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Awesome Jones by Ashleyrose Sullivan

Thursday, November 16, 2017




Happy Thursday, My Lovelies!  Many of y'all will be holiday gift shopping the next few weeks, and I have a suggestion for anyone on your gift list who enjoys comics and/or fairytales:  Awesome Jones by Ashleyrose Sullivan, and the sequel, Lona Chang.  I'll review Lona Chang tomorrow for Literary Friday.  Both books would make excellent gifts (I've already bought them for daughter #1, but please don't tell her).

According to Goodreads:

The only thing Awesome Jones wants is to be a super hero. Until he falls in love. Despite his colorful name, Awesome Jones is a painfully average man who dreams of being a super hero, just like the ones who patrol his city. It's been that way since he was a little boy, raised by his grandfather after his parents' death. The day Jones starts his new job as a file clerk at Akai Printing Company he meets secretary Lona Chang and everything changes. Lona sees something in Jones that no one ever has and the two quickly become inseparable. But when the perfect pair's domestic bliss is threatened by a super-powered secret from the past, Awesome Jones has to make a choice. He must decide whether he should play it safe or find the strength to live up to his name and risk everything he's come to love to save the day like he always dreamed. This super hero novel is more than just a comic book in prose-it's a fairytale for adults.


My Review:

Warning:  My review is slightly spoilerish, but I think it's necessary to illustrate the charm of the book.

First of all I must totally agree with the last sentence in the Goodreads blurb above:  Awesome Jones reads both like a comic book in prose and a fairytale, and that's what I love most about it!  There's an old-fashioned feel to this book, almost a nostalgia for the comic books our parents and even our grandparents grew-up with (think 1930s and 1940s).  Awesome is an orphan, but what he doesn't know is that his parents were superheroes.  However, there isn't anyone more mundane than Awesome.  The omniscient narrator describes his average day of reading the paper (in order of preferred sections), going to work, buying flowers {almost} daily, and other minutiae of daily life.  Unfortunately, Awesome Jones lives in a city overrun with villains and superheroes, and Awesome yearns to join the ranks of the heroes.  Soon after they first meet at work, Lona Chang follows Awesome outside during a heavy downpour only to have her umbrella blown out of her hand and under a car due to the backdraft of a flying superhero.  Lona seems oblivious to the superhero which illustrates her interest in Awesome.  While filing at Akai, Lona begins to observe seemingly magical abilities in him.

It's fun when a comic story is not all about the plot, when it's also character-centered.  The characters in Awesome Jones are not one dimensional at all.  They're well-drawn, and you feel like you know Awesome and Lona.  I like how good they are together.  Theirs is a drama-free, budding romance I enjoyed so, so much.  It's so much fun to watch them train and harness their powers.  I really love one of Lona's superpowers: She never loses her place in a book.  I wish I had that one!  No dog-eared books around here!  The action builds up slowly, but once it starts, whoa, Nellie!  You'd better have dinner in the crockpot or order pizza lest your family starve.  I couldn't put it down!

I must also note that this book should appeal to most readers.  Don't let the comic aspect turn you off because there is no dark, broody superhero main character in this novel.  To me the comic aspect is the concise writing style that Sullivan crafts exceedingly well. The fairytale aspect of the book is enhanced by romance, creepy evil villains, and magic.  Readers who enjoy action/suspense will probably also enjoy Awesome Jones.   Awesome Jones lives up to his name by living up to his potential, a lesson everyone should take to heart.


Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my Literary Friday about Lona Chang!


Disclosure:

I received a copy of Awesome Jones from the writer via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.


Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill






4 comments

  1. This sounds like such a fun series! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

    Thanks for being a part of the tour!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never read this type of book, but I still enjoy reading your take on things...I'm not big on comics or fantasy, I guess I am too boring!
    Jenna

    ReplyDelete

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I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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