Supergirl Mixtapes

May 07, 2013 BAYA Librarian rated it 3 of 5 stars

After years of asking a bout of depression is what finally gets Maria what she wants; her father and grandmother agree to let her live with her mother in New York City. Maria’s mother Victoria is so amazing, she is an artist and she lives for the music and the scene on the lower east side and her much younger boyfriend is in a rock band. Ostracized at her new school she begins skipping and exploring the city. She soon discovers that there is a seedy side to everything, and things begin to spin o...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Supergirl Mixtapes is about 16 year old Maria and he want for something more. She lives in a small town in South Carolina with her dad but where she really wants to be is with her mom in New York City. Her dad reluctantly lets her go to visit her mom. Maria thinks she will find new and exciting adventures in NYC. Upon arrival she starts a new private school, travels the city, and learns all about the music scene. Maria soon finds out that NYC is not all that it is cracked up to be through other...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have mixed feelings about this book. I flew through it. The story is interesting and I cared about the main character, Maria, almost right from the word go. I wanted to know what had sent her fleeing from South Carolina, I wanted to know more about her childhood and how the time around her parents divorce went down, and I really wanted to see how she was going to pull it all together. Then I finished the book and I was surprised at how much I found myself NOT liking the book, and I couldn't fi...more I have mixed feelings about this book. I flew through it. The story is interesting and I cared about the main character, Maria, almost right from the word go. I wanted to know what had sent her fleeing from South Carolina, I wanted to know more about her childhood and how the time around her parents divorce went down, and I really wanted to see how she was going to pull it all together. Then I finished the book and I was surprised at how much I found myself NOT liking the book, and I couldn't figure out why. The writing was good, the characters made sense, there was a good story arc, so why was I so turned off? It actually hit me a few days after finishing the book. Here's what I discovered.

It's not that I didn't like the book, it's that I didn't like some of the people in the book. Not that they were written poorly, in fact the opposite is probably true- they were written too well. I actually hate them. So you know, really well done Ms. Brothers. By the end of this book I cared so much about Maria, and so deeply disliked the choices other people (specifically her parents) made, that I was legitimately angry when I finished the book. As if these characters were real people I could go give a talking to.

SPOILER ALERT (do not keep reading if you don't want to ruin the book)

Here's my issue. For a start I like when there are good parents in YA, at least one. Or a good parental figure, but that is not always realistic. I felt like Maria's story was very realistic, and it's unfortunately one about a girl who really doesn't have any great adult role model to turn to. There were so many bad choices that the parents (and grandparents) made in this story that I wanted to reach into the book and smack them. For instance... who in their right mind sends their daughter, who is a known cutter and who just had a meltdown, to live with her absentee mother in NYC who just happens to be a known drug addict. Not only is Maria allowed to go, but at no point does anyone even try to prepare her for what she might find! They give her vague warnings- like her mother "might" not be able to take care of her. I get that Maria (and any teen really) needs to figure out some things for themselves, but i felt like I needed to throw the poor girl a life line. Here's what I wanted to happen... her Dad would say something like "Honey. I know you want to go live with your Mom, and I'm going to give you that chance, but there are some things you need to know. She has struggled with addiction for years and she may not be winning that battle now. You need to be prepared for what you might see when you get there." and then Maria would probably say something to effect of "I'm 17, not 7! I can take care of myself. Just because you don't love her anymore doesn't mean she not my mother" or something equally teenagery. Point being the girl needed a heads up, so that she was at least marginally prepared for what she was going to find.

Of course I know that if Maria had better parental units this story wouldn't work. Which is why I struggled with the my feelings on this book. So well written. Such a good story, even if it is a bit tragic. Maria has pretty great friends (I might love Dory) and she has her head on her shoulders about as well as can be expected. I just wanted to physically leap in the book and start banging heads together! Which is all to say that this is a very good book. You will grow to care about, and hate, the characters. And that's not something that you can say about every book. (less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Majibookshelf Juhina & Farah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read any reviews of "Supergirl Mixtapes" before, so I really didn't have any expectations for it. I just started, and hoped that it would entertain me. Judging by it's creative cover, I immediately thought that it was going to be about music, but honestly, it was more that that. Maria, the main protagonist, leaves her dad to live with and visit her artistic mother in New York. Her mother, Victoria, is a crazy woman with a really young boyfriend. I really felt that was weird, judging by...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Sally Kruger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Maria was born in New York City but moved to South Carolina when she was two. Her artist mother headed back to NYC when Maria was four. Since then Maria has been surrounded by her father and her grandmother and their views of how awful her mother was.

After a rough breakup with Brian, Maria convinces her father she should move to NYC and get to know her mother. Her grandmother pulls some strings and invests considerable money to get Maria enrolled in a fancy private school, and Maria is on her wa...more

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May 14, 2012 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Meagan's books are a learning experience for me, as I'm quite a ways from being a young teen, and my young generation was a good 30 years prior to hers. However, there's a commonality to every generation, in that teen years are a confusing, frequently rough and tumble learning ground, and some of those biggest struggles are with your own sense of self.
That being said, it's a pleasure to dive into her words and discover that which is both familiar (in feelings) and alien (fashion, music and art t...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Krystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: will-trade

Maria has led a safe life so far. She doesn't know why her mother up and left when she was younger, but she knows she has a reliable, dependable dad. When she is finally allowed to live with her mother, Maria decides to use her newfound freedom to the fullest. With her mother there, but still acting a little odd and a little absent, Maria does not have any guidance. Her life with her mother is the majority of the story. Maria meets her mother's very young and very good-looking boyfriend as well...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Maria can’t wait to escape from her small southern hometown. Things have been going downhill for a while, and Maria is starting to feel like everyone she could count on is going away. She feels like she needs to get out of there too, so her father’s permission to visit her estranged mother in New York City is a blessing. And so what if the big city is a little scary and maybe a little too much for Maria to handle on her own? She would gladly brave the subways ad busy streets in order to see her...more Maria can’t wait to escape from her small southern hometown. Things have been going downhill for a while, and Maria is starting to feel like everyone she could count on is going away. She feels like she needs to get out of there too, so her father’s permission to visit her estranged mother in New York City is a blessing. And so what if the big city is a little scary and maybe a little too much for Maria to handle on her own? She would gladly brave the subways ad busy streets in order to see her mom again. But the more time Maria spends with her mom, she starts to question whether her own mother would go so far for her. It’s been great going to concerts and being immersed in the local music scene, but it hasn’t been so great learning the dirty little secrets Maria’s mom tried so hard to keep hidden. Maria will have to figure out what exactly it is she’s looking for in New York City—and whether she can find it—before it’s too late to turn back.

Supergirl Mixtapes is a wonderful character-driven coming of age novel. Maria is a vivid protagonist who is motivated by her love of music. Music isn’t necessarily what completely defines her, but it plays a huge role in her everyday life and is sometimes just what she needs to get through the day. Brothers does a fantastic job developing Maria’s character and the backdrop for her city adventures. It took me a little while to realize that Supergirl Mixtapes was set in the 90s, but once I did, it was really easy to get into the rhythm, so to speak, of the story. I was actually surprised that I didn’t feel let down by the ending of the story, because the plot comes in around in a full circle. I’m usually irritated when its seems like nothing really happened. But this just further goes to show how invested I became in Maria’s character, because that’s where all the real growth happened. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed or appreciated reading about an episode in a character’s life as much as I did in Supergirl Mixtapes, and I thank Brothers for that.

Supergirl Mixtapes will be enjoyed by fans of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert, Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly, and Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com (less)

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Apr 26, 2012 Chrystal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 50-book-challenge-2012, young-adult

I was super excited when I saw this available for review via NetGalley - the cover was so reminiscent of my childhood and the story sounded fabulous. A teenage girl devouring all that New York City has to offer, what more could I want in a book about music from my teenage years and growing up?

