Review: The New Girl by Kid Toussaint

The New Girl by Kid Toussaint

Recommended: for sure!
For a cute friendship story with a twist of family drama, for some (possibly accurate?) insight into Dissociative Identity Disorder, for a flavor of Inside Out with the different personalities that come out, for gorgeous art to render a potentially complicated problem

Summary

Elle is just another teenage girl… most of the time. Bubbly and good-natured, she wastes no time making friends on her first day at her new school. But Elle has a secret: she hasn’t come alone. She’s brought with her a colorful mix of personalities, which come out when she least expects it… Who is Elle, really? And will her new friends stand by her when they find out the truth?

Thoughts

I saw this book a few times and was debating reading it, but I figured it would be pretty much like that movie inside out and didn’t really want to bother reading a story I felt like I would already know (despite the fact that I haven’t actually seen that movie…). Finally, I read a couple of reviews and several people mentioned that it’s more focused on dissociative identity disorder and other personality things like that rather than just being a characterization of emotions in general. Frankly, that’s what sold me. I was hoping this would be fun, and creative, but also a way that mattered a little bit more and could give people insight into those that need it.

I can’t speak so much to the depiction of the experience of dissociative identity disorder or anything else someone might peg l as having, but it was a lovely read. My one main issue with it was how quickly it glazed over Elle’s first few months at her school. It was the comic equivalent of a training montage. While it was sweetly planned out and formatted brilliantly for the medium, it was a little jarring because they all knew each other super well after it, but I didn’t as a reader.

I’m curious as to where the story is tracking with her family history element, but I’m SUPER curious about Ms. Blue at the end. I’ll definitely continue reading this series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!