Think teens with special powers is an overplayed trope? Watch out for Jonesy! I cannot recommend this fun, irreverent graphic novel more.
Jonesy is a teen testing out her fledgling cynicism, hating on Valentine's day, and wishing other people were less dumb. Then she suddenly gets the power to "ship" other people. "Shipping" is pairing up two people or a person or thing in a relationship. Of course Jonesy tries to abuse her newfound Cupid powers in hilarious ways. However, she also learns a little, becomes a little less of a cynic and is honestly just a fun and refreshing character to read. Middle school kids and students will get a kick out of Jonesy and her multicolored hair, wear what I want fashion sense, and love of anime, Asian dramas and pop stars.
Jonesy is also a Latina/Hispanic character and the cast of the comic is diverse! If you feel like your school or public library is lacking in diverse characters, Jonesy is going to be a winner. There are also LGBTQ relationships portrayed not just positively, but as completely NORMAL. Important if you know any young people struggling with their identity.
The art style is bright and bold, with neon colors and expressive, quirky characters. Its a great change from darker, flatter styles, and will definitely draw the eye.
Recommended for all ages.

I wanted to love this one. The premise sounded amazing, and there is quite a bit of diversity (main character is Latinx, one of the female main characters has a crush on another girl), but I ended up feeling very disappointed.

For one, I really didn't like the main character. I feel like they wanted to make her that kind of rebel character everyone loves, but they tried too hard and ended up with a pretty selfish and unlikeable character.

I also felt like the plot wasn't executed very well. There was nothing about it that made me want to keep reading, and it felt a bit all-over-the-place.

The only things I liked about this one were Jonesy's dad, who is adorable and makes a lot of dad jokes, and the side character who has a crush on her lab partner, which was adorable. But they're not things that make me want to keep reading this series.

I'm sure there are people who would like this graphic novel, but I'm not one of those people.

Jonesy is the kind of character that I could totally see running a book blog. Or at the very least, a very active niche Tumblr account. She's a huge fan of pop music and anime, and even prints her own fandom zine that she tries to distribute to her peers. She marches to the beat of her own drum and it doesn't always go over well, but Jonesy gives it her all and always makes a statement. But the most noteworthy thing about Jonesy isn't her love of fandom culture or her unique sense of style...it's her magical power. Jonesy can make people fall in love - with people, or with objects.

Just imagine your pushy, matchmaker friend had the ability to compel you to love someone else. That's Jonesy. And as I'm sure you can imagine, it's a surefire recipe for some crazy drama. But underneath the over the top antics is a really creative and fun narrative. From Valentine's Day to Prom, Jonesy tells readers directly all about her most loathed topics. She's also very vocal about her love for ferrets, her dad's donut shop, and the pop-star Stuff. It's all super cute and sweet, and it feels like a very genuine glimpse into the kinds of things that occupy the mind of a teenager.

Another win in my mind is the fantastic representation in JONESY VOL. 1, which features people of colour in all facets of the story and celebrates women of colour in particular. Jonesy herself is Latina, and her oldest friend Vikram and her new pal Susan are also PoC. Add to that the queer-friendly vibes (Susan has a crush on another girl) and this graphic novel is a perfect example of diversity in a fun, cute story. JONESY VOL. 1 also avoids many pitfalls of YA material, as Humphries transforms Susan from adversary and mean girl cliche into one of Jonesy's closest friends. They call themselves The Secret Crush Investigation Squad and it's amazing.

If you've read any other BOOM! Box titles like Lumberjanes, then you're probably familiar with their flavour of storytelling: zany and sometimes absurd stories are the vehicle for some deeper truths about life, adolescence, identity, and popular culture. Sure, Jonesy has the ability to make people fall in love (with mixed success) and uses her powers mostly for her own purposes, but the heart of the story is about her struggle to make friends, fit in at school, and grapple with the reality of her parents' divorce. There's a lot going on underneath the surface of JONESY VOL. 1, and I think those seeking out diverse comfort reads will find great success with this story.

My only real issue with this graphic novel is the repetitive nature of the overall storyline; JONESY VOL. 1 is composed of four single issues, and each one has a "drama of the week" feel to it with Jonesy misusing her powers and then scrambling to put things to rights. I'm sure that this approach to storytelling works really well when readers are following the series with single issues, but when they're all bound together in a volume it can get a bit tiresome. That said, I do like the overarching plot of the series, namely figuring out the extent of Jonesy's powers and the b-plot following her idolization of the pop-star sensation, Stuff. I have some theories on where the story might go, and I'm excited to see how they pan out.

JONESY VOL. 1 is a clever, diverse graphic novel that's full of heart and humour. Fans of comics and newcomers alike will find something to love here!

I really enjoyed this little graphic novel collection! ('Jonesy' collects issues 1-4.) In some places, it did feel a little young at times, and a little... immature? - I couldn't tell who the audience were meant to be. Perhaps middle grade levelled students, because that seemed to be the age of the main characters. ANYWAY.

Jonesy has a really cool "superpower" - she can make people fall in love! However, her curse is that she can't cause someone to fall in love with her. It's a really sweet premise for a graphic novel series.

This book was so DIVERSE! The main character was POC, and her enemy-turned-friend best friend had a crush on a girl and it was taken so smoothly! Like, "Who's your crush?" "Uh, that girl over there..." "Oh, cool! We need to get you guys together. Like, ASAP."

