Miigweetch NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

"Full of Myself" is a poignant and witty graphic memoir that resonates with authenticity and self-discovery. Siobhán Gallagher's journey from battling anxiety and societal pressures to embracing her true self is beautifully portrayed through striking illustrations and humor-infused storytelling. The blend of relatable teenage struggles and the mature reflections of an adult creates a narrative that is both heartwarming and empowering. Gallagher's ability to navigate the complexities of self-acceptance with honesty and humor makes "Full of Myself" not just a memoir but a comforting companion for anyone on their journey to embracing imperfections and finding self-love.

I recommend this book to Elder Millennials and anyone in need of a reminder that the only two people we need to worry about impressing are our 8 year old selves and our 80 year old selves.
5/5 stars!

Everything in the pages feels so relatable. Not just the time period in which the author grew up, but the asinine beauty standards that are still enforced for woman / female presenting humans. The most interesting part to me was how her own journey aligned with the 2016 election where mine was more aligned with the 2020 election - same idiot attempting to gain control, just a few years apart. The only reason it lost a star for me was because the recovery aspect of the story seemed slightly rushed. I wish there had been some more insight into the highs (and lows!) of recovery from disordered eating. It came off slightly - matter of fact - and I know that is not the case. I know the authors journey was not linear as that is almost entirely impossible. But that’s how the end read to me.

All in all, will be gifting to friends and family even if for them to have a better understanding of myself!

Siobhán Gallagher's "Full of Myself" is a captivating graphic memoir that skillfully blends humor and heartfelt storytelling to delve into the intricate relationship between body image, self-acceptance, and the passage of time.

At the core of the narrative is Gallagher's candid exploration of her own journey—from the turbulence of teenage years riddled with anxiety and societal pressures to the self-assured adult she becomes. The author's introspection is marked by a refreshing honesty that many readers will find relatable.

Gallagher's unique voice shines through her witty comics and striking illustrations, creating a visual narrative that is both engaging and emotionally resonant. The graphic novel doesn't shy away from the imperfections and awkwardness of life, presenting a character who is as flawed and endearing as any of us.

One of the standout aspects of "Full of Myself" is its ability to balance the serious themes of self-reflection and self-love with humor. Gallagher's journey is infused with moments of levity, making the heavier topics approachable and the narrative highly relatable. The inclusion of humor adds a layer of authenticity to the storytelling, making it a delightful read for anyone navigating the complexities of self-discovery.

Siobhán Gallagher's graphic novel is part young/new adult styled graphic memoir, part first-person deconstruction of the ways women are made to feel shame about their bodies, and the consequences of that. I felt that it was a solid work, but that pacing-wise it started out strong, but it was slow in the middle especially when it examined the formation of further destructive habits and self image issues, before picking up with its positive and affirming ending which moved more breasily. The content was invaluable, but some of the patterns of the book's visual layout in the middle bog down a bit until getting more creative in the last third. it's a pretty fantastic book if you can make it through that slower middle section, though.

Before anything, I would like to thank you for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very nice book that resonated with my core and made me feel less alone in my thoughts and experiences.

The messages are beautiful and I completely agree with them. I wish I could let go of my fears and free myself like the author has done. Maybe one day.

It wasn't a perfect read, as I pointed out in my cons list, but overall this book is beautifully written and drawn, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

**Pros**
* The aesthetic is on point. I loved the colors and the designs. Even the table of contents is beautiful.
* Even though this is a memoir, it has such nice storytelling and compelling lessons that you don't need to know who the author is at all (my case).
* I related to many things in this book. The anxiety, the NYC passion when I was younger, the eating behavior, the body image problems... I felt seen.
* There were so many nice quotes I wanted to highlight, as well as a lot of cool scenes I wanted to print out and hang on my wall.
* There is feminism and fat acceptance throughout the whole book in an educative manner that is interesting for people who already know and for people who don't know about these topics.
* I like how the book acknowledges that the experiences shown are from a white, straight-sized, able-bodied, cisgender woman and obviously don't represent everyone's experiences.
* I love how it is shown that even after finding love, the problems with body image and disordered eating can still affect relationships.
* It is also really nice the addition of the fact that living in your dream city and having your dream job won't fix all your problems.
* The ending made me cry. Which I always love.

**Cons**
* At a few parts, especially in the beginning, this book didn't feel like a comic to me, with long texts and explanations. That is fine, but it's not what I expected when I picked up a comic to read.
* The sections of the book (despite the 4 bigger parts and the chapters) are not very defined. Sometimes I had to double-check that I didn't skip a page because the scenes would go from 0 to 100 out of the blue and completely change the subject unannounced.
* At some points, I felt like it is trying too much when it comes to flowery advice and explanations of concepts. It never went too in depth, so sometimes things feel shallow and just there for the sake of being there.

