Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

This author’s books are very hit or miss for me. 19 Minutes is one of my all time faves while other more recent novels have been way less enjoyable. Unfortunately, this one really missed the mark for me. I would give it 2.5 stars only on the strength of the last 1/4 of the book which was actually quite good.

The timeline of this book is a bit confusing, but for me, the biggest turn off is that half the time this book reads like a History of Ancient Egypt textbook. If I’d wanted to read about Egypt I would’ve chosen a book about it. It’s clear Ms. Picoult has invested a lot of time and research into the subject here but it hold absolutely zero interest to me. Throw in the dense descriptions of quantum physics and I’m out.

Didn’t love this one but I’ll still be excited for her next one.

I couldn't get into this book. There was way too much scientific knowledge and I just didn't care enough to read it.

How many of us have looked back on a decision that changed our lives and wondered: what if we had made a different choice? Picoult’s novel The Book of Two Ways digs into this very question and the result is incredibly thought-provoking. Dawn Edelstein was once a young grad student working on a dig in Egypt, in love with a fellow Egyptologist, and getting ever closer to proving a radical new theory about ancient Egyptians’ burial rituals for the road to the afterlife. Then a phone call from home changed everything. Fifteen years later, Dawn is married, with a teenage daughter, and returns to Egypt to pick up the pieces.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult often felt like two books in one. On the one had we have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of Egyptian history that it often reads like a text book that, while interesting, has to be muddled through. On the other hand is a rich and detailed story of a woman with regrets questioning her life choices and the paths not taken. This is a story that is ultimately about death: death of a plan, death of a dream, death of a marriage, death of a life, and how we need to grab on to the moments that thrill us most.

This book was not for me. I was so excited the main character survived the plane crash and when she decided to use her comp flight to Egypt, I was hoping for more. I felt like there were too many different story lines and was hard to keep up with. Jodi Picoult is an amazing writer and I have loved many of her books. Would still recommend, just wasn’t for me.

I found The Book of Two Ways to be...interesting. This book begins as Dawn Edelstein is on a plane and a flight attendant instructs her to prepare for a crash landing. As the plane plummets, Dawn isn’t thinking of her husband in Boston, but of a man she loved fifteen years ago while in grad school studying Egyptology: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn survives the crash, and the airline offers transportation to anywhere in the world. Dawn can choose to go home to Boston, or return to Egypt and attempt to reconnect with Wyatt. I liked the overarching “What if?” question this book asks, but I didn’t expect it to be so information-heavy. To get through to the actual story, you read through TONS of chapters about Egyptology and Quantum Physics (I’ll admit, I skimmed). That being said, by the last half of the book, I was flying through chapters, dying to know what would happen. If you can handle the textbook stuff (or, if Egyptology interests you!), give this one a read.
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Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t entirely decide how I feel about Jodi Picoult’s new book. I finished it last night and it is still settling in my mind. I love books that make me think, make me cry, deal with big hard issues. With that taste in books I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult for many years. My favorites have been Small Great Things and A Spark of Light. The big hard signature topic in this book is death. As usual it was dealt with it beautifully through story. Just reading this book made me more compassionate and prepared for life’s hard transitions. It has made me change how I plan to offer help and compassion to others. She explained death through a deep dive into Egyptology, and sometimes that got a little technical-when that happened I just skipped over a few pages. There is a love triangle and some seriously steamy scenes that are also very nicely done. The aspect of this book I had a hard time with was keeping up with the storyline. This book reminded me a lot of her book Leaving Time. I believe the timeline confusion here is intentional to conceal the twist; however, I really had a hard time keeping up with it. Also, for a book that is as long as it is it didn’t feel finished for me. The majority of the book was the build up to the twist and then very little wrap up occurred. Maybe that is so that readers in different camps wouldn’t complain about the ending, but I would personally pick an ending I disliked over one the complete absence of an ending. It is still a great read, just not in the same realm as Small Great Things or A Spark of Light.