I really wanted to love this book, but I have mixed feelings about it. It had such promise to me, but some parts just did not live up to the expectations that I think I had for it. I liked Maria's characte...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Jac (For Love and Books) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley, ya

I picked up this book for the title and cover, for most people my generation a mix-tape brings back fond memories. I didn’t really feel like the blurb gave many details about the book so I wasn’t sure what to expect, and unfortunately the first 100 pages dragged and dragged for me. I put the book down at one point expecting to DNF, although I ended up finishing when I was caught with no wi-fi and no other new books downloaded on my eReader.

I didn’t find the characters especially memorable, as I...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Travis Haight rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The funny thing I kept on thinking about this book is that, despite the fact that I began reading it because it is about music, and is loaded with music references, I had kind of an idea that either the book would be super light on plot, or would be so rife with cliches that it would doom this one to the purgatory of crappy, vapid, teenage dribble. And quite frankly, I was not ready to read another book that suffered the same fate as Danielle Joseph's SHRINKING VIOLET, which I wound up giving tw...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Christen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: music-fiction

I admit the cover of this book grabbed me right away. What music fan wouldn't want to read a book that looks like this? Luckily the story was good too. I had a hard time deciding how many stars to give it, but I did overall like the book.

Sixteen year old Maria is finally given the chance to stay with her enstranged artist Mother in New York City. Maria's mom left her family when she was younger and her father has been hesitant to let Maria stay with her. When Maria enters NYC, her life becomes m...more

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May 14, 2013 Claudia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I hadn't read anything about the book when I picked it up at my local library. I liked the cover (nostalgia for mixtapes) and the synopsis on the cover, and that's about it.

Starts off slow. I had already considered putting it aside but then it started to pick up - mind you, that was already 100 pages or more into the book (2/3?). The name of the protagonist just felt 'wrong' and I couldn't really relate to any of the characters. The mother was very immature (I guess that was the point), her boy...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Waiting For Wentworth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Supergirl Mixtapes has been on my tbr for quite a while, and I finally had the chance to read it, only to be really disappointed. It was just sort of blah. Nothing really stands out about it. It almost makes me sad to say that, but there you go.

Though it is never said outright, Supergirl Mixtapes is set in the mid 1990's. It features a lot of different music, and tons of talk about musical artists and lyrics, but none of it was very interesting to me. It's not the sort of music I have ever list...more Supergirl Mixtapes has been on my tbr for quite a while, and I finally had the chance to read it, only to be really disappointed. It was just sort of blah. Nothing really stands out about it. It almost makes me sad to say that, but there you go.

Though it is never said outright, Supergirl Mixtapes is set in the mid 1990's. It features a lot of different music, and tons of talk about musical artists and lyrics, but none of it was very interesting to me. It's not the sort of music I have ever listened to or cared about. But I could have gotten past that and enjoyed the book for what is was if the story and characters had been more compelling.

The protagonist, Maria, lives with her father after her mother abandoned them years earlier. Maria has a few problems (that were totally glossed over) and her father and grandmother allow her to move to New York so she can get to know her mother. I never really connected with Maria. I couldn't relate to her or her situation, and I couldn't find it in me to feel sympathetic towards her. My main problem was that Maria had no internal thoughts or dialogue, so I had absolutely no idea what she was thinking or feeling the entire book.

I didn't really like any of the secondary characters either. Maria's mother, Victoria, was very immature, and at times I wondered who was the daughter and who was the mother here. Victoria's much younger boyfriend, Travis, was intriguing at first, and I had high hopes for him. But he turned out to be just another character that I couldn't relate to. I also found it hard to believe that everyone Maria is close to is equally enthusiastic about music.

Not much happens for the first 3/4 of the book. I kept reading thinking that surely something major would be happening soon, but it never did. Maria muddles through living in New York and having a mother who is self-absorbed. All of the action takes place in the last 1/4 of the book, and Maria gets all of the pieces to the puzzle that is her mother. The ending was a bit of a letdown to me because it lacked a clear resolution.