This is a wonderful book. It is one I hope every person reads. It shows what it is to be female; what it is to be human and in a kind, loving way. The content is important and the graphics/illustrations powerful. Lots of food for thought in this, but presented in a very relatable and approachable way.

This one's for anyone who has ever experienced body image issues and had difficulty fitting in.
Yep, that's exactly for me.

This is the first ever graphic memoir that I have come across and Siobhan Gallagher does a wonderful job in tying up her personal experiences with larger topics that plague the society like body shaming, pseudo-feminism etc.

Highly relatable, fun and never preachy, this can easily be the best friend of most teens. Even at 30 plus years of age, I felt seen and wished to have read this before.

This was indeed a great read.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC.
I totally loved this book, and felt like it was telling my story.

Siobhan Gallager knows how to talk about body trauma in a funny (not funny) way that I truly loved.

This is the book I needed to read at 13, but now at 39 it reallly it my heart, because even at this age i still strugle sometimes with the fatphobia and body dysmorphia.

While Reading this amazing graphic novel, I laughed out loud but also wanted to cry. I hope a lot of girls an women get to read this amanzing and necesary book.

Growing up as a kid taller than my peers and who developed earlier than them, I too was a mid-sized kid surrounded by messages about how women's bodies should look and act and struggling with many of the same issues as this author. (Gosh... some of her style choices can be found in my old high school and college photos--it was wild.) Siobhan wrote a super relatable, thoughtful commentary that managed to be both authentic/experiential and academic/logical as she connected her experiences to the touchpoints of pop culture, social norms and false feminism. I really loved this.

This memoir was much needed. I love that we have a graphic memoir about body image that girls can relate too. Being close to the same age of Siobhán I could relate to almost everything she mentioned. I will definitely recommend this graphic novel for not only all woman in my life but also men.

This is one powerful graphic memoir with beautiful illustrations.

DNF. It is a really good graphic memoir and I enjoy the theme! However, the wording is very jumbled and all over the place which makes it harder for me to read. I probably would come back to this another time, but it’s unfortunately not working for me right now. I would still recommend reading it if you are interested because this is just a personal issue I have and like I said, the overall theme of the memoir is great!

I feel that this graphic novel perfectly summed up the experience of girlhood in the early to mid-aughts. Siobhán Gallagher is a white, cisgender, heterosexual, Canadian woman and I am a biracial, non-binary lesbian from the United States but, despite these differences, the content greatly resonated with me to the point where I felt like I was reading my own life story with some key details changed or omitted. Gallagher’s super cute art style gave the writing some lightness that helped with balancing her commentary on some heavier themes and experiences without it being too triggering (at least, for me personally)! I can’t wait to read more of Gallagher’s work after reading this!

As I worked my way through this graphic novel memoir I felt myself relating with Siobhan more and more and felt as though I could have written many parts of this book about my own life. She touches on many aspects of growing up with body image struggles and all that can come from that including self-harm, disordered eating, struggles to find her spot in the world, much of which I found to be so relatable to my own journey in life.
Sio's narration was easy to follow and kept me, as the reader, engaged with the story and I couldn't wait to see how her life continued. I also loved the structure of the story into different segments of her life to help give some nice division and a similar layout such as seeing her wardrobe choices over those set years in that point of her life, which often matched the same styles myself or my friends wore in the same point in our lives, which let me have yet another connection to this memoir.
Anyone who has dealt with body image issues in their life and would love to see a similar story to their own would likely enjoy Full of Myself.

As a woman who has struggled with weight and dieting dilemmas , I felt this story in my bones and I was thinking wow I wasn’t the only one who did that haha. I found myself nodding along and thinking omg this lady gets me! This is such a great insightful graphic novel. It was funny and sad at times. I felt a range of emotions while reading everything Siobhan went through. I really enjoyed the illustrations, especially the clothing through the years. I will be gifting this book to my teenage daughter upon release as I too wish I had something like this honest representation of being a woman growing up.

I was immediately drawn to this graphic novel from the first blurb I read. Being a millennial of the same age, Gallagher and I share a very similar experience of growing up in the 90s and early 2000s and the subsequent body image challenges that followed us. Anyone who was an impressionable child or teen during that time knows firsthand just how pervasive diet culture and misogyny were in the media and how it affected our young minds. Gallagher does an excellent job of accurately portraying the fatphobic messaging pushed on society back then.

Gallagher’s writing and accompanying illustrations create an emotional, relatable story that made me self reflect on my own experiences. I remember the misogynist double standards and ever present male gaze that was so prevalent in tv shows and movies and, of course, how diet culture and fatphobia affected the psyche of so many young millennials. Even though these things are far from gone, it felt especially sinister back then. Gallagher speaks on how those body image struggles can continue into adulthood and just how much damage that can afflict. Though sad at times (I did cry once), Full of Myself ended on a positive, inspiring note.

