***This ARC was provided by netgalley for a honest review***

This book was so different than the other Picoults I’ve read. It was EXTREMELY textbook heavy and just not my cup of tea. I’m sure a ton of research was put in to this book and I’m sure there are others who loves it.

This book was very different from the other books that I have read from this author. I liked the dual story line and how it intertwined all the way to the end. I learned a lot of interesting things and the story really made me think!!!

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors so I quickly requested this book when I saw it was available. However, after I started to read this book I found it was not for me. The amount of information and research was outstanding but I felt like I was on overload. I felt like I was reading a text book rather than a novel. Sadly, I did not finish. #TheBookOfTwoWays #NetGalley

The Book of Two Ways-Review 1 of 2-@lucywrazor4

I have long been a die-hard fan of @jodipicoult . I’ve read every book of hers and have loved the way she makes us think about deep issues even when they’re too heartbreaking to consider. I feel like her books in the last few years have marked a change in her writing voice, and “The Book of Two Ways” is no different.
I had to sit with this one a bit, but the best part of reading it was having a conversation with my mom and sister about our differing interpretations on what we read. It hit us all differently...and I think that’s what Picoult aimed for, to be honest.
Without giving away much, this was a story that runs the gambit on topics-ancient Egypt, physics, life and death, love, motherhood...it goes on and on. Our main character, Dawn, experiences a near-death emergency on an airplane, and after she survives, she’s faced with two paths-continue the life she has established...her husband, her daughter, her career, or take the other path, with the “one that got away,” her lost love Wyatt, still studying archaeology in Egypt, still fulfilling professional goals Dawn had wished for her own life. Picoult always makes me think, always makes me question...and this book was no different.
I encourage you to read it. I encourage you to talk about it with the other women in your life. And if you’ve read it....what did you think?

#bookstagram #bookstagramfriends #bookreview #book lover #readersofinstagram
#jodipicoult #thebookoftwoways

I received a complimentary digital copy of this arc book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

“My calendar is full of dead people.”

I’m not sure why I have delayed writing this review. It was not because I didn’t enjoy it but rather the overwhelming thoughts of how to explain such a detailed story. Essentially, it explores how the choices we make in life lead is to where we are now. It explores the question we all have which is, “what if….” and how that might look. I also found some of the history on Egyptology intriguing, a subject of which I had zero knowledge! Much to my surprise it was the author’s own introduction to the subject that prompted the book.

The Book of Two Ways is literally a Map of the Afterlife, as understood my ancient Egyptians. For many people the detailed description and explanations of the Egyptian life and history might cause the story to drag on somewhat. Otherwise, the study of Egyptology in general might be of interest.

Dawn Edelstein, who published under her maiden name Dawn McDowell, works as a death doula. She is married to Brian Edelstein whose profession and expertise is in physics. Dawn finds herself on a plane preparing an emergency landing in Raleigh-Durham due to a clogged fuel filter on plane which ultimately crashes. She is dazed and confused when she realizes that she is 1 of 36 people who survived the crash.

Contemplating this near death experience leaves Dawn questioning her life and all her past decisions leading her to this point. She loves her husband Brian, daughter Meret and sister Kieran but she feels compelled to go to Egypt rather than head home to her family.

Her thoughts wander back 15 years to her unfinished dissertation. She wonders where her life would be if she didn’t feel obliged to abandon her life’s work to leave Egypt to return home. Her fascination with the Book of Two Ways which is thought to be the first known map of the afterlife was shared with fellow Yale graduate student Wyatt Armstrong. The Egyptian history is convoluted with theories and beliefs meticulously documented by the Egyptians. The Book of the Dead (Book of Going Forth by Day) contained part of Coffin Texts which was to include the Book of Two Ways.

This map of the afterlife was thought to be found in certain coffins in the Middle East during the Middle Kingdom. It showed two roads snaking through Osiris realm which is the corpse of Re the god of sun. The paths are separated by a lake of fire with both ending at the Field of Offerings where the deceased can feast with Osiris for eternity. Unfortunately some paths lead nowhere, and still others lead towards the demons or circles of fire. It is believed that embedded in the text was magic needed to get past guardians at gate when death called.

