Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia, is a fictional book set in Illinois, USA. The book revolves around an 18 year old writer named Eliza, who is the author of the sensational webcomic titled Monstrous Sea under the alias of LadyConstellation. Her parents don't understand her, and her brothers are annoying. Her two best friends are people she met online. With social anxiety, along with pressing parents trying to make her come out of her shell, navigating senior year is tough. And then he walks in.
The new transfer student, Wallace Warland, built like a freight train, introverted, and shy is assigned to Eliza by a teacher for her to show him around and help him get the ropes. Wallace doesn't talk, and that's perfectly fine with Eliza. The two quickly become friends through the slip of paper they pass back and forth in class. Eliza discovers that he is the famous Rainmaker, one of the most active members of the Monstrous Sea forums and fanfic creator. She doesn't tell him that she is LadyConstellation though.
The two gradually become closer as the year progresses, with them slowly drawing each other out of their respective shells. Of course this pleases both of the families who are still clueless about the lives of their children. If you are someone who doesn't enjoy spoilers, please continue reading at the bolded sentence. Eventually, the two do become a couple, again pleasing both families. Everything is perfect in the world of Eliza Mirk. She has a boyfriend, her forums are full of bright shining followers, her parents are satisfied, and nobody knows who she really is. Until this happens...
Every year the local paper lets parents of the graduating class give a little blurb about their graduate, and this year, when Eliza's parents write theirs, they include that their daughter is the author of Monstrous Sea. The next day, everyone knows. And Wallace is one of those people. Lets just say he has a very hard time coming to grasps with the fact that his girlfriend is also his favorite writer and didn't tell him. Eliza, panicking, falls and hits her head and winds up in the hospital. The next few days are spent with Eliza out of school laying in her room, not doing anything. She doesn't eat, she doesn't shower, she doesn't write. Her viewers are waiting for the finale of Monstrous Sea, but she can't bring herself to finish it. Her two brothers knock sense into their parents by showing them the true effect of their actions.
Eliza decides to reach out to the author of her favorite book series for advice. This author never finished her series, and ran away to live in the mountains. Eliza writes this letter as one last act of hope, looking to someone who might just understand her situation. To her surprise, the author writes back... and with advice to boot! She explains why she never finished her books. Because she lost her passion and she was afraid the fifth book wouldn't be as good as the first four. She was afraid to disappoint her fans. She says she knows that it can be terrifying to be out to the public, and how scary it must have been when Eliza's innermost works were bared to the entire world. She talks about her life and how she also had a sibling that seemed to be always doing better than herself. Her advice, she says, is that Eliza needs to ask herself why she started writing, and if she wants to finish, why did she stop? If she wants her motivation back, she needs to feed it. And then she says that she hopes Eliza finishes the ending because it seems like a lovely book. This is enough to get Eliza moving. She finishes the book, and makes up with Wallace. Her life comes back together.
Eliza Mirk is a complicated character, which in my opinion makes her that much more relatable. As someone with social anxiety, she can connect deeply with those of us who struggle with the same issues. I thoroughly enjoyed this book on so many levels. The complexity of the double life of a teenager, the difficulties of being a daughter, a sister, a writer, a friend.
On the Dove Scale, I give this book a 9/10. Thank you so much Ms. Zappia for bringing this book into the world.
Let me know what y'all want me to review next! And remember, "There are monsters in the sea."
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