I read this as an ebook, but if I had a physical copy, I would have marked my favorite pages, as there were many that stood out to me. Her drawing style matches the mood of the memoir perfectly. I really enjoyed her details, such as including her favorite outfits over the years. Gallagher’s use of shifting color schemes separated scenes quite effectively. I especially loved the analogous and monochromatic spreads.

Whether it be relatable scenarios or insightful opinions, I found myself nodding in agreement to so much of Full of Myself. One of the many things I appreciate is that Gallagher states her privilege as a cis white woman and wants to advocate for marginalized communities who experience body image in different ways than she does. I really value the progressive opinions expressed in this graphic novel.

I had an issue with her size chart stating plus sizes start at XL (plus sizes start at 0X/1X), but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Full of Myself. I would recommend it to any millennial who is victim to the media of the 90s/00s and wants to give a big middle finger to fatphobic beauty standards. Also to anyone who is working towards healing and acceptance of their body.

Thank you, NetGalley, for letting me have the access to this book.

I couldn't find things to write about this book as it took my ability to put words together. No, the book is not bad. It is sooo, so good that I am currently typing this honest review as my tears are streaming down my face.

The struggle of understanding what it is to be a woman when you were young, the memories related to food, the beauty in painful journey of growing up. It is all wrapped nicely in this book. I love flipping through the pages, finding comfort between the panels and cry over some parts that hit close to home.

The book feels like an old friend, a charming old friend. I love it.

thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeels Publishing for this ARC. 5 star review!!! i loved this. the story was funny and heartbreaking, honest and relatable. and it is fun to read a memoir in graphic novel form. i feel lucky to have read this.
“every feeling we had felt very important. and you know what? they were”

TW: fatphobia, slut shaming, self-harm, depression, anxiety, disordered eating, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia.

Thank you, NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased, honest review.

Siobhan Gallagher holds nothing back as she takes us on a tumultuous roller coaster of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Through unique, captivating graphics, Siobhan illustrates her struggles with different mental health conditions and attempts to find her purpose as a woman in today's judgmental, patriarchal society.

This is my first advanced review copy (ever!) and the first book I've read by this author (yay!), so let's dig in!

My first thoughts after reading the first 15-30 pages of the book were that I loved Sio's narrating style. I was smiling and chuckling and found her character relatable very quickly.
As I scrolled through the pages and read through her childhood and high school years, I felt fully connected to Sio and empathized with her negative self-talk, anxiety, and difficulty fitting in and finding her own voice.
Her disordered eating resonated so much with me because I've struggled with eating disorders throughout my life. Sio made me feel heard by sharing some of the darkest times of her life and it made me admire her even more as an author!

The visuals and illustrations were incredibly smart, colorful, and absolutely hilarious! I have so many favorite scenes from the book that allowed me to visualize what goes on in my mind (and everyone else's minds for that matter) which helped me understand myself a little better.

My favorite quote from the book: "They didn't disappear completely, but over time, the clouds lifted."

If you've ever felt lost or overwhelmed at any point in your life, this book is for you! Sio will make you feel comfortable and accepted as she teaches you a lesson or two about her years on this earth and the life lessons she's learned so far.

I dnf’d this at 17%. The message/content was awesome and I loved how nostalgic the illustrations were, but it just felt too dense and long for the type of graphic novels that I usually like. I might revisit this one in the future, but for now it just wasn’t working for me.

“Full of Myself” by Siobhán Gallagher

5⭐️/5⭐️

-I really resonated with this memoir, and I think a lot of women in their 30’s will too. There’s something so specific and shared if you’re a woman who was a teenager in the 2000’s. I think a lot of teenagers today would be shocked by the way the media talked about women (and girls), we were so objectified and sexualized.

-Like the author, I struggled with my body image for a long time. It’s only within the last five years that I’ve accepted how my body looks, thanks in large part to motherhood. This isn’t to say you HAVE to become a mom to accept your body, that’s just how it worked out for me; something about motherhood rewired how I viewed my physical body.

-I look back at my teenage years, and early adult years, and feel a mixture of regret and frustration at how I considered my body. I never dressed in a way that made me feel comfortable and confident, it was always one or the other. I was either hiding in my clothes, or pretending to be someone I wasn’t. I can remember dressing according to when I would eat, and electing not to wear certain things because if I ate, my stomach would push out a little, and that would be the worst thing ever. As if people didn’t expect me to have a stomach and sometimes be bloated!

-To put oneself out there and write about the events the author experienced, that takes tremendous courage. There are aspects to her story I also experienced, but have only told a handful of people.

-I really enjoyed the author’s artistic style, she did an excellent job illustrating the various stages of her life and how she changed and grew. I especially liked how she drew all of the chapter pictures, with all the little props relevant to her age.

-I would absolutely read more by this author, and I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt alone with their struggles of accepting their self image.