost story with a grieving FMC that focuses on strong friendships.

Ayanna and Olivia are twins separated at a young age by their parents’ divorce. Ayanna stays with their father in an unconventional community where mysterious doors appear and disappear at will. When the doors vanish for good, Ayanna is left behind—and Olivia is gone.

What follows is a story steeped in grief. The book captures the disorienting fog of loss, and I especially appreciated the friendships that support Ayanna through it all. Her friends believe her, even when her story sounds unbelievable—and that kind of loyalty is powerful.

The beginning of the book shifts POV frequently, but without clear signals, which made the opening a little hard to follow. I think a bit more clarity would have smoothed readability.

This book really bends genres. Sci-fi readers will love the doors, while fans of mystical ghost stories will enjoy the haunting vibes.

If you’re looking for a supernatural story with a sci-fi element, this is your book!

What would you do if doors suddenly appeared near your home? Would you be interested in opening and going through them or would you just avoid the unknown? Would you study them and hold them in high regard? Or would you ignore them and keep focusing on everyday life? These are some of the questions that Megan Giddings explores in her latest book Meet Me at the Crossroads.

If you are a fan of literary fiction, then check out this speculative work that tells the story of Black midwestern (shoutout to Michigan) twins, Ayanna and Olivia. The doors represent entry to a new dimension, but one filled with beauty and danger. This novel focuses a lot on religion. The twins’s parents are divorced. Their father is in a church that worships the doors and their mother is a traditional Christian. The parent’s religious choice reflect on their upbringing of each daughter since the girls live in separate households with one of their parents. Throughout the book religion and spirituality are a topic of conversation and thought amongst the characters. Black spirituality is also discussed amongst the characters who are Black.

Crossroads also features a found family. Ayanna, the main narrator, feels ostracized by her mother, who favors her sister Olivia. Which I thought was strange since they are identical twins. Ayanna eventually ends up with a found family cobbled together by connections and varied experiences with the doors and Blackness in a predominately white space that they live in. Grief also plays a big factor in uniting the characters.

I thought this was an interesting book that dealt with living your life when you feel guilty after something tragic happens. Giddings weaves family, religion and grief together to create a story that explores the unknown and creates a new space. It will make you think and it will make you ask yourself questions.

A poignant tale of grief, love, and sisterhood.

What happens when the fantastical collides with the intimately human? Megan Giddings’ „Meet Me at the Crossroads“ takes this question and weaves it into a moving, atmospheric tale of grief, love, and the irrevocable ties between sisters.

All over the world, strange, shimmering doors begin to appear - gateways to unknown, otherworldly realms. Some see them as escape routes, others as invitations. For twin sisters Ayanna and Olivia, stepping through one of these doors is, for one of them, a leap of faith, for the other an act of impulse and desperation. But when only Ayanna returns, she is forced to reckon not only with what she experienced on the other side, but also with the unraveling of her already fractured family and with her own survivor's guilt. What follows is a journey through memory, guilt, and the jagged terrain of healing, as Ayanna navigates a world that suddenly feels even more unfamiliar than the one she left behind.

At its heart, „Meet Me at the Crossroads“ is literary fiction cloaked in the shimmer of magical realism and exquisite storytelling at its best - a beautifully written exploration of the enduring complexity of sibling bonds and the quiet devastation of loss. Giddings’ prose is lyrical and emotionally astute, with a keen eye for the unspoken. The doors themselves are an elegant and powerful metaphor, serving as both a plot device and an existential question: What does it mean to leave, to return, or to choose neither? The speculative elements are handled with subtlety; it’s less about world-hopping adventures and more about the internal landscapes we carry within us. Thus, while the novel’s premise suggests fantasy or science fiction, readers expecting genre conventions may be surprised. This is not a tale of epic quests or sprawling world-building. Instead, Giddings uses the uncanny sparingly but impactfully, anchoring the story in emotional realism. The speculative serves to illuminate the psychological and emotional stakes rather than distract from them.

This is a novel for readers who crave depth over spectacle, and for anyone who has ever mourned a loved one, lost a version of themselves, or wished they could step through a door to something - anything - different.

Many thanks to Amistad and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

"Meet Me at the Crossroads" was published on June 3, 2025, and is available now.

I finished this book, and hours later, I longed to be back with these characters. Following Ayanna over the course of this book brought up so many feelings, and I enjoyed every moment.

I had a hard time reading this one in the beginning. But once I figured it out I was okay. Not as great as I hoped it to be but creative and unique nonetheless.

Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings in theory was a great concept, but the execution fell flat for me. The writing was disjointed, meandering, and in the style of running stream of consciousness which I am not necessarily a fan of. The character development was pretty shallow and not overly complex. In addition, the writing style was often superfluous, using more words than necessary. I wish more time was spent on character and plot development as well as on the origins/purpose of the doors.

Thank you Amistad and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 2 Stars
Pub Date: Jun 03 2025

#Amistad
#MeetMeattheCrossroads
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I was a part of the tour for this book. I ended up DNF'ing the book. While the concept was interesting, I didn't enjoy the parts I've read. With that said... I can see this book having an audience. I just don't think I was the targeted audience.

I thought the writing style was too pretentious. The author gives too little space to the interesting idea of the doors and the discussion around religion they bring and spends far too much time on the FMC's endless internal monologues. Too much of the book focuses on the main character's thoughts and feelings instead of focusing on the existence of the doors which was what attracted me to the book in the first place.

The characters are completely paper thin. There's just not much to latch on to. I would recommend this to literary fiction readers who are interested in exploring the themes of grief, faith, and philosophy within a light science fiction framework. But I think many science fiction readers will be disappointed, as I was.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

This wasn't really the fantastical novel about portals I was hoping for. It was more of a grief-filled slice of life literary story about problematic teens becoming problematic adults. Very Catcher and the Rye, but less interesting. To say I was bored and underwhelmed is a massive understatement. After not liking this and DNFing Lakewood, it's safe to say Giddings' work just isn't for me.

I was really excited to read this one as I am becoming a speculative fan, however this one fell flat for me. From what I red about 35% in -I wanted more of the twin relationship and sisters on the page together. As a twin myself I am drawn to twin stories, but this one did not resonate at all. Sorry couldn't finish, but may revisit if ever a book club pick. The writing was well done however, just not the story for me.

The first part of the book is about these mysterious doors that have appeared on Earth. I found this section of the book to be really interesting and well-written. I was engaged. Then, the book became about twin sisters, Ayanna and Olivia, and the disappearance of Olivia through one of the doors. The story then becomes part coming of age for Ayanna and part ghost story. I struggled to get through this section of the book. I kept putting the book down and reading something else. I just didn’t connect with characters or their story, which was disappointing. I kept wanting to read more about the doors and this book was mostly about grief and guilt. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, you can give this book a try. It does have beautiful prose, and I have enjoyed Giddings’s writing in the past. This one just did not work for me.

I featured Meet Me at the Crossroads in my June 2025 new releases video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q31xhbo1tE, and though I have not read it yet, I am so excited to and expect 5 stars! I will update here when I post a follow up review or vlog.