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The Book of Two Ways

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The Book of Two Ways

By: Jodi Picoult
Narrated by: Patti Murin
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About this listen

Dawn thinks she knows everything there is to know about dying. As a death doula, she helps her clients fix what is left undone so they can peacefully make the final transition. But when her plane plummets from the sky and she thinks she is experiencing the last moments of her life, she is shocked to find that she isn't thinking of her husband or teenage daughter - but of a road she strayed from 15 years earlier, when she turned her back on her PhD studies.

Against all odds, Dawn survives, and the airline gives her a free ticket to wherever she needs to get to. In alternating chapters, we see possible choices: land - returning to her husband, a quantum physicist who studies the possibilities of parallel universes, she is faced with a test to her marriage and a daughter who is struggling with self-image issues. And water: returning to her studies and the archaeological site she worked on 15 years earlier, where the man she abandoned is about to make the discovery of a lifetime.

But time may not be as straightforward as we think. As Dawn explores her possible futures, she is finding out what a well-lived life means, what we leave behind of ourselves when we leave the earth, and who she might have been....

©2020 Jodi Picoult (P)2020 Penguin Random House Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Women's Fiction Marriage Aviation
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Loved this story and how Picoult researches her topics. The make British accent though, 😩 was incredibly annoying and unbelievable.

Great story

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The main character, Dawn, who was an ancient Egyptian archaeologist, before becoming a death doula, has a near death experience. This causes her to question her life path. The characters in this story were real and raw and the research that has gone into it is unbelievable. Jodi Picoult is amazing!

Loved the performance. Accents were perfect and it was really easy to listen to.

Loved!

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Well researched. I didn’t mind the Egyptian content which some people have criticised for being too detailed. Wasn’t a fan of the narrator’s English accent. Mixed feelings about the protagonist but then I don’t suppose you have to live the main character to get something out of the book. It made me think about how we are all flawed. Overall, I’m glad I read it.

Glad I read it

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Excited to get into this book because of the concept. Didn't disappoint in this aspect but felt it was a little too heavy on the Egyptology. At the beginning considered giving up because of this but glad I didn't because the plot itself was excellent.

Great Indepth Storyline

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The storyline was ok but after awhile I found the main character to be too self obsessed and a little annoying. Concept was ok but I’m not sure it actually worked n the worst thing was the English accent….cringey, unbelievable, in fact absolutely terrible. The narrator was otherwise ok but not enough intonation and a bit robotic. All in all it passes my time in the car but isn’t at all in the same league as her previous books

Terrible English accent

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Loved it, a true love story with unexpected, believable turns, so well written, well done.

An amazing story!

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I purchased this book before reading the reviews which talk about containing too much detail on Egyptology and physics but I didn't find that to be an issue at all, I actually found it very interesting and well balanced with the main storyline. Overall I thought it was a good read.

Not as bad as I expected

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I regret buying this audio book.
I the narrator sounds like they learning to tell a story. a bit curt.
I want to get into the story. but the delivery is grating

the voice reading the story sounds bored

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What I have always loved most about Jodi Picoult’s books is the experience of being drawn into a new topic, subject, place and time. No book feels the same as the other. But every book challenges your feelings, opinions and experiences of very raw human qualities and relationships.

The research and inclusion of Egyptology, basic and easy to follow quantum physics and parallel lives is so important to create and define the characters in this book. And the intense immersion and details of Egyptology highlights Dawn’s passion for the field and the lose she feels for dreams left incomplete.

And if you feel angry, and challenged by the character’s relationships and indecisiveness between two really amazing men and two possibilities of happiness. Maybe it’s triggering you to remember/acknowledge in a quiet moment to yourself, the ones who have made great impacts in your life and you have felt deep love. I’m sure this is the point Wyn makes to Dawn.

But more so, this book is a reminder that life shouldn’t be something we choose, but a life is something we LIVE.

I only removed one star for the story as I would have loved it if the story had finished about 1.5hr earlier without tying up everyone’s endings. Rather leaving many possible endings to whirl around in my mind. It probably would frustrated me for days. But it would have been impactful. But more importantly, lend itself to the concept of infinite parallel possibilities.

Total Immersion, True Jodi Picoult Style

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The book wasn’t good - ending was unclear, too dramatic over characters consciously making the wrong life decision (having an affair/ forgetting about your boyfriend,etc). Someone who is decent would not do this. Therefore it was hard to sympathise with the main characters.
Only saving grace was the Patti’s clear and smooth narration.

Narrator did a great job!

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