This was a book that I enjoyed, especially the creativity behind it. It must have taken Landragin a ton of planning to pull this off. As you may not know, this book can be read two ways. It can be read as a normal book, which is straight through from page 1 to the end. The other way is by using the "Baroness" sequence, which actually starts on page 150. I decided to read the Baroness sequence first, which is a love story. I'm a big fan of "choose your own adventure" books and even though you couldn't choose the outcome it kind of felt like that while reading this book. I will warn the reader that there is some SF aspects to this book, which I enjoyed. However, if you aren't into that genre then you might be put off or not buy into the whole premise. If that is the case than read the book the conventional way first. I would recommend this book, just on its creativity alone. 3.5 stars

Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. What a cool book! There are two different ways to read this book. There are technically 3 books that are one after another, but if you follow "the baroness sequence", you can jump between three books and get a different look at the story. The intro to the book sucked me right in and I couldn't wait to get started. Some reviewers felt this was too slow, but I actually enjoyed the pace of the story.

Like others, I also decided to use the Baroness sequence and I loved it. I think in a few months I'll go back and read it straight through and see how it is different. I loved the concept of being able to transfer souls just by looking into a person's eyes for an extended period of time. There's the idea that the eyes are the pathway to a person's soul and this book used this in such a creative way!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC for my honest opinion .

A rather compelling story. Based on an interesting premise, the book rings you in and becomes hard to put down. With its structure inviting you to read the book in different ways, it seems likely that I will go back to it and read it again - but as a different story each time.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Crossings by Alex Landragin. The book could be read two ways: conventional (from start to finish) and alternative (so called Baroness sequence). I read it conventional way and enjoyed it very much. (Contrary to some reviews -- or the book's Preface, for that matter, -- the conventional way also provides a well-connected storyline with a sweeping arc. It just comes together differently.)

The fantasy portion of this book is light, and only serves as a vehicle for the author to cover 150 years and many countries (more than 220 years, if you count the Preface). Otherwise, the book is historic fiction overlaid with suspense, both of which are my favorite genres. The author does a great job vividly portraying various historic times and events. He also masterfully weaves the mystery and suspense into the story-telling.

One day, I would love to re-read this book in a Baroness sequence.

"Rare books can bring out the worst in people".

The Baroness had an impressive private library of material pertaining to Charles Baudelaire. She asked an acclaimed bookbinder "to bind a looseleaf manuscript-no constraints of time or money-a priceless manuscript...one condition...I was not to read its contents". The Baroness was later found murdered, her eyes gouged out. "Could the murder of the Baroness be connected somehow with the manuscript now lying in my safety deposit box?" I was now free to devour the time-worn, rabbit-eared document containing three stories, handwritten in French: "The Education of a Monster", "City of Ghosts", and "Tales of the Albatross". How does one read this document? The manuscript can be read in order, from beginning to end, or, the Baroness Sequence could be followed, zigzagging by way of a jumble of numbers scribbled on the first page. This reader chose the adventurous Baroness sequence!

On a Pacific Island in the late 18th Century, the populace obeyed "The Law". It was their prized possession. "The Law's greatest gift was the crossing. To look into the eyes of another, to sense the stirring of one's soul, to be transported into the body of the other and dwell therein until the time came for the return crossing...A crossing is a perilous venture...some crossings fare better than others...The Law says there can be no crossing without a return crossing".

A French trading ship, The Solide, visited the island. The Islanders invited the strangers to a feast. "...we drank in their presence, we studied their strangeness". Koahu, a student of the crossing, performed the Islanders Sacred Dance: The Dance of the Albatross. Koahu, brazen and bold, locked eyes with Roblet, the ship's surgeon, a look with such intensity that a crossing took place. A mistake occurred. Koahu, inhabiting Roblet's body returned to the ship.

Koahu was Alula's beloved. "...so began the years of searching...my pursuit of you became my regimen, my raison d'etre...I am Alula, and I will never abandon you...Upon crossing into a new body, one takes up the course of a new life,...I never stopped seeking out a way to speak with you". Sacrifices for love, attempts to right a grievous wrong, with unintended consequences, unfold over a period of 150 years.

"...eyes are the window to the soul...I ask only that you look into my eyes and stay still. Do not look away. Do not speak...I need only look into your eyes for three or four minutes, and then all will be revealed". Travelling through time, the reader will meet Charles Baudelaire, experience the occupation of Paris in 1940, witness the crime of eye gouging, and the disappearance and resurfacing of a precious manuscript.

"Crossings" by Alex Landragin is a unique and ambitious foray into speculative fiction. It is a well written, complex literary puzzle, a grand adventure!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was difficult for me to get through. I was really excited for the concept. I felt immediately hooked by the prologue, and happily chose to follow the Baroness sequence. Once in the actual story, it was very hard to keep attention. I eventually had to put the book down, after close to 2 weeks of trying to get through the weeds of the story. Great concept, but the story drags and is not intriguing enough to overcome it.

Paris. About to be overrun with Nazis is not the best place for a not only German man but a Jewish one as well. As all-around is chaos and fear, a courier arrives at his bookbinding shop with a manuscript from a Baronness who would like it re-bound in the red leather she sends with it. 

