I have mixed feelings about The Book of Two Ways. I liked the glimpse into Egypt and its study. Also appreciate that old dilemma of the 'path less traveled' and the question of 'what could have been?' However, I am not sure how I feel about that ending....

I usually love Jodi Picoult books, but this one had too much of the Egyptian history in it. I loved the premise, but it got bogged down with the history. I know Picoult usually tries to take a modern topic and write about it, but it didn't work for me with this one. I'll keep reading her, though.

I have read many Jodi Picoult novels over the years. I know after awhile, they all started to feel the same, following the same format. (Big Event Happens, followed by Court Room drama, followed by surprise twist ending). The good news is, this book does NOT follow that format. This book is about a woman in a struggling marriage who decides to go back and the love she left behind. However, this book dragged, and I didn't really care for the main character or her love interest. I don't typically have much patience for these types of plots where a woman leaves her marriage to find the one that got away. It feels gross.

A completely enthralling and addictive read. I rarely read a book in one session, especially one of this length, but I absolutely could not put it down (aside from bio breaks and a few hours of light sleep). The Book of Two Ways is certainly one of Picoults' best. I highly recommend this read.

I am a nearly lifelong fan of Jodi Picoult, so I came to this book with excitement. I had heard the voices of others in my book club who said this one wasn't her norm and that they didn't like it. My neighbor said she didn't read Picoult to take a college course on Egyptian history. But I still came to this book ready to love it.

I was not disappointed.

Was it heavy on factual things? Yes, but I found every single bit of it interesting and marveled at how Picoult parallelled the history with her modern storyline. This book was such a "sliding doors" tale about how the choices we make don't always lead to sadness, and the things we let go of don't always equal happiness. I loved every minute of this story and was captivated by her choices in characterization. The emotions were genuine and the feelings were palpable.

I'll be honest: this is not my very favorite Jodi Picoult book, but it is fascinating nonetheless. The amount of research that must have gone into this book is staggering. Great characters!

I enjoyed the story part of this book, but the technical parts were not woven in as seamlessly as Jodi Picoult usually does. I admire her depth of research, but I skipped a lot of the Egypt-heavy parts of this books.

I do not know what took me so long to read this book, it was amazing. I love Jodi Picoult. She does not dissapoint. All her books are so thought provoking and are so well constructed and thought out. I cannot read one of her books without it turning my world upside down and giving me so many feelings. The Book of Two Ways is one of my all time favorites and one I will not forget.

I could not get into this book due to the heavy-handed explanation of Egyptology and my immediate inability to understand Dawn. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that she survives a plane crash and immediately returns to Egypt without so much as a word to her family. The book blurb drew me in, but ultimately I couldn't form any connection (good or bad) to this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am generally a fan of Picoult’s writing, but my favorite part of this book is when I got to close it and put it away. My thanks go, nevertheless, to Net Galley and Ballantine Books for the review copy.

Dawn is the sole survivor of a plane wreck, and as it goes down, she is assaulted by regret about the road not taken. (My apologies to Frost.) On land once again, she decides to go back to the life she abandoned when she married and had her daughter, to see what might have been; the life she was preparing for was that of an Egyptologist.

There have been times when a novel features some area of history or science that I’ve never studied, and I find it so mesmerizing that it becomes my new favorite area to explore. This was not one of those times. In fact, it took me four tries to get through this thing, and even then, I skimmed much of the story from the fifty to seventy percentiles. I tried the audio version; no joy there, either. I grew bored and my mind wandered; then I didn’t understand what I was reading, so I had to go back over it to pick up the part I’d daydreamed through.

In my defense, however, I have to say that the organization and frequently shifting points of view and time periods is enough to confuse the best of us, or at least give us whiplash.

Picoult’s strength is creating strong, resonant female protagonists that are easy to bond with, but I didn’t ever warm up to Dawn. Let’s take, for example, the notion of simply walking away, not only from your husband that loves you and with whom, till now, you’ve had a loving and solid relationship; there’s the matter of walking away from a child, or considering doing so. No, no, no. No. NO.

