Reviews - Girlmode: A Graphic Novel

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314 reviews for:

Girlmode: A Graphic Novel

Paulina Ganucheau, Magdalene Visaggio

3.76 AVERAGE

jazzyjbox's review against another edition

4.75

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

akarently's review against another edition

2.5

fast-paced

I have some pretty mixed feelings about Girlmode. On one hand, the art and style were absolutely gorgeous—definitely earning stars just on that basis. The representation was also a highlight. Seeing a trans protagonist like Phoebe was great, and the inclusion of a queer side character added to the diversity in a way that felt natural and important.

However, there were some major issues that really held me back from fully enjoying the story. One of the biggest problems was the repeated use of the slur dyke in a derogatory way, which felt completely unnecessary and unaddressed. It didn’t sit right with me, especially given how other forms of discrimination and transphobia were handled within the graphic novel.

Speaking of which, I had a hard time with the way Mackenzie was written (and she probably had the most character development too). Her general hostility toward men—painting them all as just wanting to hook up with girls—felt weirdly out of place. I also struggled with Phoebe’s intense obsession with having a boyfriend. She moved across the country, but her priority was immediately finding a guy to depend on? It felt like a disservice to her character.

And then there's Ben. Oh boy, Ben. He started off awful—love-bombing Phoebe after hanging out once and acting like she owed him something. And instead of improving, he objectively got worse. The fact that he outed her publicly and literally slapped her was horrifying, yet the story just moved on without any real consequences for him. Why was that brushed under the rug? It made me so uncomfortable.

Mackenzie’s treatment also felt inconsistent. She was the popular girl, yet somehow the entire school ostracized her for yelling at Phoebe? Even though Phoebe had pushed someone into a pool and called them a slut for dating her ex—a guy who, let’s not forget, broke up with her because her arms were too toned?! The logic behind these conflicts just didn’t add up.

That said, I did like the friendship that developed between Phoebe and Mackenzie, and Mackenzie’s growth arc was one of the stronger aspects of the book. Phoebe’s relationship with her dad, though brief, was also really touching.

Ultimately, Girlmode had a lot of potential, but the way it handled toxic relationships, transphobia, and misogyny often felt rushed or even dismissive. It had its moments, but the lack of consequences for harmful actions and some problematic messaging left a bad taste in my mouth.

wrenwood_'s review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ollieyapsalot's review against another edition

3.75

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Maybe it’s because I read this in an hour that this book felt kinda funny to me.

I rarely read books about trans characters despite myself being trans, so reading about a trans character is always refreshing

Okay, the plot was kind of weird to me. It was pretty funny, but not really structured, in my opinion. Which is completely fine, it works in this scenario where it’s mostly about our main character navigating highschool. It wasn’t supposed to be cohesive, which is fine.

Characters were super fun to read about, even if all of them pissed me off at some point, lol. Kind of off topic but I LOVE the artstyle it’s really fun and vibey.

Setting was also really fun and vibey, loved it.

Themes? Honestly it was kind of a mean girls situation, and I liked that.

I also liked the ending, I was worried it would go in a direction I didn’t want it to but it thankfully didn’t.

Overall, pretty solid graphic novel! Super fun messy teenage girl drama with a trans fmc, I loved it.

Content Warnings

puellamaris's review against another edition

3.0

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

indigo_fox's review against another edition

3.25

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The art is really beautiful, the coloring too. It was probably my favorite thing about the book. The characters had a better fashion sense then I will ever have, it's always nice to see what people can do with clothes. I just dress like a gremlin. Sometimes a character's hair would be doing some magical flowy nonsense, that was a bit distracting but pretty to look at.

The characters were okay. The only really memorable ones were Phoebe and Mackenzie. The side characters were very one dimensional and their interactions often felt forced. Phoebe's character arch could have been handled better. Most of the time it felt like she was just there, a doll to move the story along. I wish we could have explored more things with her, there were some plot threads that were mentioned but never resolved.

Mackenzie's arch was more interesting. Although, I thought her story was going somewhere that it ultimately did not. Her bit of transphobia felt forced too, like it was introduced just to add conflict to the friendship. There were some plot points in her story that never really got explained either. It left me confused about some of the things she said.

I expected some characters to have more meaning than they actually did.

I'm not a fan of how they used the D-slur so casually.

Again, the art was the best thing about this book. Although it is cool that there is more stuff featuring trans characters, that wasn't something you could find a lot of when I was a teen.

Content Warnings

onf's review against another edition

4.25

i liked this a lot! a lot of complaints i see about this regard the slurs used, and the transmisogyny - both overt and underhanded - dealt with in this book. i find this to be refreshingly realistic, in that way? kids are often just assholes. combine that with the setting of high school, and of california in general, and you're gonna have a good amount of shitheads. that said, i really enjoyed this story, and i find its elasticity in rollercoaster-type feelings about characters to be great.