Dawn survives a plane crash that has devastating consequences for so many people. It gets her to thinking about her life. She left her career as an egyptologist when her mother was dying g from cancer. She also left behind her love interest, Wyatt. She stood by her mother's side till death took her. Than stepped up as a mother to for her brother. She was married with a child. And she felt happy, but something was missing. After her near death experience she flew to Egypt. There she finds Wyatt, after fifteen years he's older, but still the charismatic man she remembers. There love is like fire, all consuming. She has her answer. Then she finds out he's engaged.
A scintillating story of love, choices and heartache. How far would you go to reclaim a lost love?

I whole heartedly loved everything about this book!!! So very much to learn about and how all the details are symbols for the converging and diverging theme of the story! Egyptology, quantum physics, family dynamics, death, love, the path not taken, and so very much more! This book was definitely a long cool drink of water for my overheated brain. Thank you NetGalley and Jodi Picoult for the ARC!!!

I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This one took me a little bit to get through, but overall I would say it was worth it. Picoult does a really good job throwing twists at you - I definitely did not see the big one coming. Interesting writing style about Egyptology and academia, but fell a little short of the line drawn by "Discovery of Witches" here.

Definitely not my favorite Jodi Picoult. I understand the premise of wondering how your life would have been if you had chosen a different path, but this book had too much information about archaeology and history and it was kind of dull.

I’m a HUGE Jodi P. fan. Huge. I’ve read almost everything ages published and always look forward to her next book.

That said, this book fell flat for me. One thing I enjoy about this author is that she makes you think about things you never have. I never thought of a death doula. Never thought about ancient Egypt archaeology. Whereas usually Jodi makes me care, this time I didn’t. I think the Egypt portions went too far in depth and pulled away from what could’ve been further developed between the main character and her ex.

It was just...ok.

The problem with that is I’m used to stellar from this author.

Jodi Picoult has done it again. She has woven a beautiful tapestry about life, choices, and the curiosity we feel when we look back and wonder if those choices were ultimately the right ones. Do we settle into our choices and don't look back? Or do we always wonder if we could have chosen better? Throughout this story, threads and strands come together, slowly and deftly, revealing bits of the story that revealed with each stitch what had happened before and why certain choices were made. We go from archeological sites in Egypt fifteen years ago to present-day Boston, back and forth. Ms. Picoult's knowledge of Egyptian tombs, artifacts, and hierglyphics is impressive, and she passes much of that knowledge to us in a way that is informative and adds to the story. You will understand why Dawn loved what she did fifteen years ago. And why she's not doing that now. If she'd been able to do things differently, would she? I had lots of questions as the story unfolded. And I became conflicted about what I wanted for Dawn and those around her. A tapestry becomes beautiful one threaded strand at a time until it becomes what it's meant to be. That's how this was for me. A question answered, one strand at a time. I became riveted to this book. I think you will too. Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the advance reader's copy. I will remember it for a long time.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A woman study Egyptian history and archeology leaves her studies after a family crisis. In addition to leaving behind her academics, she leaves her graduate school lover. She marries a kind man and together they raise a daughter. Life continues and the woman finds her way back to gain closure with her former lover.

Once again, Jodi knocks it out of the ballpark! I was VERY confused at the beginning, and thought "I'm finally going to find a Picoult book I can't get into......." but nevertheless she persisted........ and YES!!! Man when this starts to come together, it REALLY comes together!! Another knockout by Jodi, and a bestseller without needed the name! She's amazing!

While I have read and enjoyed most of Picoult’s work, I have to say, I struggled to finish this book.

From the very start, I felt the story was bogged down with too many minute details about Egypt and hieroglyphs, etc. While I understand that the purpose was to give credibility to the characters’ backgrounds, I found myself skipping through paragraphs at a time to get back to the story.

The protagonist was very unlikeable from the start, but once the twist happens, I really found myself loathing her. The choices she made were unrealistic and selfish. The ending felt both rushed and unfinished at the same time.

I am a huge fan of Jodi picoult and have read every book she’s written. I was excited to read an ARC of The Book of Two Ways. Jodi Picoult always does a great job of tackling a heavy issue and that’s exactly what happened in this book. I struggled a bit when she goes in to detail with Egyptian history and found myself skimming over parts. It’s a good book, just not one of my favorites.

I am a HUGE fan of Jodi Picoult, but this book really missed the mark for me! I loved her last book and I am very interested in Egyptology. However, this book just did not captivate me like her last book. I like the typical format of her books where a big event happens and then we travel back in time to see what led to that event. However, this book did not follow that format and I found it lacking.

It’s always a pleasure to read a new Jodi Piccoult as she never writes the same book twice, and I enjoyed all the Egyptology research and the story of what happens to the road not taken, and what f scenario.

The characters are fully-rendered as always and the pages fly, it’s another winner.

This is not my personal favorite book. A great solid book. It has, as always an amazing twist. I was up well past 3am.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult Reviewed June 15, 2020
I am a BIG ~ BIG : Jodi Picoult fan! This is novel 22 for me. I have been looking forward this is her most recent novel. I love this author!! Although the last book I read was a bit too controversial for my reading pleasure. I know Ms. Picoult is an awesome writer and loves to address controversial issues. She does do her research!

