--- product_id: 146994762 title: "The Opposite of Everyone: A Novel" price: "FREE" currency: ISK in_stock: false reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/146994762-the-opposite-of-everyone-a-novel store_origin: IS region: Iceland --- # The Opposite of Everyone: A Novel **Price:** FREE **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Opposite of Everyone: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** FREE with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.is](https://www.desertcart.is/products/146994762-the-opposite-of-everyone-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description 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. Review: Need to read more by this author - "I measure the years of my childhood by my mother's boyfriends..." Holy crap, that was a good book! This is the first book I've read by Jackson. I had previously heard of Gods in Alabama and it is somewhere in the middle of the 2000+ books on my to-read list, but someone on a Facebook group shared this book last week when it was on a sale on desertcart for .99 and recommended it. I bought it and added it to the 1000+ unread books hanging out in my kindle library and figured I'd get to it eventually. I have started no less than 6 books in the past three days but I just couldn't get into anything. This morning at work I was scrolling through my library trying to find something to read between calls during my 5 hours in the office and finally figured I'd check this out. After all, I do have 1000 other books to choose from if I decided it wasn't the right book today. 8 hours later I was finished. And trying (and failing) not to cry. That last chapter. Ugh. So. Good. The story goes back and forth between present day Paula, and her life and job as a ball-busting divorce attorney, and her nomadic childhood with her mother, Kai. Despite Kai's faults, Paula practically worships her mom and it's pretty much them against the world. Until Kai goes to prison and Paula goes to a state group home. Paula's world as an adult is pretty empty. She has her cat, Henry, three or four friends, and a sting of exes that she hooks up when she's feeling the need. Otherwise she has her job, which she is very good at, and she feels like she needs nothing else. One day she receives a note from Kai, whom she hasn't spoken to in more than a decade, and her life basically flips upside down. I really liked the characters in this book. Because of the back and forth way the story is told you don't get full character development straight on in the story but it worked. A few times I felt like I shouldn't like Kai but I couldn't help but like her. And then a few times I felt like I shouldn't like Paula because she was such a self-admitted bitch, but she was also pretty bad ass, and well, just likable. I definitely recommend The Opposite of Everyone and I look forward to reading more by Jackson very soon. Review: Good read, didn't understand the journey Kai had to take though. - As soon as I saw the author of this book I requested it. I didn't even care what it was about. That's how much I loved her book "Somebody Else's Love Story". So, I had no idea what I was in for when I sat down to read it, because I didn't even read the blurb. What a totally different book this one was. And I don't mean that in a bad way. Her first book was one of those that just stayed with you and had you wondering just whose love story was it anyway. This one had you wondering why Kali's mother had to go through a journey before (oops all I can say without a spoiler). Both books left you reflecting and thinking and stayed with you long after I had read them. I would do the same with the next Joshilyn Jackson book. She could write the dictionary and I would read it. Her stories are so good and her characters are so well developed that you really feel like you know them or really want to know them personally. This was a wonderful book that I highly recommend. I'd like to thank Harper Collins/William Morrow for pulling my name out of a hat and allowing me to win this fantastic book. I literally jumped for joy when I got it in the mail as my request was denied on Net Galley. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! ## Images ![The Opposite of Everyone: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81tamY7BwFL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Need to read more by this author *by C***Y on July 7, 2017* "I measure the years of my childhood by my mother's boyfriends..." Holy crap, that was a good book! This is the first book I've read by Jackson. I had previously heard of Gods in Alabama and it is somewhere in the middle of the 2000+ books on my to-read list, but someone on a Facebook group shared this book last week when it was on a sale on Amazon for .99 and recommended it. I bought it and added it to the 1000+ unread books hanging out in my kindle library and figured I'd get to it eventually. I have started no less than 6 books in the past three days but I just couldn't get into anything. This morning at work I was scrolling through my library trying to find something to read between calls during my 5 hours in the office and finally figured I'd check this out. After all, I do have 1000 other books to choose from if I decided it wasn't the right book today. 