This review originally appeared on GoodReads.
My first 5-star rating of 2017. Exciting.
How to sum up how this story made me feel, though. That falls closer to daunting.
OK, here goes: "Eliza and Her Monsters" was a fast, enjoyable read for fans of the YA contemporary genre, in a similar vein to Rainbow Rowell's "Fangirl", except set in high school.
First off, the premise sold me - an anonymous and wildly popular webcomic artist finds herself face to face with the most popular fanfic author in the fandom she created when he transfers to her high school. It's an enticing scenario.
Eliza draws for herself, first and foremost. She's been working on a webcomic throughout high school and posting updates online on a weekly routine. Within the past year or so, it has grown an active fandom, thanks to link shares and other web-related hype. At school, Eliza is a bit of a social recluse. She has no friends, barely speaks, and just gets by, grades-wise. It's online where she flourishes. Two online friends allow her to socialize and help with her webcomic site maintenance. Her athletics-obsessed parents and younger brothers don't get her, but life is otherwise decent.
Then Wallace shows up as a new school transfer, and Eliza's perfectly crafted world starts to both blossom and wilt. She quickly discovers that Wallace is her webcomic's most prolific fanfic author and proceeds to freak out a bit (as any self-respecting introvert likely would). Wallace has started transcribing her webcomic into novel form, and Eliza is smitten, with both Wallace and his writing. Over the course of her senior year, Wallace draws Eliza out of her shell.
Wallace is a great character. I was entirely prepared to roll my eyes at this hulking, football-physique love interest, but he was written believably. The story doesn't focus much on character descriptions, and I think that's pretty wise. Instead, it introduces characters via their words, sometimes spoken but mostly written (via text messages, handwritten notes, and forum chats).
The main conflict Eliza experiences is whether or not to tell Wallace she's more than just another fan of a massively popular fandom. I figured this would also lead to some sort of drama at some point, and totally wasn't wrong. The prose was simplistic but strong. Eliza's voice is at times cynical and self-deprecating, but there was enough humor that she didn't become one-note or annoying over nearly 400 pages. This is the first novel in a long while that had me reading whenever I was able, and I got through this in two days, much faster than usual, to hell with adult responsibilities.
On top of the main conflict, there were secondary themes, from Eliza's and Wallace's socio-economic differences and divergent family circumstances, dealing with a lack of creative motivation, depression, the converging of online activities with offline life, parents flat-out not getting internet friends...there's a lot packed into this. As others mentioned, the last quarter of the novel could've stood to be more fleshed out and developed (it seemed a bit rushed), but I disagree that the plot was a cop-out (and actually dealt with a similar situation in my teens related to my parents discovering my online fandom activities, as related to fanfic and internet friends, promptly freaking out, and dealing with a downward spiral of emotions I couldn't handle and the need for therapy to work through some of those feelings). Eliza's reactions and thoughts felt realistic. So did Wallace's, even though I felt he was being quite unfair initially. This was later addressed in a way that felt satisfactory. After all, he's a teen, and they're not known for their level-headed rationality in times of high emotion.
Was this novel perfect? No. Specifically, the parts of Eliza's webcomic that got interspersed throughout the book didn't much hold my interest (although the pictures were interesting). But this book evoked some solid emotion in me, with a healthy dollop of nostalgia. It's a little love note to fandom, relatable to anyone who's ever obsessed over another maker's characters. Moreover, it works across generations, to an extent. I came of age reading fanfic in the late 90s, lurking around fan forums, and chatting on AIM and ICQ with people who shared my obsession. While this story takes place in the present, not much has really changed in that regard. It still spoke to me in my 30s.
It's worth buying a hard copy of this one too, imo. The illustrations and included forum profiles almost certainly look better in print.
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Reviews with images
Amazing
Suuuuuch a good book. I definitely recommend reading it, it was lovely. Eliza is the female lead whom suffers from depression and anxiety disorder, her character grows immensely and amazingly. I love her little brothers. They go from bratty (which what sibling isn’t) to flat out opening their parents eyes as to Eliza’s work and supporting her quietly and whole heartedly. The ILLUSTRATIONS. OMG. I LOVE THEM. This book has been so well thought out and amazingly put together. I recommend this to everyone I know. I love this book and it’s all I’m going to say because you’re just going to have to go and read it yourself. I honestly want to re-read it again and again.
Top reviews from other countries
Michelle
a journey when you get knocked down
Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2023