Inside are three stories, very unlikely tales. When the Nazis arrive the manuscript is forgotten for a bit and when he retrieves it he keeps it. Later he learns it can be read two ways. Straight through or in a very different way. The fantastical tale is hard to believe and takes us all over the world. The one commonality is Charles Baudelaire. He wrote at least the first one and a lot of this content is about him and a mysterious woman.

That is all I am saying here. This was something I have never seen a writer attempt. The word Epic comes to mind. The planning and detail this took are beyond anything I've seen.

Personally, I read it both ways and understood everything just fine. Although at one point I took a few notes to keep everyone straight.

Historical Fiction mixed with fact and fantasy. Well Done!

NetGalley/ St. Martin's Press July 28,2020

I think this just wasn't the book for me. I was kind of confused and I just didn't connect to it. I don't really have any constructive criticism it just wasn't my book unfortunately.

A very unique book - I loved reading it so much!!! A wonderful concept... and I was hooked from the very beginning.

The first time, I read it in the baroness order, but the links were not working properly, so halfway through the story, I lost the connection to the following story, and ended up just reading the next page. I am assuming this would be fixed in the final version of the book.

The next time, I read it from the beginning to the end -- i did follow the story better this time, but it was hard for me to keep track of the number of lives/crossings of each person and the timelines.

All in all, I absolutely LOVE the concept and the book! A very intriguing book, I must say!

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a review. I don’t think I have ever come across a book quite like this one. I am in awe of the writing style. I try to avoid books centered around Nazi Europe so while the story didn’t really interest me, the writing kept me engaged. Definitely would recommend this book to all who like this genre.

I that Netgally and St Martins press for the opportunity to read this book. However, though I found this book to be interesting in the beginning I found it frustrating to follow on ebook.

What a neat, inventive novel! This took me back to the "Choose your Adventure" times! There are 2 ways to read this book - sequentially as short stories, or the novel way that jumps around in sections leading to a cohesive and different type of read. I chose to read it as a novel, so was skipping around and was very pleased with the overall tale of "crossings" and their impact on people and situations. I enjoyed this immensely, and will definitely re-read sequentially to compare the 2 reading options.

Finally a very different kind of story! what a fascinating imaginary voyage.

Following the old adage that ‘books can take you anywhere”, this extremely well written, complex narrative will do just that.

By ways of successive ‘crossings’, the reader follows three souls and a refreshing love story through centuries and continents.
The meat of the account takes place in Paris at different periods.

The genre of this book is difficult to box in, mostly historical fiction peppered with fiction and suspense.

I found extremely innovative that the tale can be read two different ways, either sequentially or jumping the timeline.
It is almost impossible not to read this novel both ways.

I highly recommend this book and this author.

Thank you to the publisher St Martin Press for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'd heard great things about this one....it was so expensive to buy from America that I was amazed to get it here! It's complex but enjoyable.

Very unique and interesting, I read the baroness order and I'll probably try the other way too. The writing was beautiful and I enjoyed it but I did find myself confused at times. I'm hoping reading it in the other order will fill in some of the parts I didn't follow, I am hoping to find a print copy so I can make some notes along the way.

This is a fascinating story, intricately woven, and compelling. The author has tailored two stories in one, where the reader can choose their own path with a guide that leads one from chapter to chapter. You can either read the book from chapter one forward, or read the “Baroness sequence,” where you follow a mixed up listing of chapters that provides a different version of events.

I read it straight through, and frankly, once I was done I didn’t want to go back and read it the second way. This in no way means I didn’t enjoy the book, which was thoroughly intriguing and enjoyable. I just was satisfied with the ending and left it at that.

This is a fantasy of three people traveling through time, using a gift of “crossing” into other people and taking over their lives. The book starts as a love story but morphs into something quite different – a story of redemption and revenge. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys time travel and fantasy books. I hovered between four and five stars only because at times the story seemed to try a little too hard.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this upcoming novel. I wasn’t sure if it was for me after reading a reviewer compare it to Cloud Atlas which I struggled with and abandoned. I see the similarities but I found this work more accessible. So it’s a fascinating time travel (but not really) story, which can be read it two different fashions. I chose the “normal” start at the beginning way and thought it was great. After finishing, I started to read it again in the alternate sequence but didn’t finish it that way. It seemed more confusing to me in that order, even after having read it already (or maybe because of that?). I think either way you choose, you will love it. Highly recommended.

I tried to get into this book and just wasn’t feeling connected to it. I started reading strait through because I thought the jumping around approach would be too confusing. I liked the idea of the story. It was very unique to be read two different ways. I may come back to it one day, but I wasn’t able to get through it at this time. Thank you the ARC copy!

Before the reader begins, he must decide how to read this book. Straight through? Alternating chapters? Both have their advantages, so why not do both? It's that good. As in looking back over a life, time and its sequencing is what we make of it and the more flexible the mind, the richer the experience.

After a strange and frankly alarming series of events, a bookbinder ends up with a curious unbound manuscript. From one point of view, it consists of three different tales: a previously-unknown short story by Charles Baudelaire, a thriller set in Paris as the Nazi menace looms, and the fantastic saga of two lovers separated by decades and oceans. When read in a different order, though, the chapters form a single, epic whole. It's quite the parlor trick, keeping each plot distinct as they weave through time and space touching on issues like identity, fate, and metaphysics.