Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy Eliza and Her Monsters after reading one of Francesca Zappia's other books a while back and loving it. I think that Francesca's writing and story telling abilities have grown so much since her last book because I think that Eliza and Her Monsters is even better than I Made You Up. 

There were so many things that I enjoyed about the story. I thought that the web comic portions of the story were well done and it added to the story. I felt that there was so much of Eliza in her comic that it paralleled her story extremely well. I would love for the author to have Eliza's web comic as a separate book so that I can read it. The ideas behind it were so creative and I don't think that I have read anything like it. I know that a lot of readers would probably argue that this book is too much like Rainbow Rowell's book Fangirl and say that Franesca is coping her if she were to make Eliza's web comic into a book but I don't care. I didn't really like Fangirl. I think that this book is far and above the better book of the two. I think that Francesca does a better job of portraying severe anxiety in teens. 

I loved Eliza and Wallace as characters. They were so different in such a beautiful way. Their struggles were real and to someone who doesn't have anxiety the characters may not make sense because they have the hardest time just conversing with people. I loved the growth that I saw in each of them regardless of it being in baby steps. I liked that nothing was perfect by the end of the book because it felt closer to real life. People don't adapt and change drastically in every day life. It was interesting to see how Eliza's perspective changes over the course of the book and her eyes are opened to the world around her. There was a point where I didn't like Wallace at all because of something that he said and the way that he acts and I'm not sure that I got back to a good place with him by the end of the book. 

There is one thing that I have to speak about concerning the book because I know that my friends are waiting to hear my opinion on it. There has been a lot of debate in our book club regarding Eliza's parents and if they were in the right or in the wrong with their parenting of Eliza. I had this on my mind the entire time that I was reading and the conclusion that I came to is that there is not easy black and white answer. Eliza's parents clearly don't understand her. She is different from their other children and doesn't have much in common with either of her parents. It's clear from the first chapter that they are flying blind when it comes to her and even at times try to fit her into their family mold to make it easier for themselves. I felt that was wrong. She should be allowed to be her own person. She interacts enough with other people on a daily basis that don't accept her and she doesn't deserve that at home. I understand what that is like. I have pulled away socially many times in my life because people saw me as weird or awkward. It becomes easy to think "No one will except me for who I am and I don't want to change who I am to make other people more comfortable or make myself more likable". 

On the other hand, even though her parents push her or pull away from her at times they are still there. I think that they have interesting character arcs as well because it is clear that they grow and change along side Eliza. I appreciated this because the other was letting us know that none of the family members were perfect and that change needed to be discussed and worked on together. I think that it is important to note that they kept trying regardless. Could they have tried harder? Absolutely! I think that is what the author is trying to get across. We all need to try harder with other people. It may seem easy to judge someone and say they are weird but you don't know what they are going through or who they really are. They may be really creative or funny if you just give them the chance.