The Opposite of Everyone, Joshilyn Jackson
The Opposite of Everyone, Joshilyn Jackson
3 Rating(s)
List: $41.99 | Sale: $29.40
Club: $20.99

The Opposite of Everyone
A Novel

Author: Joshilyn Jackson

Narrator: Joshilyn Jackson

Unabridged: 11 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 02/16/2016


Synopsis

A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this bittersweet, witty novel from the nationally bestselling author of Someone Else’s Love Story and gods in Alabama—an emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives.Born in Alabama, Paula Vauss spent the first decade of her life on the road with her free-spirited young mother, Kai, an itinerant storyteller who blended Hindu mythology with southern oral tradition to re-invent their history as they roved. But everything, including Paula’s birth name Kali Jai, changed when she told a story of her own—one that landed Kai in prison and Paula in foster care. Separated, each holding secrets of her own, the intense bond they once shared was fractured.These days, Paula has reincarnated herself as a tough-as-nails divorce attorney with a successful practice in Atlanta. While she hasn’t seen Kai in fifteen years, she’s still making payments on that Karmic debt—until the day her last check is returned in the mail, along with a mysterious note: “I am going on a journey, Kali. I am going back to my beginning; death is not the end. You will be the end. We will meet again, and there will be new stories. You know how Karma works.”Then Kai’s most treasured secret literally lands on Paula’s doorstep, throwing her life into chaos and transforming her from only child to older sister. Desperate to find her mother before it’s too late, Paula sets off on a journey of discovery that will take her back to the past and into the deepest recesses of her heart. With the help of her ex-lover Birdwine, an intrepid and emotionally volatile private eye who still carries a torch for her, this brilliant woman, an expert at wrecking families, now has to figure out how to put one back together—her own.The Opposite of Everyone is a story about story itself, how the tales we tell connect us, break us, and define us, and how the endings and beginnings we choose can destroy us . . . and make us whole. Laced with sharp humor and poignant insight, it is beloved New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson at her very best.

About Joshilyn Jackson

Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eleven other novels, including gods in Alabama and Never Have I Ever. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Jackson is also a former actor and an award-winning audiobook narrator. A recent expat from the American South, she and her family have settled in upstate New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on November 30, 2023

I was born blue. If my mother hadn’t pushed me out quick as a cat, I would have been born dead and even bluer; her cord was wrapped tight around my neck. She looked at my little blue lips, my blue toes and baby fingers, and she named me after Kali, Kali Jai.and so begins the story of Kali Jai,......more

Goodreads review by Angela M on March 04, 2016

I have read my share of books about dysfunctional families and this is right up there with the best (or worst) of them depending on the perspective you take. I've also felt that lump in my throat and knot in my gut when reading a particularly tough and gritty story involving children and this one of......more

Goodreads review by Joshilyn on February 16, 2015

COMING IN JANUARY 2016 The Opposite of Everyone Paula Vauss grew up close to homeless, on the road with her free-wheeling, hippie mother. Kai was a roving storyteller who blended Hindu mythology with Southern Oral Tradition to re-invent their history every year. When she was eleven, Paula told the wr......more

Goodreads review by Candi on October 14, 2016

This was my first Joshilyn Jackson novel and while I was fairly well entertained, I didn’t fall head over heels with this one. It’s a story about a dysfunctional family with a cast of interesting characters and a dash of Hindu mythology. Paula Vauss is a high-powered divorce attorney living in Atlan......more

Goodreads review by Esil on February 21, 2016

I would happily plagiarize Diane S's review of The Opposite of Everyone. She pretty much summed up my reaction. When I first started reading The Opposite of Everyone, I had a wavering feeling -- I didn't quite feel engaged and I had a sense that I was embarking on something a bit formulaic. But some......more