This is the rare book that makes you stop and wonder, rooting for the characters, and truly feeling a connection with the narrator's voice. It's a bit of a mystery at first, who the writer is and to whom they are writing. But as the letters and journal writing unfold, we find that the narrator themself is learning who they are and where they fit in among peers and relationships.

So often people want to define us or fit us in a box, but in Self Portrait, the very idea of defining oneself can be nearly impossible if we are still figuring that out. I related so much to the emotions, longing and confusion of my tween/teen years, and I really liked the way there was so much acceptance among friends. Even the way bullying occurred was shown in such a true-to-life way and that sometimes kids can be cruel, and what they don't understand they tease.

The words are written like a poem, and it is a gift to read this book. I loved the final revelations of the book and the way that Jip realizes who they are in such a wonderful way. This has been my favorite YA book I've read this year!

I highly recommend this book for high schools and libraries.

I think this is the most unique self-discovery narrative I’ve certainly ever read, and really captures feelings that so many trans kids don’t yet have words for. I think this has so much potential to change the lives of the children whose hands it falls into.

I had to recheck what this was labeled as, and I’m not sure if teen / ya is that appropriate, a lot of the writing style here is very juvenile. Made it very hard for me personally to get into the book when combined with first person.

At the 30 page mark I noted that "despite being labelled YA, I think the writing style feels more middle grade [right now] but I'm still early on so hopefully that changes" and honestly it definitely did pick up more YA further on but I still couldn't connect with the main character or the writing style like I hoped. The main character just felt fairly naive and juvenal which I think added to my assumption that Jip was younger than he was at first. I understand obviously I am reading the translated version so maybe some of the author's intent was muddled a little with the English translation as unfortunately happens with some texts but that being said I do think the grammar and language seemed well translated. The story was just told in a bit of a confusing way for me to keep up with, which I'm sure was probably intentional but unfortunately took me out of the story too often and then I struggled to get immersed again. It's told through unsent letters to a boy in Jip's class which is an interesting framing device and I'm sure deeply relatable for some but as I said made it difficult for me to keep up with the story. When I was immersed it was because the writing was very vivid and deep in it's descriptions but of course that was over shadowed by my distractions from the framing device. However the overall queerness of the story was beautiful and so important! Queer stories definitely deserve to be told and for that I'm glad to have read this book even if I didn't thoroughly enjoy it! It helped of course that the book was short but did still manage to feel complete which is an achievement in itself for books like this. I did also like the little illustrations included that directly linked back to the narrative (but as an illustrator myself I may be a little biased there haha!).

Overall, I know this book is for someone out there but unfortunately that someone just isn't me. But that being said, for a debut novel this is very impressive and I truly hope the author continues to write more stories like Jip's as I know there is an audience out there ready and waiting for this book and other's like it. So if that's you then please do not let my experience taint this book for you!

"It was more like something went wrong inside my brain. And you know, I've felt this way more and more since falling in love with you."

Oh, sweet, sweet Jip. There is nothing wrong with your brain. And hardly anybody knows the most magical people on earth are those who identify as one thing, and survive as another, just like fireflies.

True to how it was presented and described, Self-Portrait is a beautiful, warm, and aching coming-of-age story tailored perfectly for YA readers. Through intimate, unsent letters to a boy in class, we feel Jip’s longing. Not just in teen love, but in their search for identity, their strained relationship with parents, and the quiet turbulence of discovering queerness. Volbeda captures it all with grace and aching precision.

I’d highly recommend this to anyone craving a soft queer story that feels like a hug (or a gentle punch to the heart). The writing is vivid, niche, and deeply relatable, like reading pages torn from a diary you forgot you kept, hid, or refused to ever put on paper for fear of it being true. And the illustrations? The cherry on top.

Shoutout to the translator, too, for preserving every tender nuance!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!!

This was so sweet. My heart really felt for Jip's story and their journey to discover more about themselves. I also really enjoyed how creatively this story was told through letters and art. It felt introspective and unique, but never crossed that fine line into confusion or overwhelming.

A very introspective book that sometimes blurs the lines of art and (twilight) dreams and reality. The letter-writing was a great way to tell the story, and I love the way art and drawings worked to guide readers through the story and to a culmination with the self-portrait. It's very short but still felt a little meandering and a bit too dreamy at times, which isn't my personal favorite style choice but I could see working for others.

Self Portrait tells us the story of Jip a teenager that loves beetles, and is trying to figure themselves out.
I really enjoyed how this book was written, it was extremely sweet and I found the writting style interesting and quite reflective

Awww this was such a cute book .
Jip was a sweetie .
I really enjoyed this but , it was adorable.
A really nice coming of age queer , teenager teen story.

I loved the bug jip had as a pet . Or was that metaphorical . I didn’t quite know but maybe it was obvious and I just wasn’t paying attention.

I adored this book so much and loved the drawings.

I quite loved how this novel portrays growing up as a queer individual and mixed media in books are really one of my forever favourite way of writing.

Self Portrait by Ludwig Volbeda is a phenomenal coming-of-age story illustrated through unsent letters and graphite drawings.

Volbeda's prose is masterful. The reader sees all angles of the narrator, Jip, as they stumble through their youth. Their experiences--unease, fear, uncertainty--feel effortlessly genuine.

Jip's struggle with their art assignment--a self portrait--becomes a central and internal conflict which has no clear answer until the end of the novel.

This book offers a truly poignant account of growing up transgender or queer, and how difficult it can be to understand the source of unease with your self-image. As a transmasculine reader, I felt particularly seen by this novel. Jip's internal conflict is not clear and tangible--it eats away at them over time and becomes the root of issues which aren't clearly understood.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone, but I'm certain that parents and queer youth will benefit the most from reading it.