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A review by tmaturino
The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson
5.0
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of TLC Book Tours.
If my youngest son hadn't been sick and needed me the moment I finished this book, I'd have been a blubbery mess. I'm not even sure where to begin telling you what I thought.
Paula's childhood is the OPPOSITE of traditional. Her young mother, Kai, is as mysterious and mythical as the stories she concocts. Every time Kai and Paula meet a hardship, they pack their bags and start over in a new city with a new identity. Paula struggles to understand her eccentric mother who speaks through rhyme and art. But when Kai ends up in prison, Paula is put into foster care and the only thing she wants is to return to Kai. Even the volatile, unpredictable childhood she had with Kai was better than the group home.
In the group home, Paula is much the OPPOSITE of the other girls there. She has a mom and she's mutiracial, not fitting in initially with the white or black girls. We get an inside commentary on the foster care system and how the girls are affected throughout their lives.
The only thing that remains stable in Paula's childhood is Kai's beautiful, allegorical style of storytelling. Each story has it's base in Hindu mythology and Kai uses the stories of gods and goddesses throughout her childhood to teach Paula lessons and ultimately leave her clues about the truth she must uncover as an adult. I loved how these stories were weaved throughout the book and Kai changed the stories just enough to help Paula figure out the truth. It spoke to the bond they had, no matter how their living situation strained their relationship.
This was the first book I read by Joshilyn Jackson and what I loved was how complex and conflicted these characters were. Paula used her past to build an impenetrable wall around herself that finally has to come crumbling down. It's not pretty. She fights the change and has to do a lot of soul searching to figure out the truth of what Kai's stories held. Will it be worth the struggle or will the truth break Paula?
This review was originally posted on Mom's Small Victories
If my youngest son hadn't been sick and needed me the moment I finished this book, I'd have been a blubbery mess. I'm not even sure where to begin telling you what I thought.
Paula's childhood is the OPPOSITE of traditional. Her young mother, Kai, is as mysterious and mythical as the stories she concocts. Every time Kai and Paula meet a hardship, they pack their bags and start over in a new city with a new identity. Paula struggles to understand her eccentric mother who speaks through rhyme and art. But when Kai ends up in prison, Paula is put into foster care and the only thing she wants is to return to Kai. Even the volatile, unpredictable childhood she had with Kai was better than the group home.
In the group home, Paula is much the OPPOSITE of the other girls there. She has a mom and she's mutiracial, not fitting in initially with the white or black girls. We get an inside commentary on the foster care system and how the girls are affected throughout their lives.
The only thing that remains stable in Paula's childhood is Kai's beautiful, allegorical style of storytelling. Each story has it's base in Hindu mythology and Kai uses the stories of gods and goddesses throughout her childhood to teach Paula lessons and ultimately leave her clues about the truth she must uncover as an adult. I loved how these stories were weaved throughout the book and Kai changed the stories just enough to help Paula figure out the truth. It spoke to the bond they had, no matter how their living situation strained their relationship.
This was the first book I read by Joshilyn Jackson and what I loved was how complex and conflicted these characters were. Paula used her past to build an impenetrable wall around herself that finally has to come crumbling down. It's not pretty. She fights the change and has to do a lot of soul searching to figure out the truth of what Kai's stories held. Will it be worth the struggle or will the truth break Paula?
This review was originally posted on Mom's Small Victories