Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Eliza and Her Monsters

ALL THE STARS

ALL OF THEM

AND TISