Spy x Family: Family Portrait (Spy x Family Novels     

Author: Aya Yajima

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: February 20, 2024

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/YA Light Novel/Comedy/208 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The best spy in Westalis is the secret agent whose code name is Twilight, his real name unknown. He is indeed a master of disguise. His new assignment concerns a high-level minister in Ostania, Donovan Desmond, who is believed to be a warmonger. Twilight must find out what Desmond’s plans are before they can come to fruition. But the man is elusive, and rarely goes out among other people. The only sure way to get to him is through the prestigious Eden Academy, which his son attends. But to do so, Twilight needs a wife and child, neither of which he possesses!  And so Twilight has become Loid Forger, and he finds a wife and child – Yor and Anya – both of whom possess skills he is unaware of. The mission is on.

Mission 1:  Anya’s class at Eden Academy is going on an overnight camping trip! While Yor is apprehensive, as Anya hasn’t been anywhere overnight before, Anya realizes this could be very important for her Papa (Anya is a telepath, unknown to both Loid and Yor, and knows about Operation Strix). Anya comes up with her own plan, calling it Operation Camp Friends. But she is also a bit scatterbrained and, by the time they arrive at camp, the plan is forgotten. Everything Anya does seems to irritate Donovan Desmond’s son, Damian. The worst comes when they are assigned to partner for a task and, thanks to Anya, they get lost in the woods!

Mission 2: Yuri Briar is Yor’s younger brother. Yuri adores Yor, who raised him since he was little and sacrificed much for him. He’d do anything for her and is very unhappy with her marriage to Loid Forger, which he doesn’t realize is fake. He also isn’t especially fond of Anya, but he really hates Loid. When Yor asks him to come over, he is overjoyed… until he discovers the reason. But he can’t turn her down, which is how he ends up babysitting Anya.

Mission 3: Franky is in the spy business, an associate of Twilight, who provides him with intel, equipment, and whatever else he might need. But he resents that Loid treats him more like a personal assistant and assumes much, including having Franky walk the family dog, Bond (who can see the future, by the way, unknown to everyone but Anya, who can read his mind).  Franky (who Anya calls Scruffy) finds himself seeing a doctor at the hospital after his last interaction with Twilight. But leaving the hospital, he gets lost and ends up in a courtyard where he hears someone singing. He follows the voice to find a beautiful young woman. Afraid to talk to her at first, he discovers that she is blind, so he grows bolder, and they begin a friendship. Considering the nature of what Franky does, though, can their relationship last?

Mission 4: Loid has to make sure his family looks like a normal family to outsiders, so sometimes they have to do typical family things. Today he is taking them to the park for a picnic. While there, they are approached by a young art student, who wants to paint them. When he tells Loid his name, Loid recognizes it at once. This young man is actually a famous artist! Loid is afraid that any painting of the fake Forger family might end up in a very public place, seen by many people, and someone just might be able to blow their cover. What is he to do?

Short Story: In a quaint restaurant in Ostania, some of the staff discuss their feelings about the customers they serve, and how appearances can be deceiving. One of those regulars just happens to be the Forger family.

This book is a novelization of the Spy x Family manga/anime.  As such, I was skeptical but I bought it anyway because, well, it’s Twilight and he is amazing (I have a little Twilight figurine by my laptop 😊) And yes, there is a lot of exposition, because the author couldn’t assume everyone has read the manga and would know everything. Novelizations don’t tend to be as good as the original by nature of being written by someone other than the author. But as I was reading, I found myself slipping deeper and deeper into the way she portrayed the characters. These are not stories we saw in the manga, so it’s fresh material, and I enjoyed them greatly, especially Mission 2, which is saying a lot because I am not a fan of Yuri Briar. Mostly because he wants to kill Loid lol  If he only realized that Loid is Twilight, well…

At any rate, I ended up really liking this book a lot and I hope they do more of these. I understand there are novelizations of other series, such as Demon Slayer and Blue Exorcist, both of which manga I’ve read. I might have to look for those. I do recommend this if you are a fan of Spy X Family.