Eliza and Her Monsters

By: Francesca Zappia

Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly, Kate Rudd

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

“A love letter to fandom, friendship, and the stories that shape us, Eliza and Her Monsters is absolutely magical.” (Marieke Nijkamp, New York Times best-selling author of This Is Where It Ends)

Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.

Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl meets Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona in this acclaimed novel about art, fandom, and finding the courage to be yourself. “A must-have.” (School Library Journal)

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community.

Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school and Eliza 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.

Will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.

Young Adult Library Services Association Best Book

Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten

Kirkus Best Book

Texas Tayshas Pick

©2019 Francesca Zappia (P)2019 HarperAudio

AMAZING TOTALY AMAZING

The story had me bawling in the middle of class I loved it it’s my all time fav now I could relate so much to Eliza and the narrator captured Elizas emotions so well it was scary

Amazing

This is going on my top book of this year. Seriously, this book is absolutely amazing.

Great YA story

I read this in one sitting, and it was so good. Just quickly what I liked about it:

-Eliza, our MC, was just someone you could support. She had her flaws, but at the end of the day you couldn’t help but root for her. It’s easy to judge her mistakes while reading this, but she had her reasons. Her passion for what she does though is pretty remarkable.
-The romance was adorable af and so was Wallace. I really loved how their relationship developed. They never pressured each other to do something they were uncomfortable with. Their relationship wasn’t perfect at all, especially at the end. They both make their fair share of mistakes, but they’re teenagers. Who here hasn’t made their share of mistakes?
-This book showed exactly how easily teenagers are dismissed as being dramatic or childish by adults.
-I liked that it had pages from Eliza’s webcomic. The illustrations were beautiful!
-I loved how this validated online friendships. As someone who’s been told that those don’t really count, I’m glad this type of friendship was shown in such a positive light.
-I thought this was going to be more lighthearted than it was, but I liked how mental illness and social anxiety were portrayed (what we saw of it anyway. I do wish it was expanded on a bit more.
-The plot wasn’t super original, but the characters more than make up for it. Introverts like me will be able to relate to at least one character.

relatable but not

essentially explains how life feels for the generation born with the internet. Then it goes down hill with selfish main characters, an unwarranted suicide attempt, cursing to sound edgey and really...a fanfiction writer getting a book deal for his fanfiction? are you effing kidding me!?

Will cry

Amazing ties between worlds of different people and their lives. I truly recommend this one to everyone.

Not the monsters you expect

A brilliant look at the effects of teenage depression, the rabbit hole of the internet and fame.

Sweet story

I liked the story overall. The lead is a little melodramatic in some unnecessary ways, but overall a nice listen.

Okay Story, Enjoyable Read.

The book was okay, writing was simplistic and very easy to follow along with. In this type of story that is a good thing, I assure you. The characters were nice and relocatable. It was cute, I recommend.

Just...... Breathtaking

I haven't had so much heartache for a character in a book in so long, it's refreshing, sad even though it ended up being beautiful , and I don't even know how to put it into words. The way the story completely turns around is, well, seriously intense. Being able to watch the story in my head truly puts the authors talent for what they do on top of my list of best authors. Being able to vividly picture as Eliza starts to learn to love life, being able to feel her reality shatter around her, and being able to watch as she finds the strength, tho that may not be the best way to describe it, to pull through is simply breathtaking. I always feel as if I can picture a story as I listen to it, but never in so much detail. My favorite secne in the book, even though it starts off terrible morally, is the one where she is in her car, staring at the turn. When I listened to it the first time I had to double check that the book still had more to go before the end, and normally I consider it to be taboo to look at how much is left before finishing a book for the first time, because it can lead to being able to predict what will happen next, and it can ruin a story for me, but I was terrified that the book could be over just like that, on such a horrible note. Listening to Eliza make up her mind to go home was one of the biggest reliefs I've ever had with a book, it was like I had been holding my breath till that moment. Then when Wallace showed up, and hearing the fear in his voice, the love in it, just melted my heart.

Sweet Story

I really enjoyed this book. Eliza reminds me of a lot of teens now. Anxiety is a huge issue and this dealt with it beautifully. Strong, well written characters and a timely storyline. This book had it all. I didn't want to turn it off.