Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia // Book Review!

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: May 30th, 2017

Page Number: 385 pages

Format Read: E-book (Live-brary Borrowed)

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Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts:

I really liked this book! Eliza was such a great character to follow because I felt like I could relate to her so well. I loved that she earned her fame and I felt so connected to the story because it was my world: fanfiction and online friends.

I related so hard when Eliza’s parents didn’t understand her virtual world and that she has real friends online. Like that’s literally me and probably most people who have an online life.

I also loved the romance between Wallace and Eliza, it was so cute and awkward and so me and a bunch of other shy teenage girls. It was also refreshing to see a relationship that develops slow and more realistically than most insta love books where both characters know how relationships work at 16 or 17. (Cause spoiler, most teenagers don’t know how to date and are awkward munchkins, aka moi).

Eliza’s brothers were also the sweetest things ever and the way they were there for Eliza at the end of the book. The sense of sibling love was great despite the parent disconnect from Eliza. I loved that scene where Eliza’s brothers were talking about the difference between Eliza being a nerd and a geek, hmm which one am I now…?

I couldn’t believe that her parents outed her like that and that and I just knew Wallace would react that way. That’s why this book didn’t get a 5 star rating from me actually, that the end was a little predictable. Also I feel like the book could have delved more into anxiety and what exactly Eliza and Wallace’s problemos were, (Am I listening to despacito right now and in an espanol mood? Yes, yes I am).

I’m reading Francesca’s other book, Made You Up next, so I’m excited to see if it’s just as good! Edit: After reading Made You Up I feel like Zappia has a thing for parents who don’t understand their children very well….also I’ve given Made You Up a no star rating because I can’t form a conclusion on Zappia’s research on mental illness (But more of that in my August wrap up…)

Verdict:

Main character who is so easy to connect to and geekiness galore, yes please! This book was right up my alley and I recommend it for sure!

My Rating:

4.5 stars

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Have you read this book?! What did you think? Let’s discuss!