“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 … 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
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I love everything about this book. It’s all the feels from beginning to end, and it’s the best kind of story that stays with you forever.
As a mature adult who enjoys the occasional YA novel, I recommend Eliza And Her Monsters to my fellow grown-ups who’d like to understand why the younger generation loves their online communities so much.
High school student Eliza Mirk leads a double life. In the actual world where her body resides she speaks as little as possible, she has no school friends, she barely interacts with her parents and younger twin brothers, and she loves feeling invisible. But online she leads a rich life, highly respected and honored as Lady Constellation, the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, one of the most popular online comics, with millions of readers all over the world. Pictures of and quotes from her characters show up on T shirts, backpacks, even tattooed on her home room teacher’s arm. Unbeknownst to her parents, she is coming into her own as an artist, and secretly making enough money to pay her way through any college she chooses.
Extremely introverted, Eliza is content to keep these two lives separate—until she meets a special boy who makes her realize that having a body isn’t such a bad thing after all.
An important point for me was Eliza’s insistence that her online friendships are just as genuine and supportive as people in the so-called real world. But I was also touched by the poignancy of the actual world scenes between Eliza and her new crush Wallace, as she tentatively discovers the joy of intimate companionship. Let me be clear (spoiler alert) : I’m not talking about teenage sex here. This girl is so shy, she is both intimidated and thrilled by the touch of his hand on her foot as they sit together on a bench. It’s a sweet look into the heart of a teen with paralyzing social anxiety. An insightful read.
What didn’t I LOVE about this book.. I felt like I was back in high school dealing with all the high school “drama”. I connected more than I should with the main character. I wish she was real she’d be my bestie! My all time favorite read (next to Harry Potter of course!) Probably one of the only contemporary reads I’ve read (I’m mainly fantasy).
I am totally in love with this book and only wish I could have read it during my high school years, my life might have turned out very differently. The messaging is poignant, powerful, and essential for all ages. Just as a fair warning, it does address some very dark themes, but it made the novel feel all the more realistic.
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Wow! Just wow! This book is definitely a new favourite or mine!
Eliza and her Monsters is definitely a new, unique and powerful book. I just fell in love with this storyline and it’s characters. I expecially loved Eliza’s character! She’s very flawed and has her problems (and her monsters). She’s a very complex character and I just loved how Francesca Zappia portraited her. At the beginning I wasn’t sure what to think of Eliza, and Wallace. They were both kind of strange characters with some strange quirks. But as the story did unfold I started to really love reading them, especially Eliza. They are both such great characters; and not to forget that story!! It’s something totally new. The whole story was unpredictable and I just loved that.
I loved how Francesca Zappia put in drawings and snippets of Monstrous Sea. She created a whole new world with this book. So unique and diverse – because it’s not just Monstrous Sea but also Children of Hypnos. I even cried in this book, which I didn’t expect. Normally these kind of stories are very powerful and meaningful, but for me it’s very rare to cry with such books; but because of this I fell even more in love with this book. It evoked emotions in me I didn’t expect.
I just loved Eliza and her Monsters! The whole story is something new and unique. It’s definitely worth the read.
Eliza Mirk is the creator of a wildly popular webcomic, only no one knows it. When she meets Wallace, her webcomic’s biggest and best fanfiction writer, she fails to tell him the truth, and as their relationship grows, her guilt eats at her.
The characters’ complex social and emotional issues were brought to the forefront and handled beautifully and realistically. There were no quick fixes. Highly recommend!
It was a great representation of shy teens today who may feel comfortable letting themselves be vulnerable online, but have trouble with relationships in real life. Cute story and fun characters.
I loved this book so much. I love how she had pages with drawings from the comic in the book. It just added a great layer to the story. Great anxiety rep in this.
Can I give this book all of the stars? Because it deserves them. Enough said.
I LOVED this book, and couldn’t do anything until I had finished reading it. If you want to live in a story, pick up Eliza and Her Monsters. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend it. *scampers off to tell all friends to read it*