This authors always amazes me. How can one person write so many thoughT provoking novels but she keeps doing it. This latest novel is no exception.It was a little deep for me in the Physics and the Egyptology part from the Book of Two ways but interesting .
Dawn after having a near death experience starts thinking about the choices she has made. Wondering about her past in Egyptology and goes back to Where she left off. It reminds me of the poem The Road Less Traveled. Do you go down the path that is worn or the one that has has just begun.

When Dawn Edelstein's plane is crashing, the man that flashes before her eyes is not the her husband, but a man from her past. She survives the plane crash and is given a plane ticket to anywhere she wants to go. The story then splits into two paths - one where she returns to Boston and to her husband and daughter, and one where she returns to Egypt to answer the question of "what if?".

I love a novel that makes me think and "The Book of Two Ways" definitely checked that box. Not only did it leave me contemplating paths not taken and changing the path I'm on but I also learned a tremendous amount about Egyptology, Death Doulas and Quantum Physics. If you're in the mood for a cerebral book with a unique narrative structure similar to "The Two Lives of Lydia Bird" that will challenge the way you think about your life, with complex, flawed but relatable characters - this one is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel. My review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

This is not your typical Jodi Picoult book. Dawn is flying and narrowly escapes death during a crash. Each of the following chapters alternate between what seems like two different possible lives Dawn may be living had she made different choices in her life. It all comes full circle.
I really liked the writing of dual timelines as Dawn experiences her life in another possible universe or dimension. There are lots of details while Dawn is in Egypt about deities and kings and their burials that are very detailed and probably not necessary. I found myself skimming over much of that. But overall a very enjoyable book that takes a look at death, love, families and relationships.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a book.

Dawn was a PhD student who fell in love (after hate) with her professor on an archeological dig in Egypt. Years later she is a death doula, wife and mother who finds herself at a crossroads in life. Jodi Picoult is brilliant at weaving themes of the story together, the Egyptian "Book of Two Ways", the quantum physics, and the story of Dawn, her job/clients, and her husband and former love.

The love story/stories were pretty good and I was compelled to find out what happened.(Although we do perpetuate this myth of passionate love (which is bound to fade and change into something else through time) and Dawn is pretty lucky to have found a steadfast and loving husband.

It was fascinating to read the parts of the book about Dawn's job as a death doula, having just lost my mother there was a lot about death that was interesting to me (and difficult to read.)

Honestly, I skimmed much of the Egyptology parts, it was clever, but maybe too clever for me!

Overall, I hope people read this book and I am looking forward to reading other reviews.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult explores the possibility of a parallel universe with an abundance or Egyptian history and research.
The story follows Dawn, who was once an Egyptologist researcher student, who suddenly leaves her love Wyatt to return to the U.S.. She marries someone else, but eventually returns to Egypt to find her previous lover. Which life should she choose? There is an enormous amount of information about Egypt, and although fascinating, I felt like I was reading a textbook in parts.

The love story is great, messy and complicated and something that I think a lot of people can relate to. But the book gets heavily bogged down with information on Ancient Egypt so much so that it is difficult to follow the plot. It reads like a textbook on Egyptology.

A heart wrenching, devour worthy read that splits your heart in two different directions.

Have you ever wondered about the decisions you never took, how they play out in a possible alternate universe? Maybe you ended up richer in this alternate universe, married to someone else, in a bigger house, or in a smaller home. I am one that has always been plagued with those type of philosophical thoughts of my alternative outcomes. Jodi Picoult has taken that theory and entwined it into a beautiful yet plaguing theme of “two outcomes” type story which has brought me to tears but also left me hopeful.

Dawn Edlestein, our leading lady is on a flight when she’s all of a sudden alerted that there will be a crash landing. Dawn is one of the lucky survivors and is seen by doctors, then offered a free flight anywhere of her choice. She then decides her destination…

In that split second we see Dawn’s two outcomes, the book itself becomes split with each of the decisions she makes at that very moment played out. Dawn in one alternate chooses to head back home to Boston, to her loving husband of 14 years and teenaged daughter. In the other alternate she chooses to go to Egypt, to Wyatt Armstrong.

What’s in Egypt you ask? A past life (graduate student days), she used to be an Egyptologist dig tomb sites and research the ancient Book of Two Ways which is what she was basing her thesis on. And had to leave abruptly one semester leaving all her hardwork behind, never looking back. Until now with the biggest anchor (Wyatt) calling her split fate back to Egypt. He was once her competitor and fellow graduate student always pining for the professors attention and praise. They were equals in knowledge and trust to the professor. And what happened all those years ago with all that heat, sand dust, and competitive nature?

If you guessed a deep yearning attraction that leads to explosive romance on a dig site you are correct.