This story really had promise, and I would have liked it better if Maria had more of a personality that came through on the pages. Even though Maria was the narrator, the author didn't give us any motivation for the things that Maria did. Without knowing what Maria was thinking and feeling, it was difficult for me to summon any sympathy for her and her situation.

This is definitely not one of my favorite reads. Even though the book is written very well, I found the characters and storyline lacking. If this book sounds like something you might enjoy, then go ahead and read it. Hopefully you will like it more than I did.

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Jan 15, 2012 Lisa Nguyen rated it 4 of 5 stars

The reason why I picked this book is because I was loving contemporary at that time. I still do, I'm trying to read more of those cutey book. This book was okay for me. I like it but I don't love it. I want to love all the contemporary i read. It's just a feeling that I have to love it. I gave this 4/5 because I wasn't really into it much. I hate her mom. :)

First Chapter: Maria never met her mom before...or was it never stay with? I don't know, I forgot sorry! Anyways, Maria think it's time for...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Jen Downing rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, high-school, fiction

Debbie Harry Sings in French is one of my favorite teen books and the author does a great job following that up with Supergirl Mixtapes, a story about Maria, a girl who goes off to NYC to live with her mother whom she hasn't seen in years. What I most adore about this book is that it takes place in the 90s, when I was a teen, so I got to relive some of my teen agnst through it. I'm a bit weirded out that this, technically, could be considered historical fiction. I do realize that the 80s just ex...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Stephanie A. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-ya, girl-protagonists

A deeper and more nuanced novel than I expected from the cutesy cover. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this: a nostalgic look at New York in the nineties, an older soundtrack, an isolated teen with a self-injury-branded-as-suicide-attempt past that doesn't really have an impact on her present state of mind, a long overdue reunion with a mother who acts like a teenager but who isn't a villain, and said mother's 22-year-old boyfriend, which is exactly as much fu...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Estelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-new-releases, ala-2012, young-adult, new-york

Review first featured on Rather Be Reading Blog

“Because it’s New York fucking City and it’s the coolest city in the whole world.”

When I was younger, my best friend (at the time) and I would make mixed tapes for each other by recording songs from music videos on VH1 or MTV. I distinctly remember setting my mini boom box on my TV stand and pressing record. In Supergirl Mixtapes, Maria receives tapes from her best friend, Dory, who is in college. The tapes are full of strong female performers as we...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Britt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Entertaining with a few simple twists that place it one small step above the usual "young girl in a new city" story. Astrid leaves S. Carolina after an "incident" (never really fully fleshed out) causes her grandmother and father to believe that she would benefit from a change in scene. Why they think her alcohol and drug addicted mother is a good choice as a new guardian is beyond me, but it makes for interesting reading. Astrid navigates NYC and the relationships she builds there with believab...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Bonnie rated it 2 of 5 stars

When Maria was six, her mother, Vic, abandoned her family. Now, at 16 and struggling with depression, Maria has convinced her father and grandmother to let her move in with her mother in New York City. Maria's excited to be in a big city, to get away from her stiflingly small town, to see her favorite bands, and most of all to see her mother again. However, after spending 12 hours in the train station waiting for Vic, it's immediately apparent that Maria isn't in for the fun reunion for which sh...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Jade Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I decided to read this book i think that i was expecting something a little bit more fun and happy. Seriously, got it very wrong, Maria is one messed up teen and her life is also messed up. this isn't a happy musical book at all, it's grungy and grimy and whilst I did like it I may not have chosen to read it at the time that I did if I'd known that. There isn't a real plot to it, it's really just a story of Maria's self-discovery.

I really liked the characters in this book, Maria was very be...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Nicola rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, mental-health

In Supergirl Mixtapes, we meet Maria, a young girl who has decided to move to New York City to be with her mother who she hasn't lived with for a long time. She was bored with her old town and was sure New York would bring great things to her life- even though her mother has never been very responsible and didn't help raise her. I was excited about starting this one. The cover with the cassette on it is very cute and gives off a fun vibe.

