So the book blurb had me hooked. I mean I had to be the perfect target audience - someone who had gone to grad school in Boston (the setting), was determined to be an egyptologist (the premise) as a kid, and a big fan of two of her earlier books The Storyteller and Small Great Things and own a few more. So when Netgalley offered this as an ARC, I jumped right in.

But I was not enamored with the structure. The multiple parallel timelines creates a good deal of uncertainty which is great for drama, but as a reader, I felt like I was being misled and confused on purpose by the author (and not the characters). It felt like we jumped around too much. Also, none of the central characters (with the possible exception of Wyatt) were likeable or memorable.

Lastly, considering this was a contemplation of life and death I was immensely underwhelmed on that front. This is no overture to Camus or Kierkegaard. There were moments where I feel that in a different world, and with slightly different choices Picoult would have reached the highs that she reached in The Storyteller. Sadly not in this one.

I would say 3.5 stars, but the last 25% of the book finally felt like the Picoult I was expecting and I was happy-ish about it. And remember the peak-end rule. We really remember the highs and the end, and while I don't exactly like the actual vagueness of the ending, I feel I know Olive well enough right now to guess what she would do.

Favorite moments include the "Olive.. YOU" dream/nightmare scene (very clever) and the expository deference shown to hieroglyphics and all things Ancient Egyptian. Made me feel like the 10 year who had gotten a 3 volume encyclopedia on Ancient Egypt again.

#netgalley #arc

Jodi Picoult is one of the authors that I automatically read, regardless of the book’s topic. This one reminded me why. I love reading fiction that also teaches me things or gets me interested in things I didn’t know much about before, while still having a great love story behind it. I really enjoyed the characters in this one and truly felt like I got to know them. The timelines were a little confusing, but nothing too complicated. The story wouldn’t have been complete without that element, so it worked. I definitely recommend.

I loved this book.  For those of us that have ever had an 'I wonder what if' thought (or 20), this is a great read.  Picoult is always at the top of her game in writing, but this might be my new favorite of hers.  Yes, it's that good.
Clear your schedule, grab the book.  You'll read until you finish, then be sad it's over.

This book was good, you just have to know it’s technical and a lot of information and decisions are needed to be made. This was a book I wasn’t sure I would like but i could not put it down. I wanted to know what happened. Jodi Picoult is a great author.

There has been a lot of chatter surrounding this book and how heavily laden it is with textbook talk. Some people feel they need some sort of companion reader or footnotes in order to understand it, but it is this very fact that drew me to it in the first place. 

For starters, I thoroughly love Egyptian art, culture and history. I can't remember when it started but I wanted to be a librarian for Egyptian antiquities helping to preserve long lost texts and papyri records. Totally every 9-year-old's dream, right? No? Just Me?

In short, the Book of Two Ways (the Egyptian one) is a map of the underworld depicting how the deceased can reach the afterlife. There are two paths, one blue and one darker, separated by a sea of fire. In Egypt, it is the goal of the deceased to reach the afterlife where they will live eternal. The map and the spells that were drawn on the inside of the coffin are meant to aid the deceased in their journey towards to afterlife, defending themselves against demons and guardians of the netherworld. The two paths are treacherous and often cross over one another with the intention of distracting the deceased and making them lose their way, and, ultimately, their chance to reach the afterlife.

Dawn lives a peaceful life with her husband and daughter. She does good work as a death doula helping to ease the transition into death for those that are dying. Dawn is content in life, that is, until she is confronted with her own death. Her plane has to make an emergency crash landing and Dawn prepares for impact with thoughts, not of her current family, but of someone long gone in a completely different life. 

Dawns once wanted to be an Egyptologist who studied the coffin texts and nearly was, if not for the death of a parent that called her away from her work. She never returned to complete her work and, instead, surrounded herself with a different type of death: the dying. After her experience she sets out to explore the other of two paths she could have had once. And it is through this adventure that she is able to explore the Book of Two Ways deeper than she could have thought possible. 

In this book, Picoult uses the Book of Two Ways as a metaphor and symbolism for Dawn's life. Dawn is something called a "death doula," which is someone who helps the dying prepare for their death. In a way, Dawn is creating a map for each of her clients and giving them tools (like the Egyptian spells) to help them go into death more peacefully. This can be simple things like helping to prepare for the funeral, setting up a plan for their belongings or estate, or even just helping loved ones to stay strong after the passing.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult resonated with me.  So much wisdom and knowledge can be gained in reading this book.

I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult and always look forward to her next novel.  She had great character development within the novel and you felt yourself being drawn in and sharing empathy with all of the characters.  The storyline was well woven and enjoyable.  With that being said, I am so torn on the ending of this novel!

I was enjoying this book so much until I got to the end of the book and it disappointed. It felt unfinished. 
I was hoping for so much more.

I have read a lot of Jodi Picoult's book, while this one was different than her others, I really liked it! I would call it a must read!

