Eliza and Her Monsters

by Francesca Zappia

Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she's worked for begins to crumble. Scott Westerfeld's Afterworlds meets Nimona in this novel about art, fandom, and finding the courage to be yourself. Features illustrations by the author throughout. Perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, this is the second novel by the acclaimed author of Made You Up. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, the 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.
With pages from Eliza's webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza's online forums, this uniquely formatted book will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson's Nimona and Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl.

• ISBN10: 0062290134
• ISBN13: 9780062290137
• Publish Date: 13 July 2017 (first published 30 May 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 13 March 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Greenwillow Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Marissa Lupe Author]

Where to begin.. I've been lucky with reading one great story after another.. but only 1 out of every 5 or so really gets down to my core, my heart, my soul.
"Eliza and her Monsters" by @chessiezappia was definitely one of that 25% that hit my whole being.
If you've ever been a person who has struggled with anxiety or depression, than it's definitely a tear jerker, Zappia nailed the struggle.. BUT I was also SMILING so so much!!
Eliza and Wallace, reading their conversations, reading the conversations between Eliza and her friends.. just so much made me happy I was practically giddy ❣️
Such a unique layout in the writing itself, in a good way! It was new and exciting, and I devoured this 385 page book in less than a day.
So if you're looking for something new and fresh and wonderful, then pick this up.

Wow. Just wow.


This started off slow. It was depressing at the start and I didn't really enjoy it much and then out of nowhere it just took off. I came to really love Eliza. I felt so much reading this book. It was very intense. More so than I imagined it was going to be. I thought it was going to be lighthearted - fandoms, artists, writers, weird loners, touch of awkward romance and it was just so much more.

This book tackles mental illness head on and refuses to flinch no matter how much pain and agony is poured into the narrative. Eliza had me crying with the intensity of her feelings. And so many of them are utterly relatable. The trouble she has forcing herself out, forcing herself not to hide. The anxiety about letting people down. I felt so much.

Eliza is brave in confronting her fears and trying to move past her worries. I liked her relationship with her brothers best - they were really understanding of her - even if they didn't quite get it. I loved the acceptance Eliza gives Wallace when he can't speak, I love that she's more comfortable communicating via text or paper. I love that they both were willing to accept that - to understand that it was hard for them but didn't mean they shouldn't communicate. The romance between them was pretty swoony but I also loved that they really connected with one another.

I really liked the format of this book too. The inclusion of the chat logs and artwork and excerpts of the story was perfect. Well written relatable story. 4.5 stars.

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: — > 5 Stars

This was so absolutely mindblowing & incredible & glad to see some panic disorder rep & anxiety rep. Boy oh boy do I relate!

I just think this was genius, though, for so, so, SO many reasons. INLOVE with Eliza AND her Monsters (both literal- such as social anxiety, GAD, panic disorder, maybe even depression at times? To name a few AND metaphorical- as in the ones that dwell in the monstrous sea

[dragononabook]

It was going so well, until Wallace made a dick move that was completely forgotten.

[moraa]

I only read this book because someone I trust said it was really good. I can't say it was amazing but it was okay. There were some parts I thought I wouldn't get through not because they were sad but because they were just too generic for me.
But I finished and I'm glad I read it.
Also, the fact that she nearly attempted suicide?
Real.

[Bianca]

I learned years ago that it’s okay to do this. To seek out small spaces for myself, to stop and imagine myself alone. People are too much sometimes. Friends, acquaintances, enemies, strangers. It doesn’t matter; they all crowd. Even if they’re all the way across the room, they crowd. I take a moment of silence and think: I am here. I am okay.

— An exploration of internet/fandom culture and social anxiety, of how we find solace in the internet. SO DAMN RELATABLE. THIS BOOK JUST GETS IT.

