Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Jukebox

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2021

Interesting idea but is a little all over the place and uses Black people and their music as props for the main character’s story. There’s an uncomfortable scene with a hungry, seemingly unhoused person. Random mentions or themes of bisexuality, dyslexia, and hearing loss don’t smoothly tie into the story. This book tries to do too much and doesn’t succeed on most levels. You can skip this one.

7 people found this helpful

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S. Thygesen

So good, I had to buy a second copy

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

Nidhi Chanani always puts out great work,, and this is no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed this outing and recommended it to a friend for her daughter. Her daughter loved it so much, I had to go out and get myself a second copy: I'm never getting that first one back!

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Dr J ReadsTop Contributor: Poetry Books

Inviting and wonderful

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2021

When I first heard of a new book coming from Nidhi Chanani, the author and illustrator of Pashmina, I was overjoyed. Jukebox is an inviting graphic novel experience, told in this creator’s visual style. It is an exploration of music and identity through words and pictures, and even through time and place.

As the pages unfold, Chanani takes us into Shahi’s world, revealing character to us through dialogue and even wordless pages. There is life, emotion, anxiety, and loss woven into this human story, all with music homage throughout the pages. There is also a magical turn in the book that works well for the overall narrative and opens up new possibilities, allowing the reader to travel through history. This move affords lots of opportunities for classroom conversations and directions for learning more.

Jukebox is visually appealing, well-developed in terms of story, and a beautiful introduction for readers who have not experienced the transformative and transporting qualities of musical voices like Bessie Smith, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, and more.

4 people found this helpful

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Sunny

Fun Story for YA Audience & Adults

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2021

Jukebox opens up new worlds that stretch the imagination. I enjoyed how deftly the graphic novel weaved music, art, pop culture, and family dynamics into one adventure. I felt like I was just a few steps behind the cousins and eavesdropping as their relationship blossomed through each new challenge. You have a good sense that the girls will find Shaheen's dad but an unexpected plot twist at the end was a fun surprise. It's a great story for the target age group to read on their own but I can easily picture an older sister or brother reading the book aloud to younger siblings - and of course letting their eyes linger on the action-packed panels. I highly recommend Jukebox as a great summer book list read before school begins.

5 people found this helpful

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Kenya Starflight

Fantastic premise botched by weak story and art

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2021

I really wanted to like this graphic novel. The premise was great, and so much could have been done with it. Sadly, said premise feels under-utilized, and the story is too weak and jumps all over the place too much to do it justice. And while great art can often save a lackluster idea when it comes to graphic novels, here the art feels mediocre rather than anything special.

When Shaheen's vinyl-obsessed father goes missing, she ropes her cousin Tannaz into helping her look for him. Their search takes him to his favorite haunt, a used record store... and into the attic, where the girls find a mysterious jukebox. And they discover that this jukebox has the power to send its listener back in time! But there are limitations -- they can only go to the period of time when the album they're listening to came out, and they're sent back home the moment the album is over. Can the girls find Shaheen's father before the music runs out?

The concept of this book is great, and its central premise -- linking music to eras of history, historical events, and activist causes they're tied to -- is a fantastic one. Sadly, the book just barely scratches the surface of that concept, and instead gets bogged down in a lot of fluff. We could have had some great insights into how music is intertwined with history and activism, but instead we spend a lot of asides talking about Tanneez's medical history, a weird interlude with a homeless man, etc. Little is done to show us we're in another time period, either, save to dump in a huge amount of slang (some of it feeling extremely forced). And the ending feels thrown together at the last minute, without much setup and solely for the purpose of ending the book with a conflict to resolve.

The artwork isn't the greatest either. It's nicely colorful and isn't terrible, but it looks more like something you'd find doodled in a notebook than professional quality. And it's just terribly bland-looking, and does little to portray the various time periods the girls end up in.

