Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Eliza and Her Monsters

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Eliza and Her Monsters, by Francesca Zappia

74 reviews

this_momma_is_booked's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I knew nothing about this book when I started reading it, just that a friend recommended it to fulfill a requirement for my YA Lit class. I finished the book wanting to read everything Zappia has ever written because it is a book that will stay with me.

Eliza Mirk is the creator of the incredibly popular webcomic, Monstrous Sea – but no one besides her family and her two (online) best friends know. In her “real life,” as her parents like to call it, she’s a socially awkward senior, struggling to get through the everyday grind so she can get back to her online persona. All this comes to a head when she meets Wallace, a new student who is quiet and kind and a huge Monstrous Sea fan. The following months find Eliza exploring a new relationship with Wallace, navigating her senior year of high school, struggling to finish her webcomic, all whilst keeping her online persona, LadyConstellation, a secret. This book is beautifully written, with inclusions of chat messages, emails, and a few panels of Eliza’s art, allowing the reader to experience life as she sees it. It’s an in-depth look at mental health in teenagers, a topic that is still not talked about enough. I would recommend this book to everyone, but particularly to those who are struggling to find where they fit in, what their purpose is, and who they are.

Content Warnings

emilysh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Spoiler

Overall I enjoyed this cute story of friendship, growth, love, and mental illness. I really liked the story and the major conflict of the book. I wasn't fully satisfied with the ending however. I think it comes down to me not connecting with the love interest. The author didn't take as long as I would have prefered actually building the romance and letting us get to know Wallace, so it was hard for me to be satisfied with the ending in light of the choices he made during the conflict.

Update: turns out I had stronger feelings than I initially thought. Wallace's life does seem fairly hard, however his view that Eliza's life is privileged and perfect because she has found success and has money is harmful. This view is totally ignoring the crippling mental health issues that hold her totally captive from a normal life or even interacting with the world. I can see how Wallace would initially react in anger and have such an unfair opinion of Eliza, but the book never goes back and addresses that view. As a reader, I'm expected to believe that Eliza and Wallace just move on with their relationship without any sort of real apology or working through that issue, and that's SO harmful. Maybe it takes place of screen, but handling something that important off screen is almost worse than not addressing it in my opinion. And don't tell me him coming to her and telling her that her life is more worthwhile than anything counts, because frantic moments like that are not where people actually work things out or acknowledge their wrong opinions.

Given the weight of this issue, I can't give the book more than three stars.

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calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

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funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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edensgrief's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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joppiereading's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

It is a fun book that took me back to my teenage years and manages to capture the feelings of teenage fandoms without becoming cringy - which is quite impressive! There’s some nice elements of mystery that are tied in well with the other elements of the plot. I didn’t connect with the characters (particularly Eliza and Wallace) as much, though, which made the inner monologue unnecessarily moody. I was a moody, online teenager myself and Eliza’s portrayal was too over the top for me. I would have loved less of the moody, inevitable buildup and more of the final period of the book - what happens in the next Summer?

Spoiler

P.S. Were readers supposed to root for Wallace and Eliza after his anger and inability to understand her block? Because that turned their relationship rather unhealthy to me.

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valerierose1994's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lilylaflair's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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cc_shelflove's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was cute! Meet Eliza Mirk, the anonymous creator of the famous webcomic <i>Monstrous Sea</i>. When she finds out the new kid at school is a super-fan, they quickly become friends… although she keeps her identity a secret. The age range of this novel (14-17) seems appropriate and I could see the “loners” of high school loving this one. Remember you’re never truly alone—you just have to find your crew. 🖤

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shewhoshallnotbenamed's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Amazing book but disappointing conclusion. Wallace shouldn’t be forgiven that easily, and I hope it was emphasized how Eliza and her parents’ relationship is also largely affected because Eliza doesn’t reach out and is not willing to understand where her parents are coming from and become more open towards her parents. Also, I hoped she was shown to try and spend time and get to know her brothers more. She apologized to her friends but not to her brothers.

Edited to 2.75 because I just can’t stand that Wallace was so self centered and that he never really acknowledged Eliza’s very real problems that he dismissed because he apparently has it worse.

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_mariah_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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