What I struggled with:

Despite a strong concept and story elements I typically enjoy—queer self-discovery, developing friendships, standing up against library bans, artsy protagonist—I failed to truly connect with the characters, storyline, and writing voice of MALLORY IN FULL COLOR. Although I understood Mallory’s struggles with expressing herself around different people, it didn’t altogether ring true.

I think this was partially because the aspects of the setup which made me believe that Mallory acting in this way were truly necessary were virtually debunked by the end. For example, the conflict between her friends made me believe some of their friendships would fall apart if Mallory was authentic, and the anger they felt upon discovering Mallory’s comics about them was legit. However, the ease with which all of them accepted Mallory felt almost anticlimactic, making Mallory’s anxiety appear misplaced rather than legitimate. I appreciated the happy ending, but the book’s execution made it feel like a middle-grade friendship version of the infamous miscommunication trope.

What I liked:

That said, I think middle schoolers who are struggling with the same need to people please as Mallory will connect with her and find the ending reassuring rather than flat. Her introduction to Noa, who is nonbinary, and the backlash over drag queen story hours and other public library events also provided a thoughtful and realistic introduction to gender diversity and homophobic/transphobic attitudes.

Mallory's interactions with her friends also felt very authentic, and I could really relate to the complex feelings surrounding conversations where she felt like she needed to perform and be someone other than herself to be liked, supportive, and a good friend.

In short, although I don’t think MALLORY IN FULL COLOR will become a favorite of most outside of its target audience, I think it’ll both be enjoyed by and helpful for the middle schoolers it’s written for.

3.5 stars, rounded up

**FYI - NetGalley has this tagged as Comics, Graphics Novels, Manga, but it is a middle grade novel. There is a page of sequential art from Mal's webcomic before each chapter, but the rest of the story is prose.**

Hands down the best middle grade novel I've read in a long time. Mallory is a pre-teen trying to figure out who she is outside of her people-pleasing tendencies. As pressures from friends, family and school grow, Mal avoids dealing with her problems by lying, bottling up her feelings, and channeling her real feelings into her webcomic that she isn't even allowed to have. When Mal starts ditching swim for comic club, she meets Noa, a non-binary teen who seems to truly know themselves. As their friendship and feelings grow, the toll of Mal's juggling act catches up with her. Mal must be honest with everyone to learn how to be honest with herself. Something I really respect about this book is how Elisa Stone Leahy incorporates the reality of queerness in youth - even before youth can define themselves they start hearing messages that who they are is wrong or too much or not for the public - and when they try to just be themselves it comes with hatred from complete strangers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Quill Tree Books for a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, this was just a good book. I don’t know if it was the writing or the sweet story, but it was never far from my mind. I liked the representation of a queer kid trying to figure out their identity in an environment where it’s safe for them to do so; where they have queer and trans friends to turn to and family members who they know will support them. However, that’s not to say there isn’t transphobia and homophobia surrounding her, as most of the book centers on her local drag queen storytime becoming national news due to controversy and subsequently being canceled.
The way that the comic pages and art in the story show Mal exploring her identities as a queer Korean American child was really well done, and I love how the cover of the book connects back to this with her self-portrait in the story. Mal spends the majority of the story trying to be who everyone wants her to be to the point where she loses track of herself and feels a disconnect from how everyone perceives her. Mal screws up a lot, lies to a lot of people, and says the wrong stuff sometimes, but she does genuinely act like a middle schooler, and I feel like these are middle schooler things to do. This book was so middle school in a way that didn’t make me cringe, but was moreso funny and nostalgic to me. Her brothers were also so feral and funny. I feel like this author just understands children and tweens in a way that I don’t get from a lot of middle grade books, and I can’t really put my finger on why. I think it would be excellent for queer middle school kids read this book, and it makes me happy that this will surely happen.
I think the main part that took me out of the story was the mom’s monologue in the end ending with her saying a line about Mallory being in “full color,” which struck me as a last ditch effort to include the title of the book in the book in a way that didn’t feel organic or natural. I do also think that the tag on NetGalley of this being a graphic novel threw me off because there are only graphic novel pages in between each chapter, so it’s basically a novel with illustrations, which is still cool. There was also a friendship in the book (with Fiona maybe?) that never felt resolved other than Mal recognizing that she didn’t like how she acted around her and then I don’t think she really showed up again, which felt like a loose end, but wasn't too big of a deal. I adored the book overall.

DNF, I will not be providing feedback as this book is listed as a graphic novel and it is not. It is a chapter book