So with this split or alternate realities unfolding, both reuniting with Wyatt again and answering all his questions, and returning home to all the secrets that await her there, Dawn faces no easy path. With each new revelation my heart would pause and break for Dawn yet mend back together as she picked herself back up and kept on, keepin’ on.

The Book of Two Ways left me breathless all throughout in both good ways and bad. Picoult penned such a strong female lead, someone so relatable to me. Dawn is a sister, a mother, a wife, someone with regrets, a woman with wants, needs, and aspirations. Her characteristics were so relatable which made all the heart wrenching moments all the more severe to my heart and mind. No matter which outcome I favored in the moment or which man I wanted it to work out with, I always wanted Dawn’s happiness first. This is the kind of resounding read that will last in my heart for years to come. I can see myself coming back to it to refer to my favorite moments.

I am giving this book 4.5 stars, it is a staple in my “Favorites” category and could not recommend it enough. Please give this a read. The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult is complex the character faces extreme emotional challenges, but all of it inspires courage to seek truth and happiness for yourself.

A change of pace from her more recent crisis/courtroom drama plot lines. The Egypt setting was fascinating, but all of the details and background about quantum physics, Egyptian lineage, and pot sherds got to be a bit much. The parts about being a death doula and Dawn's work with her clients were my favorites.In the end, while I empathized with Dawn having to make a tough decision, I didn't find her entirely likable.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult is a novel centered around a woman Dawn who starts as an Egyptologist, an Egypt researcher, and becomes a death doula following the loss of her mother. This novel explores the duality of life and death and all the beauty and pain that comes as you are dying. However it also explores another form of death when you lose a second life, the "what if" of what your life would be if you made a different decision. This was an interesting novel that had the potential to be beautiful, but I think could have benefitted from simplifying the number of topics a bit. The characters were well-developed; Win was by-far a standout character and imparted a lot of wisdom from her story. I struggled with enjoying Dawn and found her words/actions frustrating, yet it also showed the reality of marriage. This book contains a lot of history, quantum physics, linguistics, and other scholarly topics but if you do not focus too deeply on the academic side of this you can enjoy the novel. Overall I enjoyed the read and would recommend for fans of Jodi Picoult and Egypt.

Many thanks to the publisher Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Jodi Picoult is a prolific and always enjoyable writer, but some of her novels interest me more than others. I was skeptical about this one as I started it, but once I realized that she was playing with the narrative structure in an intriguing and clever way, I was hooked! I was also very impressed with the level of detail about the work of Egyptologists. The ending might frustrate some, but to me it was exactly right.

I received an ARC of The Book of Two Ways in exchange for an honest review. I was so excited to receive this ARC as Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. However, because I received the book, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be one of her best. It's a good story, as most of her books are, however, there was an overload of information. You will learn more than you want to about Egyptology and Quantum Physics. While I like to learn new things as I read, this was a little bit extreme. I found myself skipping over pages to get to the real story. The real story is good, as Jodi Picoult is a good storyteller. I would have enjoyed the book much more without all the extra information.

3.8
I should have already knew by the description in this book that it would be a trigger for me. Everyone in life makes choices and they are not easy ones. Some we look back and regret and things in life get complex but, personally i am really sick of excuses people give for their own responsiblity of keeping things together, of making good choices, of thinking before jumping. I do not like stories where the story tries to make it right for someone to cheat. I mean if you are not happy and thinking of going a different way then have that conversation sooner than later and end something so as to give the other person a say and choice. The main plot of this book already bothered me so it is no wonder it would knock down my score...HOWEVER...picoult always does an amazing job at bringing in lesser known subjects to educate her readers about. I did enjoy learning about eygptian culture and so forth. She also gave the characters more intellect not just boring personalities. It was a painful subject that alot of the book was put to the side for all the information on eygpt and medical issues (which i liked learning but wanted to get back to the story). I enjoyed the information and thoughts and reflections in the book but, not so much staying on it so long and delaying the story and not so much the craving for affair and what i feel she knew was a lie. So i give it a good rating but not fantastic. Thank you for allowing me to read what is one of my moms favorite authors and to review for netgalley as well.

Jodi Picoult writes novels that tug at your heart strings. The Book of Two Ways is no exception. Ms Picoult takes the reader back and forth in time until the timelines merge, and back and forth between the United States and Egypt. As usual with Ms Picoult there may be a few tears. I want to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an early copy to review.

This was a great read - once I started, I couldn't put it down. I have loved Jodi Picoult titles in the past, but I think this is my new favorite.

This book was fantastic. I loved the way that she told the story as a reflection of the idea of multiple dimensions and as if she chose to go via Land or Water like in the Book of Two Ways. As usual, Picoult heavily researched her subject matter and I learned a lot about the Egyptian afterlife.