The description got my attention….described as a bit of sliding doors, second chance, and hmmm yes archeology & Egyptology. I have enjoyed other fictional stories with sliding doors.so thought I would enjoy this story.
There is a real book of two ways but doesn’t state two ways but black and blue… thus the chapters listed as Earth and Water …
The Book of Two Ways is the first known map of the afterlife. It shows two roads, a land route ~ black, and
water route ~blue; they are separated by a lake of fire. Both ways wind up in the same place.
Ms. Picoult is known to do her research. On her web site (link included) she shows pictures of her trip to Egypt.
https://www.jodipicoult.com/
Her acknowledgements offer a lot of information into her research which I totally enjoyed reading especially what is fiction and what is actual. Her Bibliography is pages long!!!
I am sure some Jodi fans will love this novel especially if one likes hieroglyphics and Egyptology.
However many of us long time readers who have enjoyed her earlier novels are finding find this and the last novel has taken a different direction. We know she likes to presents us with complicated intense topics. However, this one is a bit too much on Egypt and not enough on the characters.

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 22, 2020

A hidden meaning within a hidden meaning within a hidden meaning. The title of the book "The Book of Two Ways" is also a hidden meaning. Jodi Picoult delves deep into history while keeping her readers engaged in the present. She always educates her readers in an entertaining and heartfelt matter and this book is no exception.

"My calendar is full of dead people," begins Jodi Picoult's impeccable new novel.

The Book of Two Ways is actually a map of directions to help the ancient Egyptian dead find their way to the home of Osiris in the afterlife, where they will feast forever. Dawn is a Yale doctoral student in Egyptology in 2005, already known for a paper on the Book of Two Ways when she joins a dig that will lead to one of her Ways. She is also a death doula, a mother, married to a physicist., her other Way.

Picoult structures the novel to maximize tension and risk in such a way that I had to put the book down even as I longed to keep going. It is so deep and rich, so skilled and masterful that I can't recommend it enough. "The Book of Two Ways" is tough, painful, and exhilarating. It's the best book I've read this year.

Many, many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for permission to read this title.

~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader

I genuinely loved this book! As someone who grew up in love with Egypt and learning about the history, this book was perfect for me.
Admittedly the beginning of the book was very information heavy with Egypt and Quantum Physics, and death. This is a book you really need to devote time and focus to so you don't miss anything important. It might not be for everyone, but for those it is, they will love it.
Dawn is a death doula with a husband and 14 year old daughter. She grew up with plans to be an Egyptologist, but those plans came to and end when her mother goes into hospice and dies. She stays to care for her younger brother and ends up pregnant and married. She doesn't think of her life before often, but when she does she always wonders what her life would have been.
The way the story was written, broken into Dawn's 'book of two ways' after a plane crash and what different lives she ends up with. In one life she goes to Egypt to find herself, and to answer questions she didn't know she had. In her other life she goes back home, to her husband and a recently strained marriage, and a daughter who seems to not be able to find happiness in herself.
I loved the uniqueness of this story and all the facts I learned while reading it. The ending was not what I was expecting at all! I enjoyed that it was more than a blurb and done, it felt like it was actually addressing that decisions are not that easy and it is hard to know what choice is the right choice.
Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Jodi Picoult for an advanced reader edition of this wonderful book for an honest review.

Just as a heads up, there are some spots that come off feeling more like academic reading instead of pleasure reading. The nerd in me enjoyed the Egyptian stories, etc. and I understood how that fit with Dawn's love of Egypt, Wyatt, and that part of her life. However, I would reach sections about some physics concept and definitely struggled to get through it as my brain has a hard time understanding these theoretical cases.

I get WHY Jodi Picoult ended the book the way she did, but I still feel somewhat dissatisfied. I thought I saw this book taking a certain Picoult-like twist after a big reveal but I was (pleasantly) surprised that it did not go down the path I was expecting.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I’m not going to lie, I struggled a bit initially. While I learned a lot about Egyptology and even Physics, sometimes the material was just a lot to process. That being said, the author did an amazing amount of research in writing this story.
I liked all of the characters. I thought that they were fleshed out well and had both good and bad qualities to make them relatable in different ways.
Just like Picoult’s previous novels, there were some twists and turns, but sometimes they timeline of events was a little confusing.
All in all, I thought the story was really good. I mean, who hasn’t thought about how different our lives would be if we made different choices?
Don’t hesitate to grab this thought provoking book in September. It will definitely give your some food for thought.

Wow. This book was just fantastic. I finished it in TWO days because I just had to know what was going to happen! The idea of a "do over" is what pulled me into this book, and I was hooked by the rich storylines and Jodi Picoult's savage attention to detail (which we all know she is the queen of). Dawn Edelstein is a graduate student at Yale with a promising career as an Egyptologist when her life is unexpectedly derailed. She leaves her colleague, Wyatt Armstrong, and career in Egypt. The rest of her life follows a different path: becoming a "death doula," marrying another man, and having a daughter. Until Dawn is in a plane crash...and her last thoughts are of Wyatt.

It is at this point that Picoult takes us on two journeys of Land and Water as Dawn experiences two very different futures. The stories are woven through Egyptian stories and mythology with quantum mechanics sprinkled in to "prove" the idea of multi-universes. (I mean, really, just how amazing and talented is Jodi Picoult that she makes me feel like an expert?!) To top it off, there is a twist that made me gasp out loud.

I know some readers are feeling as though it is rather academic, but isn't that what we've come to expect from Jodi Picoult? She will give us the entire story without sparing any details. I wonder if some of that is due to "Covid brain?" I had to refocus a few times (I'm so distracted by everything going on!), but it was precisely those details that bring the story to life.

Don't let anything keep you from reading this book! It's truly magic.