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.

Eliza and her monsters

Anna 

šla jsem do toho s tím, že to bude zamilovaná knížka plná výher a splněných přání, ale pro mé překvapení to vážně nebylo jen o tomto. jsem ráda, že byl příběh pojatý vcelku realisticky - konec knihy jsem ocenila, protože se (sice okrajově, ale přece) zabýval anxiety disorder, což je důležité. syndrom vyhoření se tam taky řešil, pokud jsem to správně pochopila. další veliký plus je za to, jak nádherně a rychle se četla. přečetla jsem jí za 4 dny, což je fakt neskutečný, když vezmu v potaz to, že jsem měla skoro rok čtecí krizi. samotný příběh byl fajn, ne něco, co bych chtěla číst pořád, ale zajímavý v tom, že se člověk může podívat za oponu autorů takovýchto fanfikcí nebo komiksů, což jsem ještě nikde - kromě snad Fangirl - neviděla.
.
4/5
doporučuji, je to zajímavé, ale spíše průměrné.

Bria

Julia Moran 

I honestly really like this book I read it for the first time in 2017 a few months after it came out and I remember loving it back then. I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece but it's a pretty good book and a light read.

💌

Eliza and Her Monsters

Fangirl except in like B major. I love it tho Wallace is a great character and the art in the book is wonderful. I also love Max and Emmy

Teeeeeesha

A story that focuses so beautifully on an anxious overthinking teen. So relatable with realistic relationships and the occasional overbearing parents. Must read contemporary novel, A cute softboi too.

Amanda Faith

And here lies the only book capable of summoning my tears. Let the sea overflow.

Victoria

Shit. Okay. Hang on. This made me smile. This made me 
  really
; even giddy at some point. I'm happy to have read this. I'm happy to have known Eliza Mirk and the world she is in and the world she created.

Lacy W

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication: May 30, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
ARC, Library or Own: Library (Hardcover)

First Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be in terms of anxiety rep, I liked it. I devoured it in a couple sittings simply because of how much I enjoyed Eliza as a character. She was the definition of me as a teenager. 

Characters
Eliza was the MC of this book. She was so great! She reminded me of myself when I was in high school. Her journey to understand her anxiety was so similar to me. I didn't want to admit I had anxiety. I didn't even know that was the word for it. It took a lot of overcoming to come to grips with what I had. 

It did frustrate me how flippant she was about her anxiety. It also upset me how horrible she was to her parents. I felt that all her parents wanted to do was help and be the best parents that they could be. But instead she freaked out on them the moment they breathed in her direction, refused to converse with them, and then got upset when they didn’t understand things like Monstrous Sea. 

Despite that, I still enjoyed Eliza. Her relationship with Wallace was pretty adorable. I liked that they communicated through notes. It was very reminiscent of high school and passing notes with my friends. 

Writing Style and Plot
One of the best things about this book was the use of drawings, chat logs and forum logs. Since this book was about an online comic, Monstrous Seas, it only made sense to have this added to the book. I loved it and wished that it could be made into an actual graphic novel. 

The plot was excellent. It brought up many excellent points involving fandoms, online friends and anxiety. I already discussed the anxiety in the character section so I’ll just talk about online friends and fandoms. 

Fandoms can be one of two things. They can be incredibly amazing and a great place for like minded individuals to get together. I belong to the Harry Potter fandom and the Supernatural fandoms. I’ve seen friendships and bonding happen. But fandoms can be cruel, which is what this book addressed. They can just rip you to shreds if you don’t support a popular canon ship. Eliza dealt with some of the fandom issues but I thought she dealt with them well for the most part. People online can be so horrible but if you have good mods and friends, you’ll be good. Which brings me to my next point: online friends. 

Several times during the course of this book, Eliza’s parents didn’t accept her online friends as actual friends. They kept wanting her to make real friends, friends she could hang out with on a daily basis. See, here is the thing online friends are real friends. Just because you don't live near them doesn't mean they aren't real. I have several friends that I have made online and they are very dear to me. I think this book does a great job of explaining that and I hope adults that read this book take a hint. 

Trigger Warnings
There is only one trigger warning (that I caught) and that is suicide. It's mentioned throughout the book. 

Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a great book. It brought up excellent discussion points. It had some great, if sometimes frustrating, anxiety rep. The drawings in the book were amazing and adorable. I highly recommend this book.

dija

WHAT THE HELL !!! I WANT MORE!!
I loved it!! what have i been doing all this time? 
Oh Eliza and her monsters, well am sure "her monsters" means "her fans" but my mind isn't acceptng it. So her monsters would be her art, her characters, and i fucking love them!! Her webcomic story wasn't that clear in the book but i loved it, really.
And Eliza ? i loved her, even though she kinda overreact sometimes but i was having a lack of drama these days so that was okay, good even.
I loved how she loves her work aand how she doesn't want to let her fans down by any way. That's how the authors are too, right?
Well, i love it, that's all you need to know. You will love it when you read it too. I hope.

Jamieson

I LOVED THIS. It reminded me a lot of Radio Silence, which is one of my favourite books. I always enjoy fandom centric books so of course I liked this. Eliza was a really well written, fleshed out character and her struggles were so relatable. I had so much fun reading this, but the ending was overall too vague for my liking, and there was some dragging 3/4 through hence the 4 star not 5 rating. But still a fucking good book

full review to come

Jasmine

4.5 Stars
Sigh this book... I was completely blown away by the end of it! I had such a delayed response because at first, it wasn't connecting with me. There were even a few moments where I felt myself thinking great, here we go again this why I avoid books taking place high school. Also, for me probably the fanfiction and webcomics didn't help either idk because the visuals were interesting, but kept pushing me away from the story instead of drawing me into it. Then, it was like something shifted because all of a sudden I become so invested in Eliza's internal struggles and what kind of person Wallace is as we were getting to know him more. And I can't explain it but all a sudden I was consumed with this seemingly unassuming story. 

 Really Eliza and Her Monsters is such a beautiful standalone story and surprisingly powerful too. It deals with social anxiety, feeling misunderstood, finding connections with people through shared passions, and going through unbearable stress when everything in your life is falling apart. The emotions are honest and relatable. I left this book with a full heart and that's always a powerful feeling to have after closing a book!!

Amelia 

I absolutely loved this book. All I have to say is just READ IT!

Fran Gutiérrez

** spoiler alert **
           Oof, I don't like to be negative, but seeing how much everyone raves about this book set high expectations that were not met in my opinion. First half of the book was dreadful. I hated Eliza. The way she treated her family was so uncalled for. Unfortunately this made it hard to empathize with her since the beginning. The only saving grace of this book was second half Wallace and Sully, and Eliza's small redemption. It was a good story, but the execution made the reading experience not that enjoyable.

“A love letter to fandom, friendship, and the stories that shape us, Eliza and Her Monsters is absolutely magical.”—Marieke Nijkamp, New York Times–bestselling 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. With pages from Eliza’s webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza’s online forums, this book 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

Stef

"Like life, what gives a story its meaning is the fact that it ends. Our stories have lives of their own—and it’s up to us to make them mean something" 

Rating ★★★★ full review soon~

** spoiler alert **
           I enjoyed the book but towards the end, I didn’t like Wallace’s insensitive response to Eliza’s obvious depression. I love how Eliza’s brothers stood up for her with their parents tho - v heartwarming

Aditi

I think if I had read this book at school, I may have given this 4 or more stars, but I found that I've lost much of my patience or any sense of understanding at all for the kind of teenage angst Eliza thrives upon. I suppose one must find adulthood at some point in life. Sigh.

Literally finished it in one day. I just adore soft relationships!! 

Haley Murray

Was loving it until the love interest starts acting like a horrible person.

Fátima

4.5 en realidad. Realmente me encantó este libro, pero ese pequeño momento en el que Wallace me decepcionó un poco, impide que le dé las 5 estrellas.

Luna Hart

Aditi Verma

Catalina

It was actually pretty decent up until chapter 36 where it all went downhill so fast. Also (view spoiler)[ fuck Wallace, he sucks. (hide spoiler)]

Tia Malt 

4.5 stars. It would've been the full 5 if there wasn't a slump around 3/4s in. But besides that I couldn't have asked for a better contemporary. My heart feels too full.

Eliza and her monsters

Reviews