They can't all be the Sasaki and Miyano novels. That's probably not an entirely fair standard to hold light novelizations of manga series to; Kotoko Hachijo is an unusually good mimic of Shō Harusono's writing style and tone. It's also, arguably, an easier task, given that those stories are basic BL slice-of-life in the modern world. There's no research required outside of the original series. That's not the case with SPY×FAMILY. Original creator Tatsuya Endō has built a surprisingly in-depth world based around Cold War-era Germany, and that means that along with capturing the characters, light novel author Aya Yajima also has to dig into the setting and period. None of this is to say that Yajima doesn't pull it off, but rather that although they do their best, the overall feel isn't quite the same as the manga or anime.

It can be felt in the first story, an Anya-centric tale set on a school trip. Eden Academy is taking its students on a two-day, one-night camping adventure, and Loid thinks this is the perfect time for Anya to become better friends with Damian. Anya's into it too, until she completely forgets about it, and even though her dad has pulled strings to ensure that Damian and his cronies are in the same small group as her and Becky, things go somewhat less than smoothly. Where Anya's psychic gifts work well as a plot device in the speech bubble style of manga or with the voiced narrative of anime, in prose format, it feels a little clunky, which is the main issue here. Despite the use of italics for thoughts, it's hard to get a solid foundation for the humor, and reading about the faces Anya makes isn't quite as good as seeing them. The story is still fun, and Damian and Anya's interactions are always entertaining, but there's a real sense of something lacking that pulls this story down.

The second Anya-driven story fares much better, and I'd call it the strongest in the book. In this story, which is told from Yuri's perspective, Yuri ends up having to spend his day off babysitting his niece, something he is less than enthusiastic about. He decides to take Anya to the local in-world version of a children's museum. Still, it turns out to be much more than he was bargaining for: unlike most children's museums, this one is strictly formatted to have kids and their accompanying adults act out real-world jobs. There's a wide variety of professions to choose from, but Yuri is in no way prepared to play. The fact that he's oblivious to Anya's talents also adds to the story's fun, and watching an unsuspecting adult who has never spent time around little kids be gobsmacked by her play-acting is fantastic. The story also allows Yuri to be more of an actual person – yes, he's still a raging sis-con, but we see a little more about why he's that way and what's going on beneath his mildly insane exterior. Yuri is holding Yuri back, and we get a glimpse of who he could be if he grew up.

Loid's characterization is another interesting piece of this book, albeit one I'm not entirely sure I agree with. Yajima's Loid feels more calculating than his manga or anime counterparts, and he appears to be actively stopping himself from being a real father to Anya when we see inside his thoughts. While this does make sense and is a fair interpretation of the character (at least pre-volume ten, which is the setting of this book), it also feels a little jarring. Even in his thoughts in the manga, Loid seems more taken aback than distant regarding Anya, as if his "Loid" act is always on the verge of becoming more real than "Twilight." That's absent here, and while it makes sense in the Franky narrated chapter, it feels a little awkward in the one that gives the volume its title.

We don't get much of Yor in this book, which is a shame, although one that's true of many of the original manga volumes. Franky's chapter is a much more bittersweet romantic adventure than we typically see from him, and while that may not sit well with all readers, it does work. Yajima's writing is readable and flows smoothly. The book is at about a middle-grade level, both in terms of vocabulary and the actual content – assassination and spycraft are both mentioned but not present in the text. However, I wouldn't call SPY×FAMILY: Family Portrait a must-read; it is a fun addition to the franchise, and that's all that it aims (and needs) to be.