There are two types of book I am a sucker for. As in, I don’t care what anyone else says, I don’t care about the goodreads rating, I’m gonna read it anyways: 
1) A locked room mystery
2) A story that explores a Sliding Doors moment, or rather stories that explore a moment in time that alters the trajectory of a life. 
This book was a perfect example of the latter, and I loved it! 

It’s been years since I read a Jodi Picoult book, and I remember now why I enjoyed reading her so much way back when. There were so many shrewd observations about life and marriage that I found myself wanting to start a quote notebook.  The Book of Two Ways was such a stimulating examination of life, death, marriage and motherhood and I found myself in that reader’s conundrum that happens with a really good book: do I sink in and read without looking up until I’m done? Or do I savor each page and chapter and make it last as long as possible? 

**I will say: the character in this book is an Egyptologist and there is a LOT of Egyptian history, myth and folklore woven in; it almost seems like overkill and may be distracting for some, but it isn’t the main focus of the story and could even be skimmed. If you wanted to...

Sitting down to review a new Jodi Picoult novel always catapults me into a state of awe. She’s a terrific writer who always envelops me in her story, and those stories are rich in layered textures, interwoven like brilliant tapestries. Her work is characterized by a deep, consistent trust in the discernment and judgment of her readers. She never bashes me over the head by telling me how to feel or what to think about any event, situation, or character.  So here goes The Book of Two Ways According to Deborah:

The “Two Ways” in the title refers to many things: in Egyptology, a map depicting two paths a dead person may follow to find the afterlife, one by water, one by land. It also refers to “the road not taken,” the “might-have-beens” in any person’s life. How would things have been different if we had chosen one career over another, or committed ourselves to one first love instead of letting them go?

More importantly, what happens when the chosen life and the might-have-been collide in real life?

Dawn’s first and abiding passion in life was the study of Ancient Egypt, in particular a new interpretation of The Book of Two Ways painted on the insides of mummy cases. She didn’t expect to also find human love with an equally obsessed, brilliant British archaeologist, Wyatt. But when her mother was dying, she left both career and lover to return to the US and a long, excruciating hospice vigil that she survived thanks to the gentle, loyal Brian, whom she eventually marries. She finds new meaning in her work as a death doula, supporting dying clients and their families through their transitions (and echoing the Egyptian practice of guiding the dead to their destination). Dawn’s daughter Meret becomes the shining star in her life. A near-fatal airplane crash fractures Dawn’s neatly assembled world and sends her back to Egypt, and Wyatt. 

So much for the plot. First of all, the book itself isn’t linear in chronology, and a good part of it is layered, spiraling back to themes and situations previously touched on, each revisitation offering new insights. 

Secondly, Egypt! Tombs! Mummies! Mysteries! Unearthing objects not seen in millennia! Just about every kid I knew was fascinated by Ancient Egypt at one time or another, me included, and Picoult presents the scholarly material and methods in her typical blend of passion and accessibility.

Thirdly, what does it all mean? Can we ever truly pick up the pieces of the lives we might have lived? How do we know if we want now what we wanted then, or have we ourselves changed so there is no going back? 

Is it possible to love two people, each in different ways? How does any of us choose between love and the demands of an all-consuming vocation?

In the end, Picoult presents us with an ending that reflects as much what we as individual readers have experienced or longed for, as the text of the previous story.

As usual, highly recommended.

At first I had a difficult time connecting to this story. In part due to all the terminology related to Egypt and the afterlife. I’m not one to start a book and not finish even if my interest lags a bit. As I began connecting to the characters my intrigue grew. Jodi did a fantastic job of developing the relationships between Brian, Meret, Wyatt, Win and Dawn. The deep complexity of the love was heartfelt on many levels. A slow moving rollercoaster that picks up speed slowly until your moving so fast you can’t keep up. Stick with it in the end you will be glad you did. #Netgalley#BookOfTwoWays.

You might recall that not long ago I finally read my first Jodi Picoult book. Two things had put me off before that: the snobbish idea that good books cannot be written as fast as Picoult writes books and the idea that her books seem to always be about the latest "big" controversy. I still don't know that you could write the great American novel in a year but Picoult proved to me that you can write a book that will engross and entertain readers that quickly. And that if you can write well about whatever the latest big topic is, then it's good to write about those things in a way that will make people think about them. So we come to this book, which I was eager to read when it was offered to me. It is most decidedly not about the latest talking point. In fact, it is about two of the oldest subjects: love and death. 

Having not long ago read God, Graves, and Scholars, it was interesting for me to find myself back in Egypt, uncovering the mysteries of ancient burials. According to Wikipedia, "The Book of Two Ways is a precursor to the New Kingdom books of the underworld as well as the Book of the Dead, in which descriptions of the routes through the afterlife are a persistent theme. The two ways depicted are the land and water routes, separated by a lake of fire, that lead to Rostau and the abode of Osiris." Taking that as her starting point, Picoult has tied ancient superstitions with physic's theory of a multiverse. As explained by Brian, in the book, the idea is that every action has multiple outcomes and that each of them exists in a different universe. 

