It's been a long time since I've been to the library and I missed just spending the whole day there reading as many books as I can get my hands on. Last time I went, I felt like reading something relevant to my interests. That being "fandom." I get really invested in the books/video games/anime/manga I'm into and I love seeing others get involved as well; writing fanfiction, drawing fanart, cosplaying, and the list goes on. So when I heard Eliza and Her Monsters tackle this very topic, I was interested in reading it from the get-go. And I am glad I did.

This book follows Eliza Mirk. She is the creator of a highly successful webcomic which has a huge following in the online community. With that success comes curiosity as her fans wonder who is the creator of their favorite comic. Eliza chooses to remain anonymous to protect herself, however, things start to get out of hand when news of who she is start to surface. It's a story about self-acceptance, persistence, and understanding. It's a pretty good story for those looking to understand who they are and what the future may hold.

I want to start off by saying I liked this book. I think the overall message was a good one. Teenagers really need to read books about taking time to figure themselves out and not to worry about trying to do everything "perfectly" right after high school. They need to take time, make some mistakes, and just figure things out for themselves. I really thought those messages were an important inclusion to the book. I thought the writing style was okay. It's nothing to write home about but it did what it set out to do.

The characters, also, were okay. I never really got to the point where I felt connected to Eliza. She had to face a lot of her own insecurities and I felt she was too much of a pushover, but I get that was how she is and how she needed to work through that. My main problem with her is that she, like many other female characters in media, are portrayed as being pathetic once a guy enters their life. There's nothing wrong with dating, but to sacrifice who you are and what you love for that person? Really? Nothing irks me more... and speaking of said guy... Wallace... at first, I liked him. I really did. I thought he was sweet and kind and I was curious as to why he chose not to speak out loud. I still think he can be sweet and kind... but when he put so much pressure on Eliza to help him with his future, I thought it wasn't fair. Her health and well-being should have been first on his mind. Not how, with her success, he was going to be well off in the future. Then he got upset with her when she said she couldn't help? Because her mental health was not at a good place? He acted so entitled to her work it really was making me upset. It was selfish and inconsiderate that I really started to dislike him. It does get better towards the end but... the damage was done. The characters were my least favorite part about this book.

Still, this book is not necessarily about the characters. It's about the love one can have for a piece of fiction and the things you can create for that love. It's about the fanfiction, fanart. It's about the fans and what the fans can create when they come together. It'd a love letter to fandoms and I thought it was a pretty good one at that.

If you have any interests in fandoms or are going through a difficult time when considering what you should be doing with your future, I urge you to pick this book up. It can be quite infuriating at times, but I think you'll be able to see through to the positives well enough. Keep in mind that this book deals with anxiety, depression, and suicide. Remember: You are not alone. There is help out there for you. Just reach out and there will be a hand to hold on to you. Take care of yourselves. Be kind. 

Hope you're all having a lovely day. If not, I hope everything gets better for you. 

Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community. Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school, and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But 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.

With pages from Eliza’s webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza’s online forums, this uniquely formatted book will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.

I really liked Eliza and her monsters a lot more than I thought I would. I really just bought the ebook because I heard a lot of readers talking about how much they really loved the book. So when I found out yesterday that it was on sell for $ 2.99, I thought to myself why not buy it.

WoW I really felt bad for Eliza when people found out who she was, and then all the feelings she went through. I can understand her panic attacks, because I get them sometimes, and I feel like I can't breathe and like I am going to pass out. I really didn't start getting into the story until she meet Wallace.

Lets talk about Wallace, boy when he told his story about why he is the way he is, boy my heart about broke for him. I did get a little upset at Wallace towards the end, but only for a few seconds, then I was in love with him again.

The ending had me almost in tears, at that is what made it a 4* review and not a 3* review. I also have to say how much I loved Eliza's brothers, they were just to cute. I really also loved her two friends that are her online friends. I loved how they reacted after the reveal in regards to trying to calm things down. 

So I am so super glad I gave this book a chance.

Title:  Made You Up


Author:  Francesca Zappia

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Mental Illness


Year Published: 2015


Number of Pages: 428 pages


Date Read: 8/29/2017

Publisher:   Greenwillow Books

Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language)

5.5 stars!!!

“Sometimes I think people take reality for granted.” 

For many years now, I have been hearing many good things about Francesca Zappia’s book “Made You Up” and for a long time, I had wanted to check this book out and see what all the excitement was about. So, when I finally got around to reading “Made You Up” by Francesca Zappia, I was seriously on cloud nine after finishing this book, because this was seriously one of the most unique and awesome books I had ever read!

Alex Ridgemont is just your average girl trying to make it into college and get through the tough trials of high school, except for one thing: she has schizophrenia and is prone to seeing things that do not really exist and usually becomes extremely panicked whenever these delusions pop up. However, despite Alex having schizophrenia, she does not let that get in her way of trying to live a normal life such as maintaining a job and going out with her friends. One day however, Alex meets up with a mysterious and intimidating boy named Miles Richter and she believes that he may be the boy she met when she was younger. However, Alex thought that the mysterious boy she met when she was younger was a part of her hallucinations and she tries to figure out if Miles is real or not. 

Wow…just wow… This novel was simply amazing! I just cannot get over the romantic, mysterious and intensifying tone of this novel! Francesca Zappia’s writing is both witty and intense at the same time as I got immersed into the mystery plot of the story that involves Principal McCoy’s secret dealings within the school and also trying to figure out what events is Alex hallucinating and what events are actually real. I also loved the way that Francesca Zappia explored schizophrenia through Alex’s character as we get to see firsthand how schizophrenia works and how it affects the people who have it and we get to see Alex struggle with her condition as she is trying to distinguish between reality and fantasy and how she feels so conflicted because of this. I was also shocked by the huge twist that happens in the plot towards the end of the story as I was thrown off by this revelation and it took me quite by surprise! But probably the best part of this story were the characters themselves! I really enjoyed the witty bantering going on between Alex and Miles as they constantly bicker with each other, but they really understand each other’s situations and they try to be there for each other, no matter how difficult the situation gets. I also liked the fact that both Miles and Alex have so much interest in world history that the scenes where they are reciting certain parts from history, especially World War II with such ease, are truly adorable to read through! I really enjoyed Alex herself as a character because she represents the conditions of having schizophrenia and I like the fact that despite her occasional temper tantrums, Alex always tries to look on the bright side of things and tries to live a normal life, despite her condition, which is extremely uplifting! Now, Miles is probably my most favorite character in this book since he also has a condition where he cannot distinguish emotions from other people and tends to act rude towards other people, because he does not understand about how he affects other people. I just loved the fact that despite arguing with Alex through most of the book, Miles really does care about Alex and he is always trying to be there for Alex during her rough moments and seems to really understand Alex’s condition.



For anyone who does not like strong language, this novel has a surprising amount of strong language for a young adult novel, including words like the “s” word and the “f” word. 

Overall, “Made You Up” is seriously one of the best books about mental illness that I had ever read and I cannot wait to read more of Francesca Zappia’s other works!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog