While the concept of a novel about a teenage girl writing a webcomic might be appealing to a younger audience, I wouldn’t recommend this book to be given to anyone younger than high school age. Overall, I think this book would be an excellent teaching tool.

The element of the webcomic and the relationship that Eliza has with Wallace and her brothers is enough to keep boy readers engaged in the narrative too. And while this is told from the point of view of a female character, I think Zappia does a good job at not creating such a sappy story that would only be appealing to girls. It’s also a pretty great depiction of mental illness and how it can affect teenagers without running the risk of romanticizing it.

I think this novel would be really good for young adults because a lot of people can relate to how Eliza feels throughout the whole novel, the isolation she feels at school and the sense of community and breath of fresh air that she feels when she logs into her Lad圜onstellation account.

The complexity of Eliza’s story and how it’s intertwined with her famous webcomic is just so well written, Zappia really did an amazing job incorporating this types of multimedia into a novel. So far, this is definitely one of my favorite Young Adult novels I’ve ever read, and trust me, I’ve read a lot. Typically I veer away from the books that seem to have pictures scattered into the narrative or text conversations throughout, but the way that Zappia crafts the narrative around those is, for lack of a better word, amazing. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.īut when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built-her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity-begins to fall apart.” Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Online, she’s Lad圜onstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless.

Eliza's monsters