Reviews - The Book of Two Ways

2.63k reviews for:

The Book of Two Ways

Jodi Picoult

3.7 AVERAGE

leahd_113's review against another edition

3.0

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

amberly1997's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Started and finished date - 24.04.25 to 26.04.25.
My rating - Three Stars.
I really had mixed feeling about book and the cover was okay. The writing was fine but I found it little bit hard to follow. The paced of plot was well structured and the plot is steady paced also the atmosphere was okay. The characters was fine but I would like them to flash out bit more

cwb40's review against another edition

3.5

challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mysterefantasy's review against another edition

5.0

Dawn Edelstein in on a plane when the announcement from the flight attendant tells the passenger to prepare for a crash landing. Her life does not flash before her eyes nor do her thoughts turn to her husband and child. Rather, her thoughts turn to a former fellow graduate student, Wyatt Armstrong, at Yale’s prestigious Egyptology program. Dawn survives the crash shaken, but unscathed. She knows her life is at a turning point. She decides not to go home to Boston, her family, and her job as a death doula (death counselor). Instead, she gets back on a plane and heads to Egypt to find Wyatt.

Picoult has created an unusual story about the choices we willingly make and the choices that are made for us – and the consequences of both. The theme woven across the story is death. She explores death from the perspective of ancient Egyptians and the people who die today, and from the perspective of people whose dreams die. Dawn is a well-drawn character with doubts and secrets and when she’s given a second chance at life, she has decisions to make.

Picoult’s transitions between scenes are both abrupt and awkward and may take the reader out of her compelling story long enough for the reader to figure out where she is in the storyline. This book is probably not a page turner for most readers and may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Kudos to Picoult for writing about a difficult subject and wrapping it in a fascinating story of how quickly our lives can change and evolve.

For many people, talking about death is difficult at best and impossible at worse. Picoult has written an entire novel about death and dying that is entertaining and will make any reader reconsider their thoughts on the subject matter.

If you love history, science, and an honest look at difficult subjects this book is definitely for you. If you hate those subjects and are at all uncomfortable reading about death, then this book is probably not one you’ll enjoy. However, this book, regardless of your willingness or unwillingness to discuss death, deserves your attention.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an eARC.