Book Review – Eliza and Her Monsters

I read Eliza and Her Monsters due to a secret TBR which you will know all about very soon.

“Eliza Mirk is the kind of name you give to the creepy girl who clings to her ex-boyfriend for weeks after he’s dumped her because she refuses to accept that he hates her guts.”

About The Book 📚

Author: Francesca Zappia

Publication Date: 2017

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Suggested Reader Age: 13+

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Goodreads Link

My Review

› Eliza and Her Monsters begins during autumn in Indiana. On the internet Eliza is known as LadyConstellation, secret creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. She’s extremely successful and has earned enough money selling merch online to pay for college, but no one in her “real life” knows, not even her parents.

“I didn’t make Monstrous Sea to be a phenomenon – I made it because it was the story I wanted.”

Eliza is an introvert who thinks school is something to get through. She says she doesn’t have a friend because she’s weird. Max and Emmy are Eliza’s online friends. They help moderate the chat and website for Monstrous Sea. She thinks of them as her truest friends. Max is a Canadian teacher and Emmy is a Civil Engineering Major.

A new kid named Wallace comes to Eliza’s school and sits next to her in homeroom. She discovers he writes fan fiction about her webcomic…but…she decides to keep her identity a secret. Wallace is a big guy who moves slowly. He hardly ever talks, so he and Eliza communicate mainly through notes and text messages (even when they’re sitting next to each other). Eliza is trying to deal with her anxiety, busy finishing her last year of school, creating the ending for her webcomic, questioning her future, and nervous about her new relationship with Wallace.

“You found me in a constellation.”

Eliza has a lot of self-doubt and that’s one of the reasons why she keeps her identity as author of Monstrous Sea a secret. I could relate to her in such a real way because I have started writing a couple novels and am struggling with the idea of anyone else ever reading them.

“There is a small monster in my brain that controls my doubt. The doubt itself is a stupid thing, without sense or feeling, blind and straining at the end of a long chain. The monster though, is smart. It’s always watching and when I am completely sure of myself, it unchains the doubt and lets it run wild.”

› Likes 😻
• I loved the writing style and the characters.
• Eliza and Wallace’s relationship is adorable.
• It’s refreshing to see a YA book with positive parental models.

› Dislikes
• I didn’t really like the ending.

› Final Thoughts
• Eliza and Her Monsters is about feeling included and seen. It’s also a great representation of anxiety and depression. Highly recommend!

About The Author

“Francesca Zappia is the award-winning author of Made You Up, Eliza and Her Monsters, and the serialized novel The Children of Hypnos. She is represented by Louise Fury of the Bent Agency. She graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics, and currently lives in Indiana. She spends her free time drawing, playing video games, and baking.

She looks mean, but she’s actually a ball of floof on the inside.”
https://www.francescazappia.com/about

You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @ChessieZappia