theshaggyshepherd's review
5.0
Crossings // by Alex Landragin
From the NetGalley description: "Alex Landragin's Crossings is an unforgettable and explosive genre-bending debut—a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes."
Crossings by Alex Landragin is fiction with a streak of magical realism moving all throughout the book. It is the story of souls and how they can travel through different bodies. The book Crossings is divided into three parts: Education of a Monster, City of Ghosts, and Tales of the Albatross. There are two different ways of reading this book. You can either do the simple things by reading each part in its entirety in the order listed above. Or you could read it in what is called the Baroness Sequence, which is explained at the beginning of the book. In this sequence, you read chapters from each part intertwined in the sequence laid out by the Baroness. These are the stories of Alula and Koahu as they travel through different bodies and across the world. While one remembers each past life and purposely moves forward to find the other each time, the other only remembers nightmares and has to be educated on the reality of "crossings" each time due to a faulty crossing originally. Crossings is a story of love and loss, triumph and tragedy, reward and revenge.
Crossings by Alex Landragin is not like other books I have experienced. It reminds me of Cloud Atlas but leaves me with more thoughts than that book. I find myself thinking about it many hours after I put the book down and yet still struggle to put my feelings about it into words. While I know it is a fictional story, it still leaves me wondering about souls and their destinations. I personally chose to read this book in the Baroness Sequence and am glad I did so. I am a fan of multiple timelines and narrators, so this sequence was right up my alley in that sense. I do see where it can get rather confusing at some points, especially since the eARC had a couple of issues with the sequence, though I think that will not be an issue with hardcover copies and will hopefully be fixed for the final ebook as well. If you are someone that enjoys straight forward stories and prefers to avoid jumping from one story to another continuously, then I recommend reading the parts one by one as they are laid out. I do believe it will still be an enjoyable experience that way. It certainly will be easier to understand and follow along, though I do think it will take away some of they mysteriousness and excitement.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me a chance to read and review this book. This is my first book by Alex Landragin and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style. I hope I get a chance to read more from the author soon.
From the NetGalley description: "Alex Landragin's Crossings is an unforgettable and explosive genre-bending debut—a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes."
Crossings by Alex Landragin is fiction with a streak of magical realism moving all throughout the book. It is the story of souls and how they can travel through different bodies. The book Crossings is divided into three parts: Education of a Monster, City of Ghosts, and Tales of the Albatross. There are two different ways of reading this book. You can either do the simple things by reading each part in its entirety in the order listed above. Or you could read it in what is called the Baroness Sequence, which is explained at the beginning of the book. In this sequence, you read chapters from each part intertwined in the sequence laid out by the Baroness. These are the stories of Alula and Koahu as they travel through different bodies and across the world. While one remembers each past life and purposely moves forward to find the other each time, the other only remembers nightmares and has to be educated on the reality of "crossings" each time due to a faulty crossing originally. Crossings is a story of love and loss, triumph and tragedy, reward and revenge.
Crossings by Alex Landragin is not like other books I have experienced. It reminds me of Cloud Atlas but leaves me with more thoughts than that book. I find myself thinking about it many hours after I put the book down and yet still struggle to put my feelings about it into words. While I know it is a fictional story, it still leaves me wondering about souls and their destinations. I personally chose to read this book in the Baroness Sequence and am glad I did so. I am a fan of multiple timelines and narrators, so this sequence was right up my alley in that sense. I do see where it can get rather confusing at some points, especially since the eARC had a couple of issues with the sequence, though I think that will not be an issue with hardcover copies and will hopefully be fixed for the final ebook as well. If you are someone that enjoys straight forward stories and prefers to avoid jumping from one story to another continuously, then I recommend reading the parts one by one as they are laid out. I do believe it will still be an enjoyable experience that way. It certainly will be easier to understand and follow along, though I do think it will take away some of they mysteriousness and excitement.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me a chance to read and review this book. This is my first book by Alex Landragin and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style. I hope I get a chance to read more from the author soon.
alicerondinella's review against another edition
2.0
Mmm no. Pensavo che potesse fare per me, ma in realtà no. Mi sono annoiata, troppi nomi, troppi “scambi”, non mi ha presa ed è stato davvero difficile finirlo, già da un terzo volevo abbandonarlo. L’idea di base non è male e per questo do due stelle.
trippalli's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spooky historical fiction style Boogeyman story or body stature story the talks about the idea of looking at another size could be dangerous. They could grab your soul...
arshman995's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
2.25
soupernerd's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ispeakbooknerd's review
4.0
Crossings by Alex Landragin is a book that begs to be read at least twice. The reader can go through page by page or read through it as the Baroness requested. Page-by-page, the reader will find three short stories/sections. With the Baroness method, it's one novel. I debated and, admittedly, went back and forth between the two methods for the better part of a day before choosing to go the page-by-page route; it was the only way to soothe my obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
The novel is described as being genre bending. This is accurate. It's a love story, historical fiction, fantasy (?), adventure, mystery, and towards the end especially, a thriller. It's a remarkable debut. I would go so far as to classify as akin to genius. I have never read a story that can be read in different orders. I had never even considered it a possibility.
Each section/short story is connected by a few things, some of which are as simple as hibiscus flowers and eyes. Even the preface of the book is connected in this manner. So, although the reader might presume they won't be related, they actually are. The first two sections are told by one narrator, and the third by the beloved of the narrator of the first two sections.
The writing is good, not too flowery, but there is a tendency to digress, making it feel like the book is taking longer to read. I did not want to put it down, however. There are many French references, which might throw off readers.
The world building was quite good. The depth of the main character in each section/short story was fabulous. My brain will still be working on connecting puzzle pieces for a while. I love the what-if aspect of the book.
This is a debut that is worth the time it takes to read. It has aspects of several genres, and thus I would recommend it to readers who have an open mind, because it -is- genre bending and not all the genres it touches upon will be to everyone's tastes. I look forward to future works by Landragin.
The novel is described as being genre bending. This is accurate. It's a love story, historical fiction, fantasy (?), adventure, mystery, and towards the end especially, a thriller. It's a remarkable debut. I would go so far as to classify as akin to genius. I have never read a story that can be read in different orders. I had never even considered it a possibility.
Each section/short story is connected by a few things, some of which are as simple as hibiscus flowers and eyes. Even the preface of the book is connected in this manner. So, although the reader might presume they won't be related, they actually are. The first two sections are told by one narrator, and the third by the beloved of the narrator of the first two sections.
The writing is good, not too flowery, but there is a tendency to digress, making it feel like the book is taking longer to read. I did not want to put it down, however. There are many French references, which might throw off readers.
The world building was quite good. The depth of the main character in each section/short story was fabulous. My brain will still be working on connecting puzzle pieces for a while. I love the what-if aspect of the book.
This is a debut that is worth the time it takes to read. It has aspects of several genres, and thus I would recommend it to readers who have an open mind, because it -is- genre bending and not all the genres it touches upon will be to everyone's tastes. I look forward to future works by Landragin.
mishamir's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
ashreg's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars bc it could be a little slow at times and was honestly kind of confusing!! but there were definitely some really good chunks & I’m curious to see how it reads following the alternate page sequence