BOOK REVIEW: Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

8:07 AM

Title: Eliza and Her Monsters

Author: Francesca Zappia

ISBN: 0062290134 (ISBN13: 9780062290137)

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication date: May 30th 2017

Grab a copy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Synopsis:

Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she 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.

My heart is bursting with joy after reading this.

Have you ever encountered a book that once you crack it open to read, you entirely forget the passage of time while reading and the next thing you knew, you are at the very last page of the book; heart crying out for more, more, and more? Because that is exactly what happened to me while reading this book. It is just that good that I find it rather hard to put down because of this constant urge inside me to know what happens next every time I turn to the next page. This book is good in a way that it will make your heart crave to read more while you're reading this, but so full of pain and love after reading this.

This is the second book of Francesca Zappia's that I've read. The first book of hers that I've read was Made You Up and I loved it so much it automatically made Francesca Zappia one of my favorite authors as well as my top priority authors to read. But throughout the most of 2017, I was in a massive book slump so I wasn't really up to date with the happenings within the book industry. I wouldn't even know that Francesca Zappia released another book if it weren't for one of the videos of my favorite Booktuber (the same Booktuber who introduced me to The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue). After hearing about Zappia's new book- faster than light (well, not really faster than light)- I immediately bought a copy of Eliza and Her Monsters without reading the other reviews of people who've also read it. And thank goodness that I didn't though, because I didn't have the opinion of others in mind when I delved into this book and enjoyed it.

What I absolutely love about this book is that I connect with it in a very spiritual level. As I myself am a huge fan girl (1D, SHAWN MENDES, FIFTH HARMONY, AND HAMILTON FANS HIIIIII), I can relate in so many aspects of this book. I can relate with the online friendship of Emmy, Max, and Eliza, because I met so many of my closest friends online; brought together by our love for the same thing. I could also relate to Eliza in the way she seeks solace from the pressures and demands of the real world from her in the internet. The Internet has been a huge part of my life. That's where I developed friendships and discovered so many things I haven't before, so I think it would be safe for me to say that the Internet has a significant role in my growth as a person. Also, this book just perfectly captures the way of life of a fangirl; from the many hours spent in the internet, the internet lingo, and friendships formed online.

Now it may sound that this book is something light. It is not. While it may seem that this book is a light read because it's about fangirling, it actually talks about a lot of important topics such as mental health, family, and the extreme pressures of a huge following. The topics that are in this book are so relevant to our today's society because it does happen in real life. This book is dark, but it didn't forget to shed some light to so many important topics that are relevant today.

All in all, Eliza and Her Monsters is a truly beautiful book that just gets you. You wouldn't find a lot of books that does that, so it was such an amazing experience to delve into this story.