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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. *
Guys, when I say I’m a total Jodi Picoult Junkie— I mean it. I have devoured every single one of her books usually in one sitting.
But I just couldn’t muster my way through the first half of this book without finding myself completely lost and over my head. There’s a LOT going on— you have a flash back and forward situation, Dawn’s clients and their sub plots, Egyptology, physics and other science related terminology that my brain was just like— wow, please take a time out.
It took me two weeks to make it through the first half of the book and see what in the world was going on. And then just like that, the plot picked up and I was able to charge my way through the rest of the story.
There was a lot that happened in the last 30% of the book, lots that was emotionally exhausting and then finally, my least favorite type of unanswered ending—
The unanswered cliffhanger!
Instant grief— I plodded my way through the beginning and I don’t even get an answer! Ugh.
This is just a book that really requires some serious concentration and maybe even some notes in the beginning to follow what was happening. If you can get past all of that, you’ll really enjoy the deep down discovered story.
Guys, when I say I’m a total Jodi Picoult Junkie— I mean it. I have devoured every single one of her books usually in one sitting.
But I just couldn’t muster my way through the first half of this book without finding myself completely lost and over my head. There’s a LOT going on— you have a flash back and forward situation, Dawn’s clients and their sub plots, Egyptology, physics and other science related terminology that my brain was just like— wow, please take a time out.
It took me two weeks to make it through the first half of the book and see what in the world was going on. And then just like that, the plot picked up and I was able to charge my way through the rest of the story.
There was a lot that happened in the last 30% of the book, lots that was emotionally exhausting and then finally, my least favorite type of unanswered ending—
The unanswered cliffhanger!
Instant grief— I plodded my way through the beginning and I don’t even get an answer! Ugh.
This is just a book that really requires some serious concentration and maybe even some notes in the beginning to follow what was happening. If you can get past all of that, you’ll really enjoy the deep down discovered story.
3.5 Stars. The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. I love books by Picoult, she always explores a topic and brings so much information and interest to light (ie, elephants. The Amish. Abortion. etc). In this case, the book opens with the main character, Dawn, surviving a plane crash. As the plane goes down, she's not thinking about her husband and daughter - she's thinking about Wyatt, a fellow grad student from 15 years ago, who she worked alongside the tombs of Egypt. As a death doula (one who helps a patient into death, just as a birth doula helps a mother birth life), Dawn is used to helping people think about what has been left unsaid, undone, and how to rectify those feelings before the person passes. And we begin to explore "the road not taken." BUT… the problem is instead of weaving interesting facts about Egyptology or life and death analogies in the story, she infiltrates the story with it. Worse, Dawn's husband is a professor of Quantum psychics, and we get ALL THE DETAILS on that subject too. There were passages I literally had to skim over - they just didn't add to the story, but rather distract the reader from the story. When Picoult sticks to the story and the character interactions, Egyptology, life and death unsaid things, the book moves along. But unfortunately, there's just too much "textbook" for me.
This book had been sobbing by the end of it. The negative reviews are clearly made by people who have not been lucky enough in this lifetime to love more than one person. Sometimes concurrently. For that, I feel sorry for anyone who didn’t understand the masterpiece that was this book. I don’t expect anything less from Jodi Picoult. Another outstanding novel that I will be thinking about for a while.
I really liked this book and the messiness of the characters. Fast read.
3.5 ⭐️
I always love the amount of research Jodi puts in, and I can definitely appreciate that about this book. I love the concept of this book, but overall was a little disappointed.
I always love the amount of research Jodi puts in, and I can definitely appreciate that about this book. I love the concept of this book, but overall was a little disappointed.
Jodi Picoult
Ballantine
This book came out at the end of September, on the 22nd, and I fully intended to have this review released on that day - but man oh man this book was INTENSE! It took me so long to read it because of how much information it contained!
The story is about a woman named Dawn who is on a flight home when the flight attendant announces that the plane is going to make an emergency landing and plan for bracing. Aka - the plane is crashing. Dawn finds herself thinking of how usually at this point people find their lives flashing before their eyes, however for her she isn’t thinking of her husband, but of an old love of her life from 15 years ago, Wyatt.