I have mixed feelings about this book, though. I liked a l...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Angel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-release, 2012-dac, contemporary, henry-holt, ya

Posted on Seashell Reviews at Mermaid Vision Books!

Say the word "mixtape" and my inner 90s child is immediately lost in raptures of joy, while teens today might just answer you with "huh?" Likewise, Meagan Brothers's story isn't one that will connect with teens growing up in the age of iPods and Spotify, but it does resonate for us readers who fondly remember the days of CD releases and radio taping. The early 1990s comes to life in Brothers's writing style, and I adored both the setting and the...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-ya, netgalley-arcs, ya, not-in-the-library

This review originally appeared here at Tripping Over Books

I was instantly attracted to SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES by Megan Brothers because of the cover. It’s just so retro! It reminds me of how many cassette tape singles I used to have. But if I thought that SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES was going to be something a little lighter and fun with a big helping of music nerding, I was not quite on the mark. Megan Brother’s debut is a different kind of contemporary, one that focuses on a more serious thing and sets ab...more This review originally appeared here at Tripping Over Books

I was instantly attracted to SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES by Megan Brothers because of the cover. It’s just so retro! It reminds me of how many cassette tape singles I used to have. But if I thought that SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES was going to be something a little lighter and fun with a big helping of music nerding, I was not quite on the mark. Megan Brother’s debut is a different kind of contemporary, one that focuses on a more serious thing and sets about righting it, which is absolutely fine. I liked Megan Brother’s debut well enough, friends, but I also got this really gritty, weird, punk-snob vibe from this book that isn’t always my favorite thing in the world. And while I liked Maria and was really satisfied reading her story, there were other things about this book that, for me, are some of my personal thumbs downers.

I’m just going to start with a little gripe: Maybe it should have been a BIG, NEON-SIGN clue that SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES wasn’t a CONTEMPORARY contemp when I saw the cover was an ACTUAL CASSETTE TAPE. But for some reason, I had no idea until I started reading and puzzled things out that it takes place in the 90s. Maria talks about Kurt Cobain’s death (I still remember this CLEAR AS DAY, btw), wears JNCOs (OHMYGOD I can’t even begin to describe these), and her mom practically DIES from cringing over the possibility of needing to move to *GASP!* Brooklyn, a decrepit, outer-borough hell full of UNCOOL things (HA!). It bothered me that the time was never explicitly stated because for a little while in the beginning, I was very confused. Little grip over.

Now, Maria, our main character, was a good (good as in good character, not necessarily a “good girl”), very real young girl. She feels stifled in her small, Southern hometown where she lives with her dad, and decides that, after an incident involving a boy (this got short-shrifted, I thought), she needs a change of scenery. Her dad and grandmother let her move to New York City, MECCA of stifled young people everywhere, to live with her estranged mom. I liked reading about Maria trying to figure out what she wants and where she wants to be. She doesn’t always make good decisions, and sometimes that can go either way for me, but Maria making some missteps felt very genuine to me. Maria wasn’t living it up in the city, being crazy; she was struggling and testing and thirsty to learn things. Sometimes I wanted to shake her, sometimes I wanted to hug her, but I enjoyed reading about Maria and her imperfections.

Her mom, on the other hand, is one of those moms who drives me nuts. Like, who’s the parent here and who’s the child? I have a personal beef with moms who want to be their daughters BFFs and so they foster this weird, irresponsible kind of relationship that basically absolves them of any real adult-like responsibility. SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES has exactly that kind of mom. I have bad–indirect but bad–experience with it. So it’s really impossible for me to read about Victoria without being REALLY irritated. Maybe it will be different for you guys, but I really kind of hate it when mom’s give up on the responsibility of having kids just because it cramps their style, and that’s totally how I saw Victoria DITCHING her little family and running off to NYC to hang around with musicians, ignore her family, paint, and live like a free spirit. Such bullshit to me. Victoria does wind up having a real issue that affects this, but still. GROW UP LADY, AND NO THANK YOU FOR RUNNING OUT ON YOUR KID. But like I said, it’s one of my personal bad buttons. I can certainly see how Maria thinks her mom is THE COOLEST, at least at first.

