Review: The Opposite of Everyone

The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fans of Someone Else’s Love Story will welcome Jackson’s newest novel, in which a minor character gets the opportunity to tell her own story. Paula (the best friend of SELS’ William) is a sharp and successful Atlanta divorce lawyer who knows exactly where she’s going…but her past is about to catch up with her. The woman who had to learn to take care of herself early in life finds that she might just have more of a family than she thought.

Jackson is a master of language, using long and luxurious sentences that are truly poetic to describe character and setting, but always with a snappy sense of humor. She arranges otherwise ordinary words into an intricately weaved story with a slow reveal that will make the reader want more. Paula is complex, scarred. Flashbacks expose a difficult relationship with her mother that began with the folktales Kai told her as a child and is now unfolding into a new understanding of family. In many ways, the South is a character itself, described as only a true Southerner could, and the reader understands that Paula’s early travels play a great role in making her the person she is.

As with all Jackson’s novels, I became close to her characters, not wanting to leave when I reach the last page. Jackson, also a voice actress, narrates many of her novels, and even after having read an advance copy of The Opposite of Everyone, listening to the audio is a treat still to come. Fans of Marisa de los Santos, Sarah Gruen, Sarah Addison Allen, Ann Patchett, and Fannie Flagg will love the journey as they watch Paula find her family and herself.


View all my reviews

Review: Gods in Alabama

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really, a 4.5. It's amazing to me that this is a debut novel, as the way the story weaves together over time is complex but accomplished masterfully in Jackson's hands. Not everyone can combine otherwise ordinary words into beautiful sentences, lovely language reminiscent of rivers that you could watch move along for hours on end. Yes, this is a story of the South, and those who are not Southern may not recognize the truth behind the characters that Jackson draws. I find them to be people who reflect the time and place in which they live, and I would love to find myself living with them, if for just a while. They may not be perfect (though Burr comes pretty damn close), but most of us aren't. I just love getting to know them anyway--even Lena's mama, who never recovered from her husband's death--and being part of it for as long as I can. I've had the pleasure of meeting Joshilyn and learning about how she lives with her characters for years before she attempts to tell us their story, and that totally shows in her writing.

View all my reviews

Review: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jenny Lawson is hilarious...that's the first thing to know about her. The second thing is that she's full of differences--and who among us doesn't have some?--but she's brave enough to share hers. She deals with anxiety and depression issues along with rheumatoid arthritis and a host of other issues that I don't even remember. I don't remember them because they're simply a part of who she is, but those things don't define her. They're part of her, she owns them, she is open and up front about them. But she's also funny, smart, knowledgeable about human psychology, a mom determined for her child to have the best of her childhood without the pain, and owner of some pretty funny cats and dogs (who else would name her cats Ferris Mewler, Hunter S. Thomcat, and Rolly, and her dog Dorothy Barker?), who she dresses up for Halloween. And she has a mouth to beat the band. I'm grateful that she would be out there saying "yeah, I have issues, and I'm okay with that" but mostly, I'm busy laughing. You can't read her stories and not laugh as well. The audio isn't available yet, or I totally would have listened to it, as Jenny's narration of her first book made it even better. One note: This is Jenny's second book, and it focuses on her experiences with all these issues. Her first book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, is more of a memoir, describing her childhood in Texas. She lived in a small, rural town and is the daughter of a taxidermist, so there were parts of this memoir that were entirely too honest about things that happen to animals, and I had to kind of move quickly through those. I think she herself is kind to animals, but fair warning that there are some graphic descriptions, particularly in the first book, that are difficult for people like me who are extra sensitive about animals.

View all my reviews