Eliza and Her Monsters

This past Tuesday, Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia was released into the world, and you all need to get a copy. Now.I was an Eliza beta reader about a year and a half ago, and I finished reading my hardback yesterday. All the praise that I had already given the beta version? Oh, wow. Magnify that by a hundred. This book is fantastic. Here are my 5 reasons for why you need NEED to read it.1) Fantastic Characters--It's a well known fact that Chessie makes amazing, multi-layered characters, the type to delight fans of all ages (cc: Made You Up). Her characters feel flesh and blood. They make you want to cry and scream, and you get frustrated on their behalf. Chessie's attention to detail makes her characters come alive, with their own little habits and phrases. And with such fantastic characters, you're guaranteed to be engaged in the story, even if you don't always agree with what the characters do.2) Breaking Gender Norms--The romantic interest in this book is a hulk, former football player and now fanfiction writer and a selective mute, with a soft voice. The main character is a girl with greasy hair and social anxiety, and she's this super popular creator of a webcomic. Society tends to portray female creators as being Nice, Polite Women - women need to comprise, to smile more often, etc. Here, we have another story to rival that. And many of the side characters also break gender norms. I don't know about you, but I'm very pleased to have a story where the characters aren't in these flat cardboard boxes of what we expect (e.g., alpha male). This also makes the characters feel more real to me.3) The Unique Formatting--You can look at several of the Goodreads reviews that mention the photos - here, for instance. Or just at look at the EpicReads post of the first two chapters. You can see the inclusion of the Monstrous Sea webcomic pages, and the prose transcription beneath. You can see private messages between the characters - the moderators of the webcomic and Eliza, the romantic interest and Eliza. You can see forum interactions and forum profiles. Most of the YA books out right now don't have this amount of layering within their stories. Horror YA sometimes includes pictures, and other fandom related books might have some stories, some fanfiction--not to this extent, not to this level of metaness. See point below.4) Unlike Anything Else You've Read--This book has been compared to Fangirl and Afterworlds and Nimona, because every book needs to be compared to something, so you have an idea of its marketing. It's a fact of life that you build on schemas that people already have of the world. But this book is unlike anything else that you've read. You only get Cath's fanfiction in Fangirl, some of the story from the main character in Afterworlds. Nimona started off as a comic. None of these is quite the same as Eliza and Her Monsters. Here, you get the main character's creation and see how she interacts with her fans, and you see how fanfic writers interact with the creator and the fandom. You also get to hear about a series of books that she loves, too. Chessie has posted this online - the Children of Hypnos story. The main character has a drive to create after the fandom that she loves no longer exists. You have access to that story too. There's this amazing level of metaness in this story that ties so well into the themes of creation, fandoms, etc. I repeat: unlike anything else you've read.5) So Easy to Relate to--If you're reading this book, there is a good likelihood that you will relate to SOMETHING in this book. Whether it's the main character's social anxiety, the need to create, the desire to interact with the fandom, or just loving how the fandom interacts-- there is something for everyone. And you know that Chessie has interacted with or been a part of fandoms, because it shows in her writing. It shows in how fandoms a portrayed. Marieke Nijkamp wrote the blurb, "A love letter to fandom, friendship, and the stories that shape us, Eliza and Her Monsters is absolutely magical." Yes, yes, yes. A love letter to fandom and friendship and stories. Yes. 100% true.READ THIS BOOK!PS - This wonderful novel got a starred review from Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal.PPS - Here is my original pre-review: I read a manuscript of this book about one year ago to date. If you like Made You Up, you will most certainly love Eliza! Chessie brings back her trademark endearing humor in another wonderful mix of adorable romance, quirky characters, and multilayered plotting (plus the cool formatting here, which is typically reserved for YA horror, but hey, Eliza is just that awesome). I would also recommend this book to fans of Fangirl and Afterworlds.

I went into this book expecting greatness, honestly. A book about fandoms, anxiety, and being a child of the internet? You already know I can get behind all of that. Plus, a romance that forms through written correspondence? MY LITERAL FAVORITE TROPE? Sign me up! … Unfortunately, though, Eliza wasn’t quite everything I hoped it would be.“I made Monstrous Sea because it's the story I wanted. I wanted a story like it, and I couldn't find one, so I created it myself.”→ Eliza Mirk ←Eliza herself was the reason this was a 3.5-star read for me instead of a 5-star one. Literally, every single problem I had with this book? Eliza. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not unredeemable – she portrays fantastic anxiety rep that I related really well to, and her affinity for the webcomic she has created and its subsequent fandom reaches levels of love that I think a lot of us can understand. She’s immensely talented and a perfectionist to the point that she feels like she needs to work on her creations constantly, which is also a feeling I can get behind (hello, type A personalities!).“Broken people don't hide from their monsters. Broken people let themselves be eaten.”→ miscommunications & angst ←I don’t want anyone thinking I’m over here holding teen characters to unfair standards. I genuinely don’t mind when YA protagonists get irrationally angry at their families, or don’t want to spend time with their siblings, or lash out at friends and love interests… usually. Eliza, unfortunately, takes it to a new level.Her parents are a little bit inept and don’t have great communication, but it felt like the portrayal of their relationship was, in a sense, saying, “It’s okay to treat your parents like trash no matter how hard they try, because even if they try to understand you, they’re never going to!” We’ve all seen bad parents in YA, but the Mirks aren’t. They mess up, and they’re human, but they’re trying, and the biggest issue is, hands down, a lack of communication. While Eliza’s behavior is perfectly common for teens – especially those struggling with mental health issues – it doesn’t feel like it’s addressed or correctly quickly or well enough to justify its intensity.“You found me in a constellation.”→ Wallace Warland ←The brightest spot in this book? Wallace, hands down. He’s the sort of character that you peg as the love interest from the moment he walks on to the page, but it’s hard to guess that he could be so adorable and wounded. He struggles from tremendous amounts of grief, as well as PTSD, and it manifests through his inability to speak out loud around most people (which is where the “written correspondence” trope gets its chance to shine). He is caring, kind, and so lovable, and honestly deserved better than some of the mess that Eliza put him through.There is a scene towards the end of the book – I won’t spoil it, but if you’ve read it, you know the one – where Eliza gives Wallace a terrible scare, and his reaction had me unexpectedly sobbing because he is so desperately afraid of his past repeating itself before his eyes. He was easily the character that I connected the most to, emotionally, and by the time I turned the final page, I just wanted so much more time with him.“Maybe that’s normal. The things you care most about are the ones that leave the biggest holes.”→ Monstrous Sea ←One of the things I found most interesting about the book, I have to mention here: the art and snippets from Eliza’s webcomic, Monstrous Sea, that we get to see here and there throughout the story. The art was so fun, and it was a really nice touch that made the webcomic feel like a real-life thing – I half-expected that I would be able to go to the URLs listed and find a full, thriving forum there for a fandom I’d never known existed. The storyline snippets, on the other hand, I thought were a little dull, and didn’t form a cohesive enough mini-story to bother with trying to follow closely, but I’m happy I got the physical formatting for the illustrations alone.→ final thoughts ←At the end of the day, I gave this book 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 for the star rating's sake. If you enjoy books that reference internet fandoms and online friends, as well as some really solid anxiety rep, I highly recommend this book, unless you have a problem with angsty, self-absorbed main characters. If you think that’s a feature that you’d find yourself unable to get past, as I know is the case for many people, I’d pass on this one.