But you get this feeling that Maria’s mom wants them to be twins almost. Or that she can’t imagine that her own flesh and blood wouldn’t DIE over Patty Smith albums when, really, all Maria wants to do is figure out her own thing. (SIDENOTE: I don’t like really any of the music that Megan Brothers uses as the focal point for SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES. The whole late 70s-early 80s NYC punk thing might be some of my least favorite music to listen to in the whole world, and I got this DISTINCT feeling that some of the characters would judge me because I don’t fangirl The Ramones. Not really a cool feeling.) I started to feel like, if I was Maria, I would be just as suffocated by my mother’s almost-pretentious, pre-hipster elitism as I had been by living in a middle-of-nowhere, slow, boring Southern town. I felt sad for Maria when she realizes that her mom isn’t as awesome as she always envisioned.

In the end, SUPERGIRL MIXTAPES by Megan Brothers was a good book, guys, that had a likable but realistically frustrating main character. While I’m not a fan of the music in this book, you can tell that the author probably is. The passion and the knowledge is fun to read, even when I feel the characters judging the fact that I have The Grateful Dead on my iPod through the pages. I wish the ending had a little more meat on it, or that it had come a few chapters later. And there’s a WEIRD and kind of predictable thing that happens with Maria and her mom’s boyfriend that really made me cringey. But you definitely get the sense that Maria has changed and grown and seen the real world, and I can always get behind that. (less)

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Mar 14, 2012 Melissa (Book Nerd Reviews) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Firstly, I absolutely adore the cover of the book and it was entirely the reason why I requested to read this book!! Whilst music was an integral part of the story, I personally was a little disappointed. As the story is set in the '90s I think I expected some '90s music of the time to be featured more heavily in the book, but instead it was all rock bands from yester-year (nothing wrong with that, but not my style of music!).

Supergirl Mixtapes took a little while for the plot to build up and so...more

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Feb 12, 2012 Jessi Larie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: prettiest-covers

From my blog Auntie Spinelli Reads

I gave this book 2 stars (it was ok) even though it wasn't ok for me because I didn't really like it at all. But there wasn't anything fundamentally wrong with it except for the simple fact that it just wasn't for me. There was pretty much nothing happening for the first 3/4 of the book except a bunch of music jargon - all stuff about bands/singers I either a) don't like, b) don't give an ass rat's about, or c) have never even heard of. So all the talk about mus...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Rabiah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-contemporary-challenge

Originally posted at: http://iliveforreading.blogspot.com/2...

Supergirl Mixtapes was a fabulous read, super short, and was quite fast-paced. It had TONS, and I mean TONS, of music, most of which I'd never heard of. What I loved about this novel was that it sheds a light on punk rock New York, the streets and less glamourous side. And isn't the cover absolutely gorgeous? So original and immediately caught my eye.

Maria is our protagonist in this story. I liked her, she was a really great character...more Originally posted at: http://iliveforreading.blogspot.com/2...

Supergirl Mixtapes was a fabulous read, super short, and was quite fast-paced. It had TONS, and I mean TONS, of music, most of which I'd never heard of. What I loved about this novel was that it sheds a light on punk rock New York, the streets and less glamourous side. And isn't the cover absolutely gorgeous? So original and immediately caught my eye.

Maria is our protagonist in this story. I liked her, she was a really great character. However, I felt that she could have been more stronger, to stand up for herself, and not give up. But of course, it's her faults that make her a great character!
Why is it in YA fiction that the mom's are the absolute worst? It seems that in books I've been reading recently, the mom's have just been the downfall to the novel. Maria's mom is no exception. I hated her from the start and knew she was gonna be a disappointment. 'Nuff said.
I liked Travis surprisingly, more at the beginning than at the end, yes, but overall I found him to be the nice and supportive character. He's funny, and sometimes can be really sweet, and he really does look out for Maria. I liked Gram as well, but I couldn't really connect with him. Nonetheless, he's still a great character.
And we finally come to Nina. I sort of wish my grandma was like her. She's smart, edgy, and totally knows how to take care of someone, I'll tell you that. I found that I connected with her character easily, and she was probably my favorite throughout the novel.

