Started Reading: April 3, 2024
Finished Reading: April 26, 2024
I have read 100% of this book
Verdict: It was OK (3 of 5 stars)
As a first time reader of Jodi Picoult, I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. I was intrigued by the exploration of life's pivotal "what if" moments, the quantum mechanics of parallel universes, and the idea that different choices could have landed each of us on very different paths than what were living right now.
The main character was adequately complex and fleshed out. She's definitely a flawed human who hurts people in complex ways while also being an amazingly giving person at the same time. The writing is very good and there are some lovely prose-y moments. The story moves at a good pace, even if the timelines are a bit tough to follow at times.
All of that said, I found the Egyptology portions of this book too heavy-handed. Many moments where the author chose to use Egyptian words for things like a bucket felt like bragging that she knew the Egyptian words in the first place. Just say that the workers were chain-ganging debris out of the tomb shaft in rubber buckets for Christ's sake. And I'm still not quite sure what a "wadi" is.
I also tasted a bit of "poor Dawn, both of the handsome successful men are butt-crazy in love with her and would chew their own arms off to have her choose them" in the fact that both of the book's handsome successful men are butt-crazy in love with her and would chew their own arms off to have her choose them. The author made an anemic effort to weave doubt and strife into both relationships, but I didn't find it particularly believable when both men were constantly like "it's always been you, Dawn."
Overall, happy I read it and it was compelling as it had me refelcing on my own path through life thus far as both a woman and a mother. Not sure if I'll read more of Picoult's stuff. If I do, I'd like something a bit less gimmicky.