BOOK REVIEW: ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS

Shreeya Goyal
Nov 8, 2020
5 min read

Updated: Jan 7, 2021

Fandom - Friendship - Family - Romance - Finding Yourself

Author: Francesca Zappia

Genre: YA Fiction

Page Count: 413

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of suicide, talked about to some extent

"I am LadyConstellation.

I am also Eliza Mirk.

This is the paradox that can never be solved."

"You found me in a constellation."

Eliza And Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia follows Eliza Mirk through her senior year. At school, Eliza is cast-off as a shy, friendless nobody -- but at night, when she shrugs off the day's struggles, she becomes LadyConstellation, anonymous mother of the ever-growing fandom and webcomic that is Monstrous Sea. Then, Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea's biggest fan and fanfiction writer transfers into her school, and her life changes to an extent she never imagined. However, when Eliza's secret identity is accidentally shared with the world, not only does everything she built, everything she made come crashing down, but her already unstable connection with her family falls off its hinges, and her relationship with Wallace is gone faster than she can blink. Everything begins to fall apart, and she hasn't the slightest clue how to clean any of it up.

This book grabbed me from the moment I turned the cover page and refused to let go, pulling me in with every word of every sentence. It's been a while since a book has been able to pull me in and keep my attention throughout the entirety of it, but this book did, and flawlessly. The author also included not only the driven story that is Eliza and Her Monsters, but her own drawings, little snippets of the webcomic Monstrous Sea, adding another layer of excitement and depth to the story.

Firstly, I would like to commend Francesca Zappia for creating such a raw, unique persona for Eliza Mirk, when the concept behind her character is a fairly simple and overused one that leaves something to be desired. A friendless, lonely teenage girl creating an escape in her online world is something seen throughout books, especially ones revolving around a fandom such as this, but Eliza and Her Monsters is about so much more than that. Maybe it’s the fact that Zappia created Eliza to stay true and grounded to her opinions, unwavering of them for even a second, or maybe it’s that Eliza Mirk feels like a real human, a human who not only has flaws and makes mistakes but also has hopes and dreams, with goals and plans to accomplish them. Whatever it is, Zappia crafted Eliza in a way where she was able to steal my heart the second I opened the book, and she has not left it ever since I've finished it either. Eliza mirk is a character that leaves a sort of imprint on you, an imprint that stays even as the last words of the book echo in your mind, and one that leaves a permanent mark, even if you soon don’t think about Eliza as much as you used to.

Wallace Warland is also an important character in this book, the character that drags Eliza of her life online and takes her to experience the world outside her computer, her comfort zone. Not only does he do this, but he is also Monstrous' Sea’s biggest fan and fanfiction writer, and he shows Eliza how important her story is to the world without even realizing it. I had a few problems with the makings of Wallace Warland, but the one that stuck out most to me was the fact that when Wallace pranced into Eliza’s life, he was the most perfect fit for her, and stayed the most perfect fit for her throughout the story. It seems extremely coincidental to meet someone who perfectly accompanies every aspect of a character, and I doubt that happens very often, so the fact that it happened in the first place keeps me a little wary of Wallace himself. Nevertheless, Eliza and Wallace’s relationship was the cutest I’ve ever seen, and it was a joy seeing the whole event unfold. Though the fact Wallace’s character was a bit too perfect to be true, the relationship between Eliza and Wallace was something that perfectly shows how relationships can be in the real world. Zappia shows that relationships are not always a smooth ride through, and all couples have to go through road bumps along the way. Not only did this relationship show us the true dimensions and layers of the two characters in it, but it made for a lighthearted and enjoyable accompaniment to a story that deals with grief and mental illness in so many layers.

Even though I saw it coming, throughout the middle of the book, my heart was hurting for Eliza and all I wanted was for everything to work out and be alright for her and Wallace. Not only does Zappia touch on the subject of being revealed, being seen in the world, as is weaved into the writing when Eliza's secret identity is revealed, but she also talks about the future of Wallace and Eliza, and about how life can sometimes look like a yawning, black hole, ready to swallow you whole. This book surrounds the subject of finding and creating your future, a subject that I'm sure many teens can relate to. As Eliza and Wallace work out the problematics of going into the careers they want, art, and creative writing respectively, we can see their worries about money and lack of support unfold. It's a universal truth that delving into an art or creative writing major is a risky turn for one to take, and Eliza and Wallace struggle with their choice of doing so. They find it a battle to earn respect from their families for both of their career choices, and they both are constantly evaluating whether it is worth it to take such a risky major. Zappia talks about the prospect of being happy in this particular part of the book, and if one's happiness is worth running the risk of having no food to put on the table or even not having a roof over one's head. She not only questions what there is to live for if someone is not doing what they enjoy, but she also threads into the story the instability for one's mental and emotional health that fringes onto the prospect of doing something that doesn't make them happy.

With Eliza and Her Monsters, both Francesca Zappia and the main character, Eliza Mirk, teach me the significance of doing something that makes me happy and makes my life worthwhile. Throughout the entirety of this well-developed and beautifully crafted novel, I learn that doing something worthwhile with your life doesn't necessarily fit the picture of doing something big-- something that might get you famous or broadcasted across television, it just means doing something that makes you happy. This book stresses the significance of one's mental health and their creative outlet, their outlet that keeps them thinking and keeps them content, and it stresses the importance of not letting this outlet go.

This book teaches me to keep doing what makes me happy, no matter the expense behind it.

A truly devouring novel, perfect for everyone and anyone struggling to find themselves and their place in the world.