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A review by saltygalreads
The Baldwin Hotel by Lonnie Busch
2.0
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.
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.