8 hours later I was finished. And trying (and failing) not to cry. That last chapter. Ugh. So. Good. The story goes back and forth between present day Paula, and her life and job as a ball-busting divorce attorney, and her nomadic childhood with her mother, Kai. Despite Kai's faults, Paula practically worships her mom and it's pretty much them against the world. Until Kai goes to prison and Paula goes to a state group home. Paula's world as an adult is pretty empty. She has her cat, Henry, three or four friends, and a sting of exes that she hooks up when she's feeling the need. Otherwise she has her job, which she is very good at, and she feels like she needs nothing else. One day she receives a note from Kai, whom she hasn't spoken to in more than a decade, and her life basically flips upside down. I really liked the characters in this book. Because of the back and forth way the story is told you don't get full character development straight on in the story but it worked. A few times I felt like I shouldn't like Kai but I couldn't help but like her. And then a few times I felt like I shouldn't like Paula because she was such a self-admitted bitch, but she was also pretty bad ass, and well, just likable. I definitely recommend The Opposite of Everyone and I look forward to reading more by Jackson very soon. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good read, didn't understand the journey Kai had to take though. *by D***B on February 16, 2016* As soon as I saw the author of this book I requested it. I didn't even care what it was about. That's how much I loved her book "Somebody Else's Love Story". So, I had no idea what I was in for when I sat down to read it, because I didn't even read the blurb. What a totally different book this one was. And I don't mean that in a bad way. Her first book was one of those that just stayed with you and had you wondering just whose love story was it anyway. This one had you wondering why Kali's mother had to go through a journey before (oops all I can say without a spoiler). Both books left you reflecting and thinking and stayed with you long after I had read them. I would do the same with the next Joshilyn Jackson book. She could write the dictionary and I would read it. Her stories are so good and her characters are so well developed that you really feel like you know them or really want to know them personally. This was a wonderful book that I highly recommend. I'd like to thank Harper Collins/William Morrow for pulling my name out of a hat and allowing me to win this fantastic book. I literally jumped for joy when I got it in the mail as my request was denied on Net Galley. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Opposite of Everyone - Joshilyn Jackson *by C***S on September 24, 2016* Before reading this, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the twist in Joshilyn Jackson’s “change” from her usual fare to this seemingly different story. I put off reading it for most of this year. I’ve been trying to find time to catch up and finally read some of these actual books lying around, and I’m so glad I did in this case. The story alternates timeframes, from Kali Jai’s days of childhood, to her years as a Divorce Attorney who goes by Paula Vauss. Her grandmother claimed she misheard the name Kali Jai’s mother gave her as they dragged her back to juvie lock-up, thus her birth certificate bears the name of Paula Jane Vauss. Mother, Kai, serves her time, and the two are reunited, and their bond grows over time. There is a time when Kali is closely bonded with her mother. “Odd to think of myself that way, small and blind and tethered to her. In that time before memory, everything I touched was hers. I heard her voice from the inside, with no idea that she was a separate person. Back then, she had simply been the world.” Things change, people change, and the two girls bouncing around the country, following boyfriend after boyfriend of Mama Kai (whose birth certificate bears the name of Karen Vauss.) A little like the cartoons and songs of old, just follow the bouncing ball, or, in this case, boyfriend. “Boyfriend love is the light on a bug’s back end, flicking on and off across a lawn. It begins with lies and kissing. It devolves into fighting and boredom. It ends with hasty packing and sometimes robbery. It is easily replaced by fresher love.” What I loved about this story was how wrong I was about the story not sounding like a Joshilyn Jackson story. It is still completely her, albeit JJ with a dash of spices. There’s an edgier spin, perhaps, but there’s that signature voice that is still within hearing. What I loved about this story was the blending of the Hindu stories within, the tales upon tales. What I loved about this story was how easily the transitions were between times, how her characters, as ruthless, as broken and dysfunctional as some were, are still worthy of love, and that there is a healing, of sorts. It’s not a Disney healing, and everyone doesn’t get a trophy for participating but healing does occur. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.is/products/146994762-the-opposite-of-everyone-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.is/products/146994762-the-opposite-of-everyone-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Iceland* *Store origin: IS* *Last updated: 2026-09-07*