Book Review: Eliza and Her Monsters

Hey guys! So I've been desperate to read Eliza and Her Monsters for so long since I saw the cover and blurb. This week I'll be reviewing the book for you! Let me know in the comments whether you've read it and what you thought.

About Eliza and Her Monsters

Eliza and Her Monsters was written by Francesca Zappia in 2017 and the Children of Hypnos, which features in the book, is a bi-weekly serial posted twice a week.

Eliza Mirk is known online as LadyConstellation, the creator of Monstrous Sea, an online web comic with millions of views. Eliza spends every waking second drawing her comic, whether it be at school or home - she even misses Christmas because of how busy she is. She doesn't have any friends at school; they're all online. Until she meets Wallace, the new boy at school who's a fan of Monstrous Sea. When Eliza gets caught up in a lie, will she be able to tell Wallace who she really is before her identity is exposed?

My Review

Trigger warning: this review mentions depression and suicide.

When I started reading this I thought that Eliza was a fairly average teenager who spends too much time online. She doesn't have friends outside of the internet and she's never met her best friends - I can relate to this and I think a lot of you will too. But Eliza starts developing mental health problems; it starts off slow but becomes more intense and she can't find the motivation to practice her art anymore. We've all been there. But the difference with Eliza is, she thinks Monstrous Sea is all she has - it's who she is and without it, she fears she's no one. But if she writes the ending to her comic, she's frightened her fans will hate it.

The clever thing that Zappia has done, was to write the mental health into the book without really addressing that it's an issue to Eliza. Eliza doesn't think that it's unhealthy to spend all her time online. It's where she belongs.

Towards the end, Eliza is faced with a decision that is triggering for those with depression or suicidal thoughts. She pretty much loses everyone but her family and feels like she has nothing anymore. Her anxiety and stress over finishing the comic for Wallace to get a book deal consumes her. She feels guilty and useless. But she'll soon realize she means more than her work, and that she can still draw without it consuming her. Her parents and brothers, online friends and Wallace are a supportive network that Eliza needs in this time of self discovery.

This book is about discovering your self worth, and realizing that your art, your work, is a separate part of you; it's not why people love you or like you, you are what people love.

Full of fandom, online friendships and self discovery, Eliza and Her Monsters is a must read for lovers of Geekerella and Fangirl. You can find out more about Zappia here.

I hope you all enjoyed my review, don't forget to subscribe to receive updates on my posts. Until next time, love, Vee x