This is easily my favorite book of the year. It is such an intense novel that sucks you in and does not let you go until the very last page. And oh, the heartache when it's over. I cannot begin to describe the heartache.I was already a huge fan of Francesca Zappia after reading her debut novel, Made You Up, but this book surely sealed the deal. I literally read it in one sitting, and we're talking about a 400+ page book here. It takes you on an intense emotional rollercoaster ride that leaves you breathing hard and feeling slightly nauseated. It deals with so many important themes like anxiety, paranoia, suicide, grief and much more. It sheds a light on the social issues pertaining to online friends, the internet, fandom and fan fiction. Every aspect of the book is well thought out and expressed with perfect clarity and depth.Eliza Mirk is an introvert. She has no "real" friends, and no "real" ambition. She is trying to get past her senior year so she can go to university and focus on her art. Eliza Mirk is also LadyConstellation, the creator, writer, and illustrator of the very successful webcomic Monstrous Sea. It started out as a hobby, but has quickly gained a massive amount of following that made her so well-off, she could actually pay her way through university using only her savings from the webcomic, and still have a lot left over. She has two "online" friends, who are the only ones who know her real identity, and help her manage things. One manages all the bots and spam and comments, and the other manages the supply and demand of the merchandise. Eliza's whole life revolves around this comic and keeping her fans happy. She religiously sticks to schedule making sure a page of her comic series goes up every Friday. She has always struggled with her self-confidence and self-esteem as Eliza, but finds herself as LadyConstellation.That is...until Wallace.Wallace is the new kid at school, and he sits next to Eliza. He is built very big, like a football player, but he is not an athlete. He is very quiet, in fact, he does not speak, but prefers to write or text everything he wants to say. As luck may have it, he is one of the biggest fans of Monstrous Sea and is actually one of the most well-known online fanfiction writers of the series. A friendship strikes, as they find comfort in each other's company, but Eliza finds she could not reveal to him her true identity, instead telling him that she draws fanart of the series.Through Monstrous Sea, Eliza can express herself and lose herself, escaping her reality. She gets so enraptured in her world that it takes physical force to get her out of it, to the point that she almost missed Christmas with her family as she sat in her room working on her art.Eliza's relationship with her family has always been strained. She has no relationship with her brothers, and she continuously pushes away her parents because they don't understand her and want her to be someone she simply cannot be. They don't know the extent of her online work and simply write it off as a hobby. They have no clue how much money she's made off of this hobby and admittedly, have never shown any interest to find out. I will say, her parents are quite exuberant and can be a bit much, but I also always got the impression that they did it out of love for her and are just trying to get closer to her. Even though they mess up badly, I couldn't help but feel bad for them, because they meant well.As Eliza's relationship with Wallace grows, she slowly starts to get out of her shell. She keeps pushing herself to try harder, to try new things, to go out there and see the world and meet people. In doing so, she begins to notice things about herself, her family, her brothers, and even Wallace, things that help her understand the "real" world around her. Eliza and Wallace really complemented each other, and they were so good together because neither one forced the other out of their shell. They accepted each other for who they were, with their flaws, and slowly were able to open up and let each other in. We learn more about Wallace to help us understand why he stopped speaking, and all the internal struggles and conflicts he goes through, which is very important and helpful to understand the sudden change in his character towards the end.When LadyConstellation's identity is revealed, Eliza's entire world is destroyed. This is a heartbreaking part of the story, the way it is told and described and expressed really puts you in that emotional hell that Eliza was going through. It really makes you live the experience alongside her. Wallace feels betrayed and angry, but the way he deals with it and the change in his character was shocking for me. I hated him. I honest to God hated him and could not believe he could turn so easily. However, when you sit and think, and remember what he's been through and how he dealt with that, I could slowly begin to understand why Zappia brought out that reaction in him. He's human. We're all human. And sometimes, that's our biggest weakness. As humans, we tend to be very selfish, and Wallace is by no means perfect. He didn't know how else to attack, how else to hurt, so he did it by being human, and only thinking of himself.I don't think he completely redeemed himself at the end. I really don't. I think Zappia might have slightly glossed over that part and had him let off easy. That being said, this was still an incredible book, with so many good messages conveyed.For a 400+ paged book, there was never a point in which I thought, this could have been cut down, or there's no need for this part, or this is too much description. Nope. Every sentence on every page was read, nothing was skimmed over, it all came together perfectly. That is what I loved most of all. It was a big book, but it wasn't big enough for me. I wanted it to keep going and lose myself in it the way Eliza lost herself in her Monstrous Sea world.

My heart has been wrung out. I woke up with my heart feeling so full and being in pain. I need to drown my sorrows in ice cream. Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake, preferably.Gosh, this was so relatable!Pretty sure you all know what this is about, but just in case you don't, it's about Eliza and her world. The Sea Monsters. The fandom she's created and chose to write anonymously about. Her art. Which in turn becomes her life. She's more active online than she is in the real world. She's more herself online, more at ease and anything outside of that bubble makes her uncomfortable, agitated and feel slightly overwhelmed.I mean, I related to this on a spiritual level.It did take me almost half-way to fully connect with it, but from then on, I was falling in love with it deeper and deeper. Page by page. Eliza is such a wonderful character. Her journey throughout all of this - which I'll leave out since YOU SHOULD GO AND DISCOVER IT AND READ IT - was intense, and agonising and healing to follow. I adored it! I understood her and I felt like I was uncovering parts of myself to myself.Whilst reading, there were moments of just intense connection. ‘Yes, I understand your anxiety. I know why you want to hide. I empathise with how you want to escape reality all the time and crawl into your safe space, because happiness resides there.’ It just felt all so enlightening.I smiled, laughed, teared up and felt the hurt through Zappia's words. The ending did feel slightly rushed. Or maybe I didn't want it to end and was craving for more, but I can absolutely see myself reading this again. When this pain heals that it.

I loved the whole fandom aspect of it... how the anonymity of being a creator and fan is separated from life... how you don't know that behind one of your fav fanfic or fan artists could be 16 or 60... that no matter how perfect your online life is, real life is a different story... I really enjoyed reading about Eliza, Wallace and how being a part of a fandom means to them, how they mean to each other too... great characters, amazing plot! I loved it!

I liked how quick and easy the book was to read, despite the quite heavy subject matter. I think this is a great step towards getting more people talking about anxiety and depression, particularly young people.SPOILER (SORT OF) My one concern is that the book reaches a climax in the form of Eliza's 'rock bottom' but then glosses over a few months to reach a more satisfying ending. However, I feel it represents anxiety and depression well as complicated and illogical. I also like that it explored the idea of Eliza as someone that 'shouldn't' have MH issues because her life is pretty ok from an outsider's perspective. So many sufferers deal with similar judgement.Overall, a good and arguably important read, especially for young adults.

The book itself is great but mine was a little damaged, which is no big deal but I’m still disappointed they would send a damaged product.