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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I love Jodi Picoult's writing. I didn't love 'The Book of Two Ways' so much as it was an iteration of the film 'Sliding Doors' with far more quantum physics than I needed. Still, main character of Dawn was someone I enjoyed following (through parallel worlds).
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I LOVED this book. I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult's books, and this one was no exception. The story is about Dawn, who was pulled away from her grad studies and love affair in Egypt to return home to Boston when her mother was dying. She was never able to return to Egypt and became a Death Doula, married, and had a daughter. She's haunted by the life she thought she would have but left behind.
Have you ever wondered about who you would have become if you had made different choices? I think most everyone has, and that's part of the allure of this book. We watch Dawn explore what she left behind. She gets to make another choice.
This book is heavy in a lot of ways. There's a lot of information on Egyptology, some quantum physics, and a lot about the process of dying. But it's also emotionally heavy as Dawn grapples with her family in Boston, the career and love she left behind in Egypt, the person she wanted to be vs. the person she is.
I LOVED this book. I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult's books, and this one was no exception. The story is about Dawn, who was pulled away from her grad studies and love affair in Egypt to return home to Boston when her mother was dying. She was never able to return to Egypt and became a Death Doula, married, and had a daughter. She's haunted by the life she thought she would have but left behind.
Have you ever wondered about who you would have become if you had made different choices? I think most everyone has, and that's part of the allure of this book. We watch Dawn explore what she left behind. She gets to make another choice.
This book is heavy in a lot of ways. There's a lot of information on Egyptology, some quantum physics, and a lot about the process of dying. But it's also emotionally heavy as Dawn grapples with her family in Boston, the career and love she left behind in Egypt, the person she wanted to be vs. the person she is.
I enjoyed the book. This is my first Jodi Picoult book and I am going to give her a try. The book was long, a lot of Egyptian history, but overall I enjoyed the story. When you read this be aware you are in for the long haul!
Jodi Picoult is a great writer, there’s no debating that, but I think this book was just too much for me. There were a lot of technical facts (physics, Egyptology) thrown in that I found myself having to reread to understand - and then still not being able to wrap my head around them. There were so many different storylines that pulled me in so many directions and a fairly open-ended conclusion, which I’m very rarely a fan of.
I loved the concept of using the Egyptian Book of Two Ways, but I ultimately feel like it wasn’t executed in the best way. Any ONE of those storylines by itself would’ve made for a great novel. All of them ended up being too much.
All of this being said, I absolutely loved the parts that talked about the main character’s job as a death doula. They made me think, cry, and feel a little bit of comfort as someone who has been confronted by death a lot personally as of late. I wish I’d had an entire book of it.
I loved the concept of using the Egyptian Book of Two Ways, but I ultimately feel like it wasn’t executed in the best way. Any ONE of those storylines by itself would’ve made for a great novel. All of them ended up being too much.
All of this being said, I absolutely loved the parts that talked about the main character’s job as a death doula. They made me think, cry, and feel a little bit of comfort as someone who has been confronted by death a lot personally as of late. I wish I’d had an entire book of it.
There was a lot, maybe too much, going on in this book. The ending was fairly predictable and not very inspiring.
I am ashamed to admit that this is my first Jodi Picoult. I have seen this on bookstagram and added it to my list, but Once Upon A Book Club Box beat me to the punch. I definitely would have picked this up regardless, because I am obsessed with all things ancient Egypt.
This book gave me every feel imaginable. I was invested and tested up early on. I definitely didn’t see the plot twist coming. The love that poured from this book was amazing. The facts and structure unbelievable. I couldn’t read this fast enough.
I would mark this as a must read!!! I want more.
This book gave me every feel imaginable. I was invested and tested up early on. I definitely didn’t see the plot twist coming. The love that poured from this book was amazing. The facts and structure unbelievable. I couldn’t read this fast enough.
I would mark this as a must read!!! I want more.
I have long been a big fan of Jodi Picoult's, but I haven't enjoyed her latest books. I fear she is falling in love with her own research and/or a controversial idea and not focusing enough on the story. In this latest, Dawn is a death doula (that storyline was fascinating) who is married to Brian with a teenage daughter. After nearly dying in a terrifying plane crash, Dawn can't stop thinking about her one true love, Wyatt, back when they were grad students 15 years ago working as archaeologists in Egypt. The story is told in two versions: If Dawn went to Egypt 15 years later to look for Wyatt and pick up where they left off, and if Dawn went back home after the plane crash and tried to fix her marriage. I enjoyed the concept of having the two versions, but both are quite annoying. In Egypt, we also read how Wyatt and Dawn met and it's so cliche — they of course hated each other without realizing they were actually passionately in love with one another. It's the stuff of rom-coms, not real life. Back in Boston, it's so clear she and Brian are not meant for each other, plus their daughter is super whiny and angsty. I'm realizing now that although I sympathized with Dawn, a lot of these characters are annoying. There is also way too much Egyptology in this book, like you're reading a textbook. This is what I mean about Picoult falling in love with her own research; she says in the acknowledgments that this is her son's field of study and she became fascinated by it. She also should have ended the book about 100 pages before she did. It just drags on and on like she didn't know what to do with it. And the ending is not satisfying. In fact, Picoult said she originally had a different ending, but her editor encouraged this one instead. So, yes, she had no idea how or when to end it. Disappointing all around.
A slow start methodically pays off in the last 100-150 pages, when the two story lines are merged in a wonderful way; true to Picoult form. While the Boston plot line bored me a bit (hence the 4 stars), perhaps it was that monotony that made Egypt, specifically Wyatt, feel so electric. In the end, I was left completely satisfied with much to think about.
so this book…… took me a minute to get thru. i was experiencing grief in real time which made the death doula part of it both very hard and very enlightening. i loved how much was going on - how every character has their own world and was their own person with so much going on. the back and forth between egypt and boston was so jarring but also so perfectly……. juxtaposing. i loved wyatt and i loved dawn and i loved meret. i love that family can be forged thru grief and that grief can create family. very beautiful book big fan definitely made me ugly sob.
Really great book. The start was sort of slow but this book really made me think. Tough subject matter discussing death, but overall I really enjoyed the discussion that this book provoked in my book club.