Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Eliza and Her Monsters

This book gives readers a very realistic look at social anxiety and how it affects the way Eliza sees the world. If you are an artist I think you will also connect to Eliza’s desire to keep her online identity a secret despite how much fame and money she could get from revealing herself. She wants her art to speak for itself instead of everyone focusing on the man behind the curtain. This book tells a very grounded story that will appeal to anyone who is attuned with internet culture today.

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emreguis's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

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lyssstar's review

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emotional inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

This story is really good. I feel for the characters and relate to them in amazing ways. The book is mainly about finding yourself when you thought you already knew yourself. But a lot of the situations in the book is also dealing with depression and working creatively for someone instead of yourself. And hiding yourself from someone for your own reasons. Then that secret coming to life. I hope this isn’t too spoiler-y as it’s just a different way of saying the summary but ya. I really enjoyed the book.

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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leilaberns's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

I decided to pick this up after hearing a few reviewers on YouTube recommend it for fans of Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, and I'm so glad I did!

The depiction of forum culture and online friendship felt really authentic. I'm usually pretty worried when books focus on internet popularity because it's so easy to get things wrong, but I did not have any problems with that aspect of this book.

I definitely recommend this one!

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a well-written book that explores the life of a teenage girl who is responsible for a web comic that has quite a huge following. Eliza isn't a fan of interacting too much with the outside world and spends a lot of her time online - this of course has been something that upsets her parents a lot. It's understandable that Eliza is frustrated that her parents don't understand but at the same time.... I think that if Eliza had taken the time to explain or at least show her parents what she was working on - sharing anything she was comfortable with - then maybe her parents wouldn't have been as concerned as they appeared to be in the book. That's a problem I think a lot of teenagers face is the lack of communication or not knowing how to communicate. The communication issue is one out of two reasons why I gave this four stars instead of five. My other reason is Wallace. I was ok with him as a character until the end ish of the novel.

When he confronts Eliza in her room and tells her that she has this perfect life so what's the big deal about not being able to finish a few pages...? It's his publication deal that's on the line - she needs to finish. I was raging mad - how dare he. He lost his dad to suicide - how would he feel if someone told him - you can't play football because your dad is gone? I just couldn't forgive him and I was still irked when Wallace still remained in Eliza's life in the epilogue. She should have let him go shortly after. I think my favorite scenes in this novel were the ones with the therapist. I know Eliza is only seventeen/eighteen but the therapist really helped put what I what I hope the readers felt as well into words - your creations do not define you. We are not responsible for other people's actions / life stories.

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itsmeyseniab's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

I did it! I finally read this after years of it being on my mental TBR!

Here's the thing though... I do think that it is slightly overhyped.

The plot itself was mediocre to me. I got this "vibe" when I was just a few chapters into it. I appreciated how Francesca Zappia told both Eliza's story as well as her webcomic Monstrous Sea but I won't lie, the flipping between the two got a bit confusing at times. I still haven't fully grasped what happened in her webcomic. Obviously this is Eliza's story, but for as big of a role as Monstrous Sea played in her life I just wish the actual comic itself was fleshed out a bit more. Although it is a quick read, I felt as though the story was slow at times. The ending is what made it memorable to me (but only because it explicitly started discussing mental health).

I struggled to connect with Eliza as a character for the majority of the book. Wallace was another character that I couldn't really connect with either - I just didn't find him that memorable. Their relationship was cute, but I was left wanting a little bit more. I thought their dynamic of being the creator of Monstrous Sea and the biggest Monstrous Sea fanfiction writer respectively was interesting though.

Although I believe that this novel covered a lot of important topics, I think that the overall story was lacking at points. I can't speak on the representation of anxiety/panic attacks (as I am someone who has never personally experienced it), I do think that Zappia handled the topics of depression and suicidal thoughts in a very respectful way. I'm so glad that so many readers have connected with these characters and their stories - I just wish I loved it as much as everyone else seems to.

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