3.5 ☆

I generally enjoy Jodi's work. This book had a lot of information on Egypt which was fun to read. I really liked the actual story underneath of Dawn and Wyatt. I was disappointed with the ending because there's no answer, but I suppose that's the premise. You don't really know and I suppose you could make your own theories. I need closure lol, good book not my fave of hers but still enjoyable nonetheless. ♡

The Book of Two Ways follows Dawn's life as a former Egyptian researcher and current death doula. Back in the day, Dawn was an archeologist at Yale who travelled to Egypt with fellow grad assistant Wyatt Armstrong to discover ancient Egyptian artifacts and tombs. While they were very different and tried disliking each other, it didn't stay that way. Fast forward 15 years and Dawn is married to quantum physicist Brian and they have a teenage daughter Meret. Dawn is now a death doula and helps people as they reach the end of their lives. While she is helping one of her clients who has terminal cancer, she starts thinking about her own life and if Wyatt was the one who got away. On a whim, she travels back to Egypt to find what she thinks she has lost. While on this journey of self discovery, she gets a little closer to death than she would like to be and has to make some life changing decisions in the process. Throughout the book we learn how these two roads she can take converge and end up intertwining.

I'm a huge fan of books not only being entertaining and enjoyable but also educational. I learned more about ancient Egypt in this book than I did in any history class I've taken, ever. It's clear by the writing, content and the authors note that Jodi Picoult did a lot of in depth research to write this book and I applaud her for that. One thing that didn't work for me was the back and forth. I was a little confused about the time frame and wasn't able to really piece things together until the last third of the book. The ending had me wondering about the choices Dawn eventually made after her life was essentially flipped upside down. All in all, a good read!

Jodie Picoult is one of my favorite authors and I do enjoy her writing. This book was challenging for me however as it went into a lot of detail of the Egyptian history which was somewhat interesting however I felt lost in it as well. That kind of detail might be more interesting for graduate student in Egyptian studies.
The story took awhile to actually get interesting and then went back and forth between times which wasn't appealing to me. I love her descriptive writing, she is an amazing writer I just didn't like the subject matter and detail she went into.
I have to say she did her research well, I give her credit for that.
3 stars
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book has an incredibly vivid setting, with well built characters that will keep you hanging in the balance until the very end. Stunningly written and a thought out plot that is astounding.

I was so excited when the publishers and NetGalley granted me a copy of Jodi Picoult’s latest book to read and review. The title and concept was new and fresh and I was looking forward to reading a book by someone whose books I’ve enjoyed in the past.

Unfortunately, I found The Book of Two Ways difficult to get through. A big part of that is, as other reviewers have noted, the textbook-heavy content...far too much detail which got in the way of my attempts to become immersed in the story and characters. Another part, I think, is the way the story was cut into past and present, going back and forth with no clear delineation on the time frame. A simple month and year header at each switch might have been helpful.

While it is clearly a story about romantic love and the choices we make, the mother/daughter love between Dawn and Meret was the part that worked the best for me. It rang true on all levels.

And lastly, I have to say...I hated the ending. I’ll avoid saying more so as not to spoil it for others, but after making my way through the book (which for me was a bit of a slog), I was so disappointed by the ending.

This is my honest review of The Book of Two Ways, with thanks to NetGalley for providing a free copy. I wish I could give it a more favorable review, but this was a tough read for me.

Dawn Edelstein is a death doula, which means she helps patients and their families transition through the process of dying. She’s good at her job, and she feels fulfilled by it. But even though she’s mostly content working, being a mother to her feisty thirteen-year old daughter, Meret, and being a wife to, Brian, her steady and stable physicist husband, on some level Dawn knows that this wasn’t the life she was meant for. Fifteen years ago she was a grad student at Yale, unearthing tombs in Egypt for her dissertation—and passionately in love with a fellow grad student, Wyatt Armstrong. It takes just one heartbreaking phone call to rip her from her studies (and her relationship with Wyatt) and catapult her into a different life back in Boston.

But sometimes it doesn’t take much to unearth the past. When Dawn catches Brian flirting with his much younger grad student, it propels her down a path of what ifs. What if she had finished her dissertation fifteen years ago? What if she and Wyatt had been given the chance to see where their relationship could go? Was this really the life Dawn was meant to live? These are all just questions circling in Dawn’s head—until one of her patients asks Dawn to deliver a message, a dying wish really, to a past lover. Dawn knows this message has the power to change the trajectory of a person’s life—for better or worse, Dawn has no idea. But now, it’s like the universe has revealed itself and Dawn can’t stop seeing the many paths and choices open to her and the people she loves, each leading in different directions and culminating in different outcomes. Which is the right one, and will Dawn have the courage to choose it?

MY THOUGHTS
Holy smokes, I loved this book. The first 15%, was like meh, too clunky and overbearing with all the Egyptology descriptions. But then something clicked, and the next day I read the remaining 350 pages in one sitting. Yes, you’re going to need to prepare yourself to read lots about Egyptian history and quantum mechanics. But it’s fascinating! I mean, we’re talking about the afterlife and multiple universes here, people. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride!

