Review: "Full of Myself" by Siobhán Gallagher

Full of Myself by Siobhán Gallagher
Published April 2024
★★★★

Some of the messages Gallagher got growing up: Thin is better. Conformity is better. Your body is not right. You are not right.

In Full of Myself, Gallagher talks about growing up uncomfortable in her body—or, more to the point, being made to feel uncomfortable in her body—and what it meant to be a young woman in an image-driven society that both sexualizes and shames girls. The pop culture references will probably land best with millennials (why hello there), but I love the "years in fashion" pages—they'll feel retro to a younger crowd, but millennials, take note, the closet of your past is calling.

Gallagher's art style is generally pretty simple, but I really like the way she draws herself. Lots of expression in a few simple lines of the face. I wondered, reading it, how differently this book will ring for someone who is plus-size versus someone who is straight-size—it'll be relatable to anyone who has struggled with body image and/or an eating disorder, but frankly probably more relatable to people who have spent more time on...let's call it the thinner side of the American average? No criticism here, just guessing that it will feel different for someone who is a size 8 vs. a size 18.

Three and a half stars, and I'd be curious to see what sort of fiction Gallagher might come up with.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.