The first volume of Spy X Family by Tatsuya Endo is a mix of action and family bonding
that revolves around the Forgers, a family made up of a spy, an assassin, and a telepath. The
book starts off following Twilight, one of the best spies in his organization, WISE. After a brief
introduction, Twilight gets the mission that will be the main reason for the creation of the Folger
family. In this mission, Twilight is assigned the identity of Loid Forger, and his objective is to
approach and investigate Donovan Desmond, a major political figure that’s attempting to restart
a recently ended war. However, Desmond is known to be incredibly paranoid, so the mission
orders Loid to make a connection with Desmond’s youngest son, Damian Desmond, the easiest
person in his family to get in contact with. In order to do so, Loid needs to infiltrate Eden
Academy, a school for only the most influential and well off families. To successfully enroll in the
academy, Loid needs to create the perfect family in just a few days, falsifying marriage and
adoption records in order to make everything appear natural. In the end, he chooses Anya as
his daughter, a telepathic six year old who is meant to befriend Damian, and Yor as his wife, an
assassin undercover as a city hall employee worried at being cast under suspicion of being a
spy because of her lack of a husband. This hastily put together family filled with secrets must
pass the academy’s brutal examination and take the first steps to completing the mission in the
first volume of Spy X Family.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it was full of unique characters, comedic moments,
and well-drawn action scenes. Though Loid’s mission is the main focus of the story, the author
did a great job at giving all of the family members time to shine in their own environments and
the reader is able to see exactly what is going through the heads of each character because of
the clever use of Anya’s telepathic abilities. Most of the story is through Anya’s perspective,
which allows the reader to both see the thoughts of characters like Loid and Yor while not
constantly switching between perspectives. The comedy was on point and even made me laugh
out loud a couple of times. The action is well placed and doesn’t feel forced or unnatural for any
of the characters. The story itself is balanced and can be surprisingly serious at times, with
some interesting historical references in the background, making it feel realistic and grounded.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for some fun comedic family
times, with a touch of well done plot.