Mostly, I loved the story’s exploration of possibilities—of relationships, of death and life, of love, connection, personal fulfillment, and commitment. This is a book that makes you think. It makes you wonder what makes life worth living. It makes you consider your own choices and examine the moments (the ones you could control and the ones you couldn’t) that set you down one path and not another. No character in here is perfect, and even a happy ending isn’t really a happy ending. It’s complicated and beautiful and messy and heartbreaking. It’s joy. It’s living, and it’s life.

I can’t believe that this is my first book by Jodi Picoult, but you can bet I’ll be reading her back catalog immediately. The Book of Two Ways comes out in a week, and I’d highly recommend you grab yourself a copy.

Took a long time to get into this love story. Hard questions about life, love, and death. The timeline in this story is hard to follow and there is a lack of clarity until the very end.

Jodie Picoult has always been one of my favorite authors, but I struggled to get through this novel. The writing is beautiful, the research is outstanding, but the whole Egyptian thing was just boring to me, and better suited to a graduate student of archeology! As a former hospice nurse, her role as a death doula really resonated with me, in its accuracy and emotional descriptions of the patients and their families, end of life experience.
I enjoyed the characters and her conflicting relationships with Wyatt and Brian, although the shifting of timelines was confusing at times and sometimes
I had to go back and reread, to determine at what point of time they were at.
I’m sure there will be those that love this book, but for me, it was a challenge, and I was happy when I finished the last page. I’m sure her effort was meant to satisfy something for her, but this faithful reader didn’t find it. I’m hoping her next release, is a rebound.
My thanks to #Netgalley and #BallentineBooks for the ARC. This is my honest and own opinions!

The book opens with a woman Dawn Edelstein preparing for a crash landing like all of the other passengers on the plane. Expecting to see her husbands’ face before the crash she is surprised when the face that appears in her mind is from her past, Wyatt Armstrong. They were together on a dig in Egypt when she was a grad student at Yale. She had not thought of him or Egypt in years since she had to leave suddenly because of her mother having cancer.
Here is where the book begins to take you on a journey of her getting a plane ticket to Egypt and finishing what she had once started. Also, you have the author going back through her life of being married, having a daughter, and why she would even want to think about that. There is a lot to this book and the characters are good. It just seemed long and at the end well? Anyway, a good story.

Thanks @netgalley and @randomhouse for this ARC - JP is my FAVORITE author. I own and have read every single one of her books. The Book of Two Ways, like A Spark if Light, was structured differently than most of JP’s books. Swipe (twice) for the synopsis.

As someone who is a random information FIEND I loved how much detail about Egyptology and the world of death doulas this book goes into. I know most negative reviews say it’s too in the weeds, but I soaked it up like a sponge. I read this VERY long book in two sittings at the beginning of summer and am still thinking about it. Especially the ending. THE ENDING. My jaw actually dropped, in disbelief. And then I read in her acknowledgments that JP changed the ending on advice of her agent. So. @jodipicoult , I need - NEED - to know, WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL ENDING PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY.

Here’s hoping my meager booksta plea pans out.

TBOTW publishes on the 22nd and seriously, get it. This book made me laugh and cry and think and think and think in all the best ways. And I know it’ll do the same to you.

Jodi Picoult is a hit and miss author for me, usually a hit but this one was a miss. I loved the idea of the story but it got bogged down with too much unnecessary information. History was my most hated subject in school and this book has A LOT of Egyptian history in it. I found those parts so boring and dragging.

The writing is beautiful and lovely and I loved the non-linear timeline, it was the best part. It is just the topic of Egyptology that made this a meh for me. I enjoyed learning about the characters and who of us wouldn't like to find an old love and find out what if? If you're looking for the usual Picoult, you won't find it here BUT you may just learn something new, I know I did.

This is a story about making a choice. Dawn has to make a choice between her past, present and future. It is told in the author’s usually finely tuned attention to detail. She tugs at the reader’s emotions and allows them to become invested in the decisions that the characters make. Dawn has to decide between the man she has been married to for 15 years or her first love that she has never forgotten. All of this is complicated by a daughter and a plane crash. It is an interesting story that will raise many questions. A great book club read.

A wonderful book from an all time favorite Author. Jodi Picoult does it again with a beautiful story filled with remembrances of people, some who lived long ago, merging present and past. Love transcending time. A++
A must read.