Chapter 1 already had me checking reviews of how much more history the book will be about and they said I will be bombarded with it. Sigh. That was quite off-putting but I thought maybe it will be interesting to learn something. Shrug.

“It showed two roads snaking through Osiris’s realm of the dead: a land route, black, and a water route, blue, which are separated by a lake of fire. If you follow the map, it’s like choosing between taking the ferry or driving around—both ways wind up in the same place: the Field of Offerings, where the deceased can feast with Osiris for eternity. There is a catch, though—some of the paths lead nowhere. Others push you toward demons or circles of fire. Embedded in the text is the magic you need to get past the guardians of the gates.”

The trope that got me to pick up the book is exploring “what could have been”. The protagonist became a death doula instead of fulfilling her life’s dream of being an Egyptologist and takes the journey to find out how her life could have been had she made different choices.

The concept of a death doula very interesting and should be the norm.

Information overload. The history was too much. Like reading an encyclopedia. And the quantum physics on top of it. I didn’t want to spend time googling. It was really difficult to get through this book but I didn’t want to leave it unfinished. I even got confused about the timeline. It’s very jumbled and all over the place. Very long chapters.

Win got me through the book. She was the most interesting, profound and enjoyable character.

The daughter’s body image issues are so important in this day and age but there was too much happening in the book to fully explore it.

“I believe that there are five things we need to say to people we love before they die, and I give this advice to caregivers: I forgive you. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Goodbye. I tell them that they can interpret those prompts any way they like, and nothing will have been left unsaid.”

The twist surprised me. Oh what could have been. I got more into the book after the twist but it was pretty much right at the end.

I guess there were parts I loved and more I loathed. I wouldn’t recommend this book. Life’s too short to slog through a book without incentive.

To ease my pain over giving a negative review I will mention that there are reviews where people absolutely loved the book so it might not have been to my tastes but clearly there is an audience for it.

4/10