While she initially found Wyatt annoying and arrogant she did admire his dedication and commitment to the study of Egyptology. The crash draws her back to Egypt abandoning her family to seek unanswered questions from her past. Her story fluctuates between the present and past; the life lived and the lost opportunities. She eventually needs to confront the consequences of her past and present decisions.

Let me start off this review by saying.. I love Jodi Picoult, like I will read anything this author writes. I have read a lot of books and Picoult is one of my all time favorites. That being said, this book was simply not for me. It felt like I was reading a textbook about mummies and Egypt. Picoult is definitely educated on all things Egyptology, so I give her credit for that. Just simply not my jam.

Jodi Picoult's The Book of Two Ways taught me so much! I learned about Egyptology and the death doula profession in the wonderful prose for which Picoult is know. When the protagonist, Dawn Edelstein has to leave Egypt, including the man and the work that she loves to step up to family responsibilities you are already deeply engaged. After a near death experience, Dawn feels there is unfinished business in Egypt so she returns. The story is a wonderful weave of Egyptology and understanding who we want to be with when we die. Thank you to the author, publisher Ballantine, and Netgalley for a great read!

SO FREAKING GOOD! Picoult slays again! I've heard mixed reviews, but I'm here to say I thought it rocked. The twist in the timeline is the best part and masterfully done. I really loved this book!

Jodi Picoult has written another beautiful book. I actually enjoyed reading all of the details about ancient Egyptian culture. This information was new to me and I found it really interesting. This book was emotional, heartbreaking, and hopeful. I always look forward to reading her books. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I really tried with this one, because I love all of Picoult's other books, but I could not power through. I ended up DNF-ing this title at about 15 %. I'm not sure if it was the mix of academia and the heaviness of the Egyptology, or if it was the lack of feeling like I cared about the characters, but something was off for me. Most of the time, I am immediately swept up by Picoult's writing and can easily fall into the story. I NEED to know what is going to happen with the characters and I love when I am surprised by the twists. With this one, it wasn't there.

Is there such a thing as an alternate universe? Have you wondered "What if I had taken the other path?"

This book takes you through the what ifs of Dawn's life. She had two very different paths she could have taken. When her mother becomes ill, her life takes a major turn. Did she fall into the life she had or did she make the active choice?

This book took me from love it, to do I even like it, to wow, this is amazing.

It definitely made me think about a lot things. It's a good story!

I really wanted to like this book. And it was definitely okay. I have read other books by this author and the fact that it's about death and dying is definitely on brand for her. And the characters were about what I would expect from her as well. But this book really lacked focus. I didn't mind the Egyptology or the physics, but I think that the book would have been better if she had picked one of those things. Especially since the stories are just one timeline but cut into parts and told out of order. That might be a spoiler, but I thought it was a bit of a disappointment to realize that and probably ultimately one of the things that I didn't like about it.

Picoult's books are sometimes hit-or-miss with me. I can't say I 'loved' The Book of Two Ways but I did really like the story-line. What was a miss for me was the detail that she went into about Egyptology—explaining all about the history of the dig sites, the hieroglyphics, and all those Egyptian people from the past. I understand that this is a deep interest for her, but I felt it really slowed the story down.

Aside from all that detail, I really liked the story-line and the characters and cared about the situations that they found themselves in. I found myself skipping over the history lessons to spend more time with Dawn in her world. This book would be perfect anyone who has an interest in Egyptology and loves Picoult's stories—the best of both worlds!

This book was AMAZING! I am not going to be able to fully do this book justice in this review, but I’m going to try.

I must say how much incredibly detailed research obviously went into writing this book. It is stuffed full of Egyptian history and details that were amazingly detailed. I learned so much through reading this, and I loved it.

This story is hard for me to explain because I do not want to spoil it for any reader, so I’m going to leave a lot out. If you’ve read the book, I’d love to discuss it!