What I found interesting was the flashbacks to Maria's past. We get a glimpse of her life in South Carolina, and what made her move to New York. It's wonderful seeing it all piece together in the end, to form a whole picture. This mystery side to the story really made me engage with the story and want more :)
What I also enjoyed was seeing Maria adjust to her life in New York. I felt so sorry for her! She was bullied for her background in a snotty, private school and it sure made me glad (but sad for her of course) that I wasn't in her place.

Overall, I found Supergirl Mixtapes an entertaining novel– there's certainly never a dry spot. With music and secrets, the book truly comes alive. With characters you'll love, or characters you'll love to hate, Meagan Brothers has written a fantastic coming of age novel which pre-teens to adults will enjoy. (less)

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Apr 23, 2012 Reut (reutreads) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally reviewed on reutreads, a young adult book blog.

Supergirl Mixtapes was a really fun read that I would best describe as eclectic. The setting of the book--1994 New York City--was an amazing choice for this book. I love the inclusion of music in my books and this one does it effortlessly, as you might guess from the title. Music is a huge part of all the character's lives and it blends in really nicely.

I really liked the plot of this book. Like real life, there are secrets. There's betra...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Mery St. Clair rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 07, 2012 Lori (Pure Imagination) rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I first heard of Supergirl Mixtapes I knew that I had to read it as soon as possible. It takes place in the 90’s and there’s a lot of focus on music. Those are two elements that I adore in any book. So I was very excited. Then I started to hear some very mixed opinions about the book. I’ll admit that I kept moving it down on my TBR after that. Finally, I decided to give it a chance…and I kind of loved it.

I can see where some readers had issues with it, but I was pretty much hooked from page...more When I first heard of Supergirl Mixtapes I knew that I had to read it as soon as possible. It takes place in the 90’s and there’s a lot of focus on music. Those are two elements that I adore in any book. So I was very excited. Then I started to hear some very mixed opinions about the book. I’ll admit that I kept moving it down on my TBR after that. Finally, I decided to give it a chance…and I kind of loved it.

I can see where some readers had issues with it, but I was pretty much hooked from page 1. Maria had an interesting voice. She was very unhappy and going through a rough time, but she wasn’t whiny at all. The book starts out with Maria arriving in NYC to live with her absentee mom. Her mom is crap but Maria thinks the sun rises and sets with her. Needless to say, she is very naive, but to me it was totally believable. What child doesn’t want to have absolute faith in a parent. I wish Maria would have had a more concrete resolution with her mother, but once again the way it played out felt realistic to me.

The 90’s element really isn’t as big as I thought it was going to. There’s are a few mentions of Nirvana and Jnco’s but that’s about it. The music mentioned was mostly from the 70’s and 80’s. I went into the book expecting to love those elements and I did like them, but what I really ended up loving was all the Southern elements. The book takes place in NYC, but Maria is from a small town in South Carolina. She meets up with a boy that’s also from a small SC town and he throws SSK –Smart Southern Kids– parties. They have fried chicken, greens, biscuits, and sweet tea. It’s awesome. Really, I adored all the southern elements of it. I really also adored Gram. He was funny, sweet and smart. He also wasn’t the muscle obsessed jock type that seems to be prevalent in YA contemp. It was refreshing.

This book is not at all the light-hearted fun contemporary that the cover might suggest. It really deals with some tough issues like drug addiction, unhealthy relationships, lying, and neglect. My biggest problem with the book is a lot of these issues are brought up but not resolved. I can definitely see why this would drive some people crazy, but I was able to look past it just because I thought the story was so interesting.

I recommend giving the book a chance. I loved it but not everyone is going to. I suggest going into it with an open mind. It’s also a very, very fast read!(less)

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Supergirl Mixtapes

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