All the Things I Liked About Eliza and her Monsters

Yes, that’s right, continuing on from my theme the other day, I’m talking about yet another BRILLIANT book I read last month!

1. I loved the premise! The story is basically a girl juggling her online life and her life in the real world. I related to this so much on a personal level- obviously not the successful webcomic part, but the online life… well, I think a lot of us bloggers will get that side of things instantly.
2. I also appreciated the way her webcomic was blended subtly into the narrative. I really enjoy stories that blend real life and fiction in general- and this did that so well!
3. Because the format was so great! I really appreciate unique story structures more and more, so I ended up thoroughly enjoying the cartoon inserts and the online conversations that broke up the text. I mean, the whole concept was pretty meta, but what elevated the book was how Zappia pulled it off. Cos of all that, I’m also ridiculously pleased that I got given the physical version of this!
4. Plus, I related so much to the part about creating a story from scratch all the way to completion. I loved the line: “It was the story I wanted to tell”, because that’s what got me onto the path of writing in the first place. On top of that, there’s this wonderful letter at the end (no spoilers) which felt like a letter to all creative people. I genuinely think this book will speak to so many creative types and to fans of the arts- basically this was #relatable to all us nerdy folks.
5. Speaking of relatable… oh gosh I got the social awkwardness. I really get the desire to “switch off”- because that’s how my brain works too.
6. I also liked the romance and characterisation. Funnily enough, this was made even more evident by one aspect of the book that I didn’t like- the point when Wallace (the love interest) acted like a selfish dick- but I didn’t deduct bananas because it was realistic (unfortunately). So kudos for creating believable characters.
7. I was also so invested that this hit me right in the *feels*. I squealed, I cried (twice), and I closed the book with the words “wow that was really good”. I LOVED it.
8. Since there was a secretive element to the plot, it did make the story cooler and was provided plenty of funny moments too. It got more than a few chuckles out of me.
9. And just in case this book was awesome enough, it also had the occasional literary nods, especially references to Faustus, which being the booknerd I am, really made me very happy.

10. And gosh darn it- I loved how quotable it was:

“You found me in a constellation”

“Truth is the worst monster because it never really goes away.”

“Broken people don’t hide from monsters. Broken people let themselves be eaten.”

That’s why I had to give it all the bananas:

Rating: 5/5 bananas

Have you read this? Do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!

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