Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
Published by Greenwillow on May 30th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, YA, Young Adult
Goodreads

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 received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, this does not influence my thoughts on this book or this review.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to read this book but I am so glad that I finally did! I really liked Made You Up so I am so glad that Zappia’s second book did not disappoint.

Eliza only feels comfortable when she’s online, as LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a super popular webcomic. When she meets Wallace, a guy who looks like a jock but turns out to also be a huge nerd, she realizes she finally may have a fandom friend IRL. But the problem is that as she gets closer to Wallace, she realize that separating her online identity from her offline one may not be as easy as she thought.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Eliza and Her Monsters. As an almost 500-page contemporary novel, I was sure that it would be really intense and while that was somewhat true, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I found this novel quite enjoyable. It didn’t feel too long and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I really loved Eliza. I found her struggle to relate to people offline very relatable, though I don’t think my experiences quite align with hers. I think that many people will be able to relate to her, or at least parts of her struggle. I also adored Wallace. He’s almost too perfect that it almost seems unbelievable that someone like that could exist but his life isn’t so perfect to the point where he seems entirely fictional. It’s an interesting duality but I really liked him. All of the characters and the setting just felt so real that I am definitely finding myself looking forward to Zappia’s next novel.

Overall, Eliza and Her Monsters was a phenomenal novel and I highly encourage contemporary readers to pick it up!