Picoult has structured her book so that I was never quite sure where in time I was or if I were reading two possible different outcomes which, instead of finding confusing, I found really intriguing. In her current life, Water/Boston, Dawn is a death doula, wife, and mother; in her past, Land/Egypt, she is a graduate student on the cusp of a major archaeological discovery and passionately in love with a fellow student. In both locations, Picoult spends a lot of time sharing with readers what she has learned about hospice work, quantum physics, and Egyptology. A lot. It was certainly interesting, and Picoult has done an incredible amount of research, but it often distracted from Dawn's story. 

Speaking of Dawn's story: you know the old trope where our two leads hate each other in the beginning and then end up falling in love? Yeah, that's Dawn and Wyatt. Unfortunately, that story's grown old for me and I have a hard time buying the idea that the guy that was a jerk in the beginning turns out to be Mr. Wonderful. Which is a problem here - we have to believe that Wyatt was so incredible that Dawn never fell out of love with him and I never entirely bought that. 

And yet...despite that fact that I felt like Picoult took a couple of story lines too far and that some of the plotting was predictable...I liked this book, to a large extent, I think, because I liked the structure and the idea of wondering what might have happened if. I appreciated that Picoult doesn't make either of the men in Dawn's life less than the other; both have their flaws but plenty of reasons for Dawn to be love them. Which makes the ending of the book unknown to readers and I really liked the way that Picoult left things open in the end. For fans of Picoult, I think you'll enjoy this one.

I do not feel right giving my favorite author anything less than three stars. Her writing is beautiful, her imagination legendary.

But, this book did me dirty. I will not say why, spoilers aren’t my jam.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish and would throw this book across the room if it wouldn’t potentially wake up my daughter. 

Now that I am done being dramatic, I’ll forget I read this one and anxiously await the next.

Thank you for the opportunity to read Jodi's work, she is an auto-buy author for me and I can't wait to see what she thinks up next.

As usual Jodi Picoult pulled my emotional strings.
The archaeological details were a bit heavy at times but I could visualize the setting .

This title character in this book is a death doula. You would not imagine this would be an uplifting book but Jodi Picoult brings depth to her heroine. She is compassionate and loving despite having endured heartbreak at the time of her mother's death. The novel moves between different time periods , locations (Boston and Egypt) and involves a plane crash. It is all subtly woven together.

Jodi Picoult is one of those authors who for me is either amazing or eh.  This book for me is sadly in the eh category and usually she is in the amazing for me.  The BIGGEST reason is it feels like it needs a good quarter of the book needed to be edited out.  I LOVE long books that keep me enthralled.  This was 416 pages that should have been maybe 325.   Dawn Edelstein is one of the survivors of a horrific plane crash.  She realizes she has what ifs and maybes still looming over her head.  She walked away from being an archaeologist to a death doula.  The whys are a big part of the story so will not say too much.  She wonders what would have happened had she not walked away and decides to figure out.  Or does she?  It is called 'The Book of Two Ways' for a reason and the chapters bounce from one road taken after the crash and another road taken.    Too much of the book feels textbook/lectures on Egypt and not enough character movement/development...and then rushed development.     Some heavy editing would have easily made this book a great exploration of how the choices we make ripple across so many others' lives with some fascinating facts on Egypt and the Book of Two Ways.  Instead it is heavy handed facts and trying to remember to connect with the characters.  Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I have loved everything that I have ever read by Jodi Picoult, but this one was hard to get through.  It felt more like I was taking class on the history of Egypt which made me quickly lose interest.  I will still continue to read other work by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Jodi Picoult for my copy of The Book of Two Ways for an honest review. This book had me a bit crazy.. I loved the love story, the heart break, the hardships and the characters.. Yet I wasn’t a fan of all the Egyptology parts. Dawn Edelstein, has a very complicated life. She has the world at her fingertips, tragedy strikes and she is left to make a new life. I love how Jodi Picoult tells a story and this story is no different. I just felt like it was too much. The dynamic of Dawn’s family is written very well. There is adventure, motherhood and romance, it has something for everyone. Even though I felt it was a little long and filled with a bit to much Egyptology, Jodi had me hooked and wanting to follow a long.  Such a wonderful story teller, I knew it would be worth the wait to see how it unfolded.

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. Her books make me think, and she always humanizes different sides of an issue or topic.
This book felt different. The story was good, but it became burdensome at times with all of the information about Egyptology. I was thinking more of how it all worked than I was the characters of the story. Once I began skimming over those details, I enjoyed the book much more.
The characters are well-developed, but like many other Picoult books, I didn't always like them. The concept of choices and the two ways was interesting. 

Overall, it's a good read. Not a quick read, but a sit-down-and-think read. 

Thanks to netgalley for providing me a copy of this book. My thoughts are my own.