Basically, the whole thing was adorable and loveable and I'm so glad that I read this book. I will definitely be picking up Vols. 4 --> if I get the chance!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC. :)

If you've read any of my previous comic reviews, you know how much I love comics that are about ladies, by ladies. I'm not sure if this is co-written by a woman, or if she is just the illustrator, but I think it's crucial that comics about women have women on their creative team! And this one does!

Jonesy is a quirky story about a teenage girl who has the ability to make people fall in love with anyone or anything, except her. It's a fun read, with a female friendship that I assume will get even better with time. It's diverse! Jonesy is Latina and her best friend is a black lesbian. Her other friend is also a POC. All in all, i'd recommend it to fans of Lumberjanes and Giant Days. Or anyone who is just getting into comics. I loved it!

Enjoyable story and great artwork, but I wasn't engaged enough to continue with subsequent volumes.

Jonesy is a typical teen with a weird power: she can make people fall in love with anything. Except herself. Jonesy is forced to work towards her secret crush the old-fashioned way while creating all sort of mayhem and mischief with her super special powers.

For those who loved Lumberjanes there is a very similar style of humour present in Jonesy. However the emotional bonds, character development and overall plot is much weaker. Jonesy is light fluff with very little real plot. It’s very light fare and doesn’t have much going on below the surface. Which can be good for people who just want something funny if Jonesy is your sort of humour.

One of the things that really brings the score down is the protagonist. Jonesy is a selfish jerk and not one that is easily loved. Jonesy uses her powers to caue problems for other people and only occasionally shows a glimpse of humanity to avoid hurting her friends. Characters can be bad and selfish whiile still being likeable but at best Jonesy is annoying. She’s very “not-like-other-girls” in her rejection of everything everyone else likes and just generally irritating.

There is a lot of diversity, from different ethnicities to sexualities without overtly making those characters seem different. A crush on a girl is talked about as though it’s no different from a crush on a boy and that is important - but it doesn’t make the plot or characters more interesting.

There are people who will enjoy this book, but it’s not something I’ll be picking up in the future.

Jonesy caught my eye because the color and the style reminded me so much of the television show Steven Universe. While as far as I know neither creator has nothing to do with the show, this book has its own humor and shine.

Jonesy is a Cupid-like character who has the ability to make people fall in love with other people, things, ideas, etc. Some of these matches are much more successful than others. Many have consequences that force Jonesy to confront her view on the subject and figure out how to make things better or whether to meddle again when she has the potential to make things even worse. There's no indication yet where her powers come from, whether they're passed down from a family member or spontaneously bestowed upon her, but she's certainly making use of them since discovering them accidentally when shipping two characters on t.v.

The weird thing about Jonesy is, even though she's described in the summary of the book as being a fan of anime and a devotee of grrrl bands and 1D, I didn't really get that from her in this book. She mentions anime once or twice, watches an unnamed show once, but she never mentions anything specific about anime, like a favorite character or movie or show. It is the same with her musical tastes. The only musician that I saw mentioned was a fictional one called Stuff, whose persona is that of an alien on the planet Earth, playing music for humans. It might be a callback to an early David Bowie persona, but I didn't get that vibe either. I'm hoping her interests will be demonstrated more in future books because volume 1 seemed to be all about her powers and how she misused them.

Speaking of her misuse of power, it is this that brings me to a point about Jonesy that annoyed me during the course of the book. Her age is never stated outright, but from the description of the school and school events, like a Valentine's Day flower sale for charity or prom, it's easy enough to figure out that she is somewhere in high school. My guess would be 16 or 17. However, based on her actions throughout the book, I would've pegged her age as much lower at best without these context clues.

She acts like a sixth grader, if that, in terms of her selfish nature regarding helping her father and using her ability to make others fall in love with anyone/anything. While each chapter featured an escapade in which Jonesy screwed something up and a subsequent reversal of her opinion about said event, I can't help but feel like she's not learning much of anything yet. I feel like, if she were actually a teenager, she'd have at least a modicum more of sense in regards to these situations.

On the positive side, there is a lot of diversity in this book. The main character, Jonesy, comes from a Hispanic family (her abuelita, who appears briefly, is hilarious!). Her new BFF Ginger is not only a Black woman, but a gay woman whose love interest features in one chapter. There are other side characters that appear that have the potential to be brought forward as time goes on, including Jonesy's other friend Farid (about whom not much is known).

I might have another look at this series and I'd definitely recommend giving it a try, though I'd probably put this in the column of checking it out from the library first to see whether or not it's up your alley.

I need more Jonesy in my life. A moody teenager who hates everything, has a secret crush on Stuff (think Justin Beiber), but has the power to make anyone fall in love with anyone/thing else. It’s a color riot full fun. The comedy is sharp but still appealing, and relevant to many ages. Whether it’s working in her Dad’s doughnut shop, or trying to destroy prom, you too will fall in love with Jonesy. More Please!

Added Goodreads
Added Litsy

A super adorkable story of a real life cupid that loves donuts, ferrets and causing havoc, in the cutest way possible. Loved the story, loved the characters, dad jokes and fourth wall breaks. Can't wait to read more!

This book is adorable. Jonesy is a charming, relatable character who reminds me of many of my students, and I really like the overall candy-colored aesthetic. I can see recommending this to fans of a variety of comics: manga, Raina Telgemeier, Lumberjanes, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, etc. I'm already looking forward to Volume 2.