Book Reviews

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

I am such a fan of Jodi Picoult (except Leaving Time…that book was awful). The way she takes issues and turns them into books with honest conversations. It’s pretty incredible. Nineteen Minutes will forever be one of my favorites. If you haven’t read it, you should. When she released The Book of Two Ways last year, I just knew I had to have it for my love of her as an author and my love of Egypt.

The Story

Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband, but a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong.

Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, her beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, where she helps ease the transition between life and death for patients in hospice.

But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a job she once studied for, but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made.

After the crash landing, the airline ensures the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation wherever they want to go. The obvious option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways–the first known map of the afterlife.

As the story unfolds, Dawn’s two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried beside them. Dawn must confront the questions she’s never truly asked: What does a life well-lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices…or do our choices make us? And who would you be, if you hadn’t turned out to be the person you are right now?

My Thoughts

This was definitely a more “technical” novel than her others. There is a lot of Egyptology, and it did read a bit textbook-like at times. I gave The Book of Two Ways four stars because I love Egypt so much, but I don’t think this book is for everyone.

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I enjoy how Jodi Picoult can take an issue and turn it into a novel. I don’t think this one was quite as obvious as some others. I’d say the “issue” in this book was death, and how we deal with it.

Honestly, this book wasn’t difficult to follow, but the timelines were troublesome. There was differentiation between chapters, but the timing was frustrating. For example, the plane crash is mentioned immediately, and then not visited again until the last few chapters.

Finally, I’m so over this whole multiple lovers trope that I feel like I read everywhere. Yes, I understand that you can have love for more than one person, even at the same time. However, Dawn comes back home after walking away from her family for WEEKS with another man and that’s okay with everyone?! I mean, it isn’t okay with her husband, but those feelings were barely processed.

This was not my favorite Jodi Picoult novel, but it also wasn’t my least favorite. There is a very select group of people that I might recommend this book to. (Aunt Susan and Mom…don’t read this book. 😉)

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