So, the story itself, it’s about love, life, death, family, everything that builds us into the people we are. This book ripped me up and then put me back together. I couldn’t quite figure out how this was going to end. It’s about The Book of Two Ways, an Egyptian path for the dead to find their afterlife. The chapters are broken into a story of two ways. Water or Land / Boston or Egypt. Sometimes I struggle jumping back and forth to different stories in a book, but with this, every time we switched to the “other way” I was so deeply invested I didn’t want that one to end, then we’d jump to the “other way” and I’d get invested all over again.

The way Picoult writes this story, it absolutely draws you in. The characters are so real and captivating. I was emotionally invested in their stories. I actually held my breathe at times because I was so worried about what was going to happen.

The Egyptian history and the on-location dig site information was fascinating. I really enjoyed excavating the tombs with the characters. The descriptions made me feel like I was right there. The vivid colors were visible to me, as were the detailed hieroglyphics. Picoult chose to add actual drawings of some hieroglyphics, which I found both helpful and utterly beautiful. It was amazing to look at these as I went through the pages.

Overall, I truly loved this book. I may even go back and read it again because once I got to the end, I knew that it was a book that would reveal new secrets and information a second time!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Do you ever have those nightmares where you didn’t actually graduate University because you missed a few credits? Reading this book made me feel like I failed classes in Egyptology and Quantum Physics and therefore failed out of College.

This novel is about Dawn, a woman whose life is unfulfilled, even though she is married to Brian and has a teenaged daughter. Years prior, in college, she met and fell for Wyatt who she has never forgotten.

When the plane Dawn is on crashes, she has an opportunity: she can go back home or she can take a trip down memory lane, to Wyatt.

While I loved the first few pages of this novel all of which took place in New Haven, CT, a mere skip and a hop away from my hometown of Woodbridge and loved Dawn visiting all of my old haunts, once this novel delved into Egyptology I was completely lost.

The split past v present storyline was well done and somewhat intriguing and while I did find some part of this storyline and the characters to be enjoyable, on the whole, I skimmed through much of the story which felt like reading a University textbook.

On the whole, having read every single book Jodi Piccoult has written, “The Book of Two Ways” is my least favorite novel this author has written. I struggled to get through this and hope that the author returns to her tried and true the next time around.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Jodi Piccoult for the arc.

Published on Goodreads on 11.24.20.

This was a decent story. It didn't pull me in as much as her books usually do. The twist at the end pulled it up from a two star review to three.

As excited as I was over this gifted copy, Jodi Picoult didn't live up to her normally amazing story this time!

The concept for the book is a great one, but diving too deep into archaeology was a hard pass for me. Again, great writing, well-developed characters, just not one of her best. I'm looking forward to seeing her newest book at the next publication!

Every time I crack open a Jodi Picoult novel I learn something (or a lot of somethings) new. The Book of Two Ways focuses on Egyptology, death and love. As mentioned in the novel, most kids go through an Egypt phase when they first learn about it elementary school, and that was very true in my case! Picoult has so many amazing stories and facts packed into this book yet manages to spin it into a beautiful love story. The Book of Two Ways opens with Dawn surviving a plane crash, and she is surprised at her final thought as the plane went down. We are transported back and forth between the past and present day as she considers her life: what is is, what it was, what could’ve been. This is one of those rare novels where you love each and every character. Picoult’s storytelling is masterful and I couldn’t put this one down.
I received an ARC of this book from #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #thebookoftwoways #jodipicoult

This was not one of my favorites from Jodi Picoult. It was ok. I got confused with the story going back and forth in time. It would be fine it was just going back and forth into two different time periods but there were several. I didn't feel the characters were all that believable. Some of the events that happened seemed pretty unrealistic. I found myself thinking, "How can you be that naive? Really? Come on." Overall, it was ok. It wasn't a book that I was dying to get back to or couldn't put down. I basically forced myself to finish it.

Author # Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of #'Small Great Things' and #'A Spark of Light and now her new Novel #' The Book of Two Ways'. Just in time for the holidays. I seriously really enjoyed this novel for me.
Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn. And now she starts to question her decisions. With a past to present storyline it's filled with emotions. And you can't help but also question your choices.
Thank you,
#Netgalley, # Jodi Picoult, and # Random House #Ballantine Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my review.