This was rather cute, and a nice Starfire Mandy-centric story. The art was pretty, and I loved all the character designs. It's not necessarily my favorite Nightwing design, but when he was in group shots he was always great, and his design is cute, nonetheless.

Mandy's a fun character, and reminds me of a cross between an old friend and I, and Lincoln and Claire are also lovely. The way the Titans are presented is fun, and school life is well-depicted, though I think it's a bit strange they just had the SAT in the school. When we took them, the SATs required a day off at another school where we all gathered en masse. We took the PSAT at our school, though. I think more could have gone into the line about SATs being meaningless measures of ability, but it's nice that the line was in there. They are meaningless measures of ability and colleges relying on them are stupid and probably racist.

Overall this was a cute read, and a nice little graphic novel if you like Starfire, stories focused on chubby teens dealing with fatphobia and internalized sexism (which is unfortunately never really addressed, either), found family, and people who care about each other. ( )

This was a really cute book for teens, and you don't really need to know the Titans a lot for it to be cute, but if you do, there's a lot of funny little bits. I also loved how she retained the messy goth aesthetic throughout. ( )

“We hold our parents’ hope for a new future, but that future isn’t necessarily going to be what our parents thought it would be.”

It is very realistic that some teens are self-centered, don’t get along with their parents because of irrational things, and feel outcast and full of angst. Add in the layer of not wanting to be in a beautiful, accomplished superhero mom’s shadow. With that being said, Mandy wasn’t likable.

In real life, an older Mandy would look back, embarrassed, at her younger self’s behavior. Many times (60% - 70% probably) I thought my parents were embarrassing me and ruining my life, and, now, I realize how immature I was being. Anyway, I get Mandy was a brat and didn’t communicate well, but I didn’t hate the story.

In addition, Mandy has a conflict about life after high school. She has test anxiety and does not want to go to college. Nothing wrong with that, but the topic of learning a trade never came up. Or what was the cause of the anxiety. It’s like it magically disappears. I also think it was a cliche move to give Mandy powers. And she knew how to fight and everything??? She could’ve had a Deku (MHA) model, where they have all this power built up but don’t know how to use it well or without hurting themselves. Blackfire got hands and evil in her. She not going down that easily. Like, what was that? Starfire couldn’t whoop her, but “baby just got her first taste of magic” can? Unless her first starbolt was that concentrated…

Onto positives, I enjoyed the flat artwork and Lincoln and Claire (love when the popular kids have depth or aren’t all stereotypical) weren’t bad. Starfire looked good! I love that you could see she was trying with Mandy. I also like whenever Blackfire comes to wreck everything. I think the line about the true anti-Starfire being Blackfire was fitting

2.75 or 3ish ( )

I love the art style. The story was okay? Interesting premise, basic execution and you got left with the standard questions that will never be answered. seriously who is her dad?! Why is she so short? Was her dad so short? I need answers! Also how do her powers work? Why wasn't she prepared for combat or at least basic self-defence?

Sidenote: I wasn't aware of the discourse surrounding this work. After watching Casually Comics video on YouTube discussing/explaining it I don't get it. Then again to me it's just not that deep. This story is made for new readers and it isn't part of the continuity. What is there to be mad about? ( )

Mandy does NOT love having a superhero mother, and even more the fact that people think she must have superpowers, too. Her seventeenth birthday is coming up. She's determined not to go to college, because she's sick of everyone expecting her to do things she can't do.

But her life is about to change. Really change.

Mandy is the teenage daughter of the superhero Starfire, one of the Titans. Starfire is from another planet, but she has lived on Earth since before Mandy was born. Who, exactly, Mandy's father is, is a mystery to everyone but Starfire.

Mandy, unlike her mother, has no superpowers. Her classmates, for the most part, don't believe that, and keep trying to tease and pester her into revealing the powers they assume she has. She's also dark-haired and pudgy, very different in appearance from Starfire--some of which may be deliberate. Mandy does have one good friend, Lincoln, who understands, sympathizes with, and barring her determination not to go to college, supports her "be herself, not Starfire" approach to life.

But her seventeenth birthday is approaching. One of her teachers has given the class a project, and because they always choose the same partners, has assigned them different partners this time. Mandy's assigned partner is Claire--one of the "popular girls," a girl she has a crush on, a girl whose house she had an embarrassing experience at previously, and hasn't been near since. What can possibly go right? Oh, and Mandy's mother wants to have a birthday party for her.

Claire proves to be an unexpectedly compatible study partner--and unexpectedly likable.

At least until they plan a study session at Mandy's rather than Claire's, and Claire's friends whom even Claire admits are dicks show up, and they all arrive to find Starfire holding a meeting with the Titans, and...things don't go well.

But things don't go really bad until Starfire's sister, Blackfire, shows up, and Mandy both learns unpleasant truths about her family background, and finds herself in a fight for her life. And her mother's life. A fight in which she's supposed to use the powers she doesn't have.

This is fast-paced, a lot of fun, treats the teens like real, complicated people, and being LGBTQ as just another aspect of who you are, rather than a big, hairy deal that has to be the center of the story.

I repeat, a lot of fun. And very satisfying. Recommended.

I bought this book. ( )