"Jukebox" is a case of great premise, bad execution. I admire what the artist/author was trying to do, but it feels like a case of promising a lot and under-delivering.

One person found this helpful

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Utopia State of Mind

loved the idea of time travel and friendship

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2021

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

Jukebox is one of those graphic novels where I can't get over how fun the premise is. Not only do jukeboxes bring on all the nostalgia, but the idea of being transported in time? Love it. But what I ended up loving even more was the relationship between Shaheen and her cousin, Tannaz. Chanani weaves together a story about friendship and family. Jukebox is able to both touch upon the dangers of time travel, and the ways we can't steal from history, with conversations about family and regret.

3 people found this helpful

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bookreaderme

Enjoyable book with forgotten music

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2021

I had been waiting for this book since it was announced. Received my copy on June 25th and could not put it down. I love Pocky in the book. Love cousins love for each other. Wonderful to incorporate love for American music by Bangladeshi immigrants which is overlooked by most. A little magical twist to imagination is awesome. Being an immigrant myself and not too much in music, this was a start or me to understand American music, I also love that publisher has the link to all the music in Spotify. High five to the author/illustrator

Highly recommend it

2 people found this helpful

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Steve RammTop Contributor: Classical Music

Graphic Novel with a bit too little action for me but “check marks” various music genres

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2021

Graphic Novel with a bit too little action for me but “check marks” various music genres

Nidhi Chanani is an 41-yeart-old Indian-American freelance illustrator and artist. Her debut graphic novel “Pashmina” was released in 2017. I have not read it but came to this book because of the “music” angle. I’m a music journalist.

As you will see by other reviews of this book, many read it because they are fans of her earlier book. I like graphic novels and I liked the graphics here though I though there were many pages with no text that were just there to fill space.

I don’t know where Chanani obtained her music knowledge from (and it’s not revealed in her bio) but obviously she is anchored in the last 35 years of pop music. When she covers blues she “name checks” Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Bessie Smith and 30s pop singer Ruth Etting as well as 21 century singers like Janelle Monae and Alicia Keyes. I expected Miles Davis for Jazz but surprised she was aware of Alice Coltrane (husband John didn’t make the “Playlist” of 20 specific recordings).

The story line of lead character Shaheen trying to find her dad after he went to his friend Otis’ used record store. She is accompanied on the search by her friend Shaki They get inside the store (though locked) and find a “jukebox” that plays LP records (not 45s) and are taken back in time to places like a juke joint when playing Bessie Smith and the March on Washington for Marvin Gaye’s hit “What’s Goin’ On” Eventually they find the father but it takes 210 pages of colorful illustrations,

The best illustrations – at least for me – were the pages depicting the original cover art on the records mentioned.

Maybe if readers not familiar with some of the songs on the “Playlist” they will seek them out on Youtube or Spotify and learn more about them. I’m glad I read the book but I can’t give it 5 stars.

Steve Ramm
“Anything Phonographic”

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Kalyana C Gummadam

Visually stunning and an educational book

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2021

Jukebox was a beautiful story. It was captivating and full of mystery. More importantly, it provided a lovely platform for the history of music. As a first generation immigrant, I do not have a well rounded understanding of musical history in the United States. Jukebox provided a wonderful introduction to my inquisitive seven year old and myself. This combined with Nidhi Chanani's trademark beautiful visuals and you have a graphic novel that transcends age and musical literacy. I have bought 4 copies of the book to donate to school libraries and plan on getting more to give as gifts. I highly recommend this book!

One person found this helpful

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S. Smith

Charming Romp Through Time

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2021

Finding a mystery in the attic is a surefire way to hook this portal fantasy fan! Chanani's art is always a delight. Seeing her apply it to visualizing the power of music is a treat. Jukebox is a moving father/daughter story, as well as a journey through the history of American music. Read it first for the action, and again for the details and the heART!

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5 star		63%
4 star		10%
3 star		5%
2 star		10%
1 star		12%

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