Dawn is a death doula. She helps her clients make the transition between living and dying. Giving comfort to those in the last moments of their life, whether it be being by their side or fulfilling any of their last wishes. She's been doing this for the last fifteen years since she returned from Egypt to take care of her dying mother. Dawn lives a basic life with her husband and their fifteen year old daughter until one airplane ride knocks her whole world upside down. Being one of the thirty six survivors Dawn decides to go back to where her life ended in Egypt. There is a man named Wyatt there, a man she left behind fifteen years ago...

Alright, I am a Jodi Picoult fan and have read several of her novels but this one wasn't as good as I thought it could have been. It wasn't bad....but it wasn't great.... Dawn is an Egyptian studies doctorate candidate and she has this epic love with a fellow doctorate, Wyatt. Picoult puts so much effort and background knowledge of Egypt and it's history, that while fascinating at first, gets annoying quickly. I found myself skimming any background history because I just didn't care, it took away from he story of Dawn and Wyatt and was starting to sound like a textbook.

The novel also jumps between four different timelines: Dawn fifteen years ago doing her thing in Egypt, Dawn when she leaves Egypt and meets Brian, Dawn right before the plane crash and Dawn after the crash. These are a lot of timelines to keep track of, and while they do jump pretty seamlessly, it does take a couple moments to realize where you are.

Then there is the concept of her being a death doula. While equally fascinating, there are SEVRAL extremely emotional parts to this book. I'm all for a good cry, but I was crying ALL THE TIME reading this, and that also becomes cumbersome. While this book has a lot of tragic trajectories, I was expecting the ending to go a certain way as it was unfolding. There are classic Picoult twists at the end, and I will say the book deserved the ending that it got. It was satisfactory and fulfilling.

This won't be a favorite Picoult novel, but it's worth the read, if you got it from the library.



Rate: 3/5

Fiction

Author : Jodi Picoult

Wow. First of all-let me say that this book is not for everyone. Every one of Picoult's books is about a subject that she has exhaustively researched and sometimes the subject matter isn't for everyone. That being said, I loved the Egyptology subject matter here! Dawn is married to Brian and they share a daughter Meret. Dawn goes through a plane crash and is left with questions about life choices that she has made. She's spent the last 15 years as a social worker/death doula (interesting profession) but it meant that she had left a graduate research project in Egypt and her first grand love-Wyatt. Her project was based on The Book of Two Ways-an ancient Egyptian belief system/hieroglyphic rendering detailing the two pathways to eternal rest. Picoult's book also hopscotches back and forth through both of Dawn's lives and choices. Because I am familiar with Picoult, I knew that there might be a twist and I figured it out early. It did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. I had skimmed some other reviews of this book early and realized that there might be crazy amounts of information downloaded so I prepared for that. It's not necessary to really follow all of it to get an emotional sense for this book-Egyptology, hieroglyphics, hieratics, quantum mechanics, life and death philosophies, etc. Dawn's family life is well-explored, as is her early life with Wyatt. If I had a critique, it would only be that the ending was a little frustrating. In the author's notes at the end, she mentions that she changed it-I wondered what it was before she changed it. I will probably end up re-reading this at some point, just really enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I was really excited about this book, but I couldn't stay engaged because I felt like I was reading a textbook. Although I appreciate the information it was providing on Egypt, archeology, and astrophysics, I just couldn't stay engaged. Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I always look forward to a new book by Jodi Picoult and I enjoyed this one. Her books are always well researched and about a subject all wrapped up in an intriguing story. This one is full of information on Egyptian archeology and tomb excavation. It also features a woman who has become a death doula - a person who assists the terminally ill and their grieving families in the process of dying. I didn't know these existed and I found the concept interesting.

Dawn Edelstein is married to Brian and they have a daughter they adore, Meret. They live in Boston where Dawn is a death doula and Brian a physics professor. They met at a hospice when they both were losing a loved one. As the story begins, Dawn is on a plane that is crashing and she is thinking of the life she could have had when she had been working on her PhD in Egyptology and studying The Book of Two Ways - the ancient Egytian path to reaching the afterlife. She remembered spending her time in Egypt on a dig with a man she loved and had so much in common with, Wyatt. She left all this when her Mom was sick and then met Brian. They have been together for fifteen years. She is torn between her current life with Brian and Meret (although their marriage is having difficulties) and the life she left behind.

I found this book insightful and compelling as it focused on the choices we make in life and how they affect not only the person making the choice, but those close to them as well. It is about regrets and missed opportunities. It is about complicated relationships. And it is about change.

I did find the extensive focus on dead Egyptians and the parts about quantum physics to be difficult at times as my eyes glazed over a little and I'd start yawning - so I give this one four stars instead of five. Don't get me wrong, it is still a really good book I would recommend it - just be warned it's kind of an intellectural read.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through Netgalley for an advance copy.

I liked the story. Picoult did a huge amount of research for this book. It was full of facts and knowledge. That made the book a little heavy for me. It took me a bit to get through the whole book.

I was confused here and there where I was at and if I was in the present or past.