The story splits between two timelines - Dawn in Boston and Dawn in Egypt. They are both the same story and one happens right before the other, but they are intertwined as if you are reading two stories that are separate until they intertwine again at the ending.
Dawn was once a grad student studying Egyptology until she got word that her mother was dying and on hospice and she was forced to go back home to take care of her mother and her younger brother Kieran. It was during this time that she met Brian, her current husband, and found out she was expecting a baby, Meret. Dawn created a life in Boston and became a death doula, helping people and their families prepare for their death for patients in hospice.
But lately one of her patients has sparked a fire in her and she can’t stop thinking about Wyatt and what her life would have been like if she would have stayed in her past life, in Egypt.
This book is PHENOMENAL! I give it easily 5 out of 5 stars. I learned SO MUCH about Egyptology, quantum physics, and neurology. That’s why it took me so long to read because sometimes I had to re-read parts just to make sure I fully understood. As Dawn is faced with two possible futures it truly lines up with The Book of Two Ways as described in the book and all comes together so well.
I completely recommend this book if you are a fan of Romance!
*I got this book from NetGalley to read and provide an honest review*
Ballantine
This book came out at the end of September, on the 22nd, and I fully intended to have this review released on that day - but man oh man this book was INTENSE! It took me so long to read it because of how much information it contained!
The story is about a woman named Dawn who is on a flight home when the flight attendant announces that the plane is going to make an emergency landing and plan for bracing. Aka - the plane is crashing. Dawn finds herself thinking of how usually at this point people find their lives flashing before their eyes, however for her she isn’t thinking of her husband, but of an old love of her life from 15 years ago, Wyatt.
The story splits between two timelines - Dawn in Boston and Dawn in Egypt. They are both the same story and one happens right before the other, but they are intertwined as if you are reading two stories that are separate until they intertwine again at the ending.
Dawn was once a grad student studying Egyptology until she got word that her mother was dying and on hospice and she was forced to go back home to take care of her mother and her younger brother Kieran. It was during this time that she met Brian, her current husband, and found out she was expecting a baby, Meret. Dawn created a life in Boston and became a death doula, helping people and their families prepare for their death for patients in hospice.
But lately one of her patients has sparked a fire in her and she can’t stop thinking about Wyatt and what her life would have been like if she would have stayed in her past life, in Egypt.
This book is PHENOMENAL! I give it easily 5 out of 5 stars. I learned SO MUCH about Egyptology, quantum physics, and neurology. That’s why it took me so long to read because sometimes I had to re-read parts just to make sure I fully understood. As Dawn is faced with two possible futures it truly lines up with The Book of Two Ways as described in the book and all comes together so well.
I completely recommend this book if you are a fan of Romance!
*I got this book from NetGalley to read and provide an honest review*
The description reminded me of the movie “Sliding Doors” but it really wasn’t similar. It was a good read though moved a little slowly. I stopped reading Picoult for a long time but books like this and Small Great Things have brought me around again.
Unlike some readers, I did not find the book overly pedantic. I thought that the information about both Egyptology and modern physics was fascinating and well-incorporated. Picoult, it is obvious, is trying to stretch and grow as a writer. Some folks just want to read the same book over and over, but having to write the same book over and over sounds like a hellacious fate. Does this book perfectly pull off what she was attempting? I don't think so. I think that Carol Anshaw's *Aquamarine* was a much more successful experiment in imagining parallel lives. This is definitely a "what if" book, and that's a kind of book I love. The resolution of the story was left in mid-air, which is certain to frustrate hard genre readers, but it is true to the rest of the book.
Holy shit. This is the most romantic book I’ve ever read but also the most devastating. I will never not be thinking about this book. For weeks, every time I saw it in a bookstore, I remembered the copy sitting in my shelf, thinking I should really get around to reading it. I’m so so glad I did get around to it, and from now on, every time I see it in the bookstore, I will stop to say hello the way I do all my favorite books.