[verkaskodova]

Tahle kniha mě zasáhla mnoha způsoby. Neřekla bych ani tak hlavní linkou, ačkoliv i ta byla velmi... Jak to říct, relatable? Chtěla jsem tomu dát čtyři hvězdičky, ale postupem času, kdy se řešily rodinné vztahy (v určitém okamžiku jsem měla i chuť brečet, bráchové se zachovali loajálně a za svou sestrou opravdu stáli), postavení práce a toho, co nás v životě baví, dlouhodobě deprese, u které si nejdřív ani nevšimnete, že u vás je, syndrom vyhoření, který se na ni často napojuje, Eliziny úzkosti...

"We create art for many reasons-wealth, fame, love, admiration-but I find the one thing that produces the best results is desire."

Nikdy si v knihách nepodtrhuju, ani si nedávám lepíky, ale tady mě prsty svrběly hned několikrát. Autorčin debut měl chyby a kdybych se na ně soustředila víc, řekla bych, že jich bylo hodně, tady mi ani jednou nepřišlo, že by tlačila na pilu, emoce byly popsané skvěle, postavy mi byly po různých stránkách protivné a zároveň neskutečně sympatické, že mám pocit, že se k nim ani nemůžu plně vyjádřit.

"If you want the motivation back, you must feed it."

V dnešní době bych to popsala jako pocta young adult v daném tématu, kde se řeší deprese, ztráta a emoční nevyrovnanost navíc jako něco, co říká pravdu. A zbytek času je to zatraceně cute. Jakože fakt cute. Tak cute, že nad těmi vzkazy, co si Eliza a Wallace posílají buď slintáte, nebo cukernatíte.

"Anyone who thinks that's an easy way out hasn't had to face it."

[writehollydavis]

Ahhh I had read about 10% of this book when I started it in January and ended up reading the rest in the last 5 days. I can't believe I had waited that long to dive back into this book! TwT It was THAT good. Eliza and Her Monsters was so REAL and believable- the characters, emotions, dialogue, everything. I loved the idea that she is a popular webcomic artist, she has a huge online following, and that people wrote fanfiction for Monstrous Sea. I felt like I was reading something that could actually happen, yet it was still juicy and fresh and new. This book deals with anxiety, social pressure, and finding oneself. I loved the interactions between Eliza and her online friends and especially Eliza and Wallace! Can't wait to read more books by Zappia!

[leahrosereads]

Can all contemporaries be like ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS please?

It took me about 50 pages to get into the story, but once I did, I was hooked.

This book follows Eliza Mirk, a webcomic creator who shares her story about monsters to the world while facing a lot of monsters herself.

While I don't have anxiety or depression, I have seen what it can do to loved ones daily, and what Eliza goes through, is very real.  This had a pretty honest representation of both mental health problems.


(Anyone facing these problems faces them a little differently (daily/weekly/ monthly/yearly).  That's just one of the many terrible and isolating attributes of anxiety and depression.  It's not same shit different day as some people think.  If you read this and deal with either of these and can't relate, I completely understand.  However, this looks very similar to what I've seen friends and family go through in the past - especially in high school. Which is why I feel it's honest in its representation.)


All that being said, Eliza works so hard every day and on every one of these pages, that, as a reader, I wanted to find a way to support her somehow.  I felt the heaviness of what she experienced and how daunting it felt.

I wanted to talk about a friendship that helped her for a little bit, but I don't want to spoil anything.  But, again that friendship felt real and didn't seem to move one way or the other unrealistically.

All the characters were written decently. And, this is in Eliza's POV so we don't have a way to delve into the brains of her parents or friends to know if how they're talking or what they're saying or if their body language is being accurately interpreted by Eliza.  She's a teenager so just a tad unreliable in some of her narration.  

I know I felt and saw things in a completely different light when I was her age.


Normally, I read to escape reality.  Which is one of the reasons I don't enjoy contemporaries.  But here, this reality made me reflect a lot on my own past, and I'm glad for that.

I definitely will be recommending this book to people who enjoy character driven stories.  For sure.

[alisoninbookland]

I was NOT expecting to like it as much as I did.