Review – Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0062290137
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought through Owlcrate
Rating: 5/5 stars

“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.”

This was a completely engrossing read that really pulled me in and was a ton of fun. I had a lot of trouble putting this book down. This is going to be a tough one for me to review; it’s one of those books I loved soooo much that I don’t know even where to start.

I stayed up way too late finishing it and absolutely loved the characters, the subject matter, and the journey Eliza goes through. I love how everything comes together in the story and really enjoyed Eliza’s Monstrous Sea story as well as the story of Eliza trying to find her place in life.

All the side characters are very well done and I enjoyed all the twists and turns in the story. I loved the family dynamics as well as the friendships throughout.

My only small complaint was that I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed, but just a bit and this didn’t detract from my overall love of this book.

Overall an amazing read that I just loved to bits. I would recommend to those who enjoy YA contemporary romance with a heavy dose of geekdom.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge