emsemce123 's review for:

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

4.75

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was a fun read, I'm a fan of the parallel storytelling, or telling a story within a story. Eliza Mirk, anonymous creator of the massively popular web-comic Monstrous Sea lives her day to day life with a routine that gets knocked out of balance when a new boy starts at her school. Not a fan of romance but this walked that fine line of putting in just enough while not going overboard, some of the teenage dialogue feels off and- maybe I'm the bad guy because I actually sympathize with the parents here (on some things but not the main turning point) and while it is relatable it also feels like a lot of stuff could've been solved so easily by just opening up and talking about stuff just a little bit, like even the smallest amount.

Eliza's parents pushing her to be more social with -at the very least- her own family is what I was talking about, who she herself realizes on a family camping trip that she didn't even know her own brothers as well as she thought. When her parents accidentally out her as the creator of MS I totally get her response but again if she had just told them how much it meant to her, ot wouldn't have happened, though when her brothers come to her defense I agree; Eliza's parents should have known how important it was to her just by the fact that the entire story has been her telling them she has deadlines and is constantly working on it. I also feel like Wallace overreacted when her identity was revealed, I get it, he shared the email with her and it was deeply personal and you'd expect the same honesty in return only Eliza never asked him to do that, he chose to do that of his own free will and he should know if she likewise doesn't want to share something she'd have her own reasons for not doing that. Also I can't be the only one wanting a Monstrous Sea book, I found out the fictional Children of Hypnos books Eliza adores in this were the authors actual first books? (though accredited to a fictional author here, so meta) I've also read Rainbow Rowells Fangirl and I know it gets a lot of comparisons drawn to this, RR made those fictional books into a reality with Carry On, so fingers crossed we get a MS someday.🤞 There also may be some symbolism in the MS story being told throughout the book but I'm not too clever to look into it.