But mostly, this story just bored the living snot out of me.

I have provided three stars, because some readers will enjoy the lessons in Egyptology; if you’ve always wanted to know more within this realm, perhaps this book will work for you. If you go there, however, get it free or cheap; don’t sink full cover price into this turkey.

This book was an interesting read for me because I absolutely enjoy Egyptology, history, and science. It covered alternative realities and deeply explored the subject of death and why we feel so uncomfortable with it as Americans. Ancient Egyptians lived their life for their death and the afterlife. Can we learn from them by holding space for death? The main character evolves from an archeologist into a death doula learning that she can do this work for those living in the present.

There were many twists and turns in the plot of this book. Parts that I felt like I could relate to the main character with her struggles, “what if’s,” and uncertainty. It was a beautiful ride through her different alternate realties and how she shifted her life and weaved what she learned about death from the past to the living in the present. It’s a beautiful book about love, struggle, life, death, and hope.

Thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is probably my least favorite Jodi Piccoult novel. I'm not a huge fan of Ancient History and I found myself bored and bogged down by all the detail. I did enjoy the concept of the novel--the duality of the universe. In a way, I think it is shame it was released around the same time as The Midnight Library which offers the same concept with a deep focus on regrets because I think the Midnight Library did it better.

I thought it would have a different ending, but just like everything else Jodi Picoult does, it went a completely different way, much like Dawn does during the course of the book.

Jodi Picoult always knows how to captivate a reader and she did not disappoint this time around.

Amazing book

While Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors, I did not enjoy this book.

After surviving a plane crash, Dawn examines her life and has to make a decision. Should she go back to an old love and finish what she started, or return to the life she has been living? One life takes her back to Egypt and studying pyramids, kings, and mummies. The other back to Boston, to her husband and child and her job as a death doula.

The book has all the twists you can expect from a Picoult novel, but some parts were just very boring and drawn out and not enjoyable.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this Jodi Picoult because it seems to veer off her typical subject matters. In this one she deals with death/dying and how you might exist in two different universes.

It’s also about choices and how your life can change in the blink of an eye. Her writing is always crisp and poignant and this is no different.

The opening of this book was very strong for me and then the first third got a little bogged down with quantum physics and a real deep dive into Egyptology. But when the story centers on the main characters and their stories I was hooked. This book has a very sliding doors type of vibe and it stayed with me for days after I finished.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult is a unique story with a double timeline .I enjoyed reading the historical information from Egypt and the story of Dawn and Wyatt.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Jodi Picoult has been one of my favorite authors for over twenty years. I am ALWAYS thrilled when she releases a new book.

She often writes about complicated family dynamics, love, and relationships. Her characters are interesting and relatable and they frequently have to make heart-wrenching moral choices. She certainly doesn’t shy away from controversial issues like stem cell research, racism, and reproductive rights. Her novels are not only entertaining but educating. It’s clear she does a massive amount of research. Normally I LOVE learning about the issues and subjects in her novels. “The Book of Two Ways” tackles Egyptology, quantum physics, the duties of a death doula and more. I was interested in all the subjects, but in my opinion, there was just too much.

The two timelines and settings Water/Boston and Land/Egypt take place concurrently. At times I was confused and wasn’t always sure which timeline I was reading.

I don’t think I’ve ever skimmed through a Jodi Picoult novel, but I did find myself doing so this time. Although I did skim over a good chunk, I couldn’t stop reading it altogether. I was still interested in finding out how things would come together in the end.

Overall, this was a good story but there was just a lot of extra information that I personally could have done without. So while I didn’t love this novel as much as I had anticipated I would, I’m still glad I read it. I’ll never regret reading her novels. I am still very excited to see what this talented author writes next.


I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I normally love Jodi Picoult's stories, but this one was just okay for me. While I appreciate the amount of research that she must have done for this book, I found myself zoning out during all of the Egypt talk. Just not my cup of tea.

I wanted to love this, Picoult used to one of my favorite authors but I think my tastes have changed too much to really enjoy her work. It wasn’t bad, I think it will appeal to her more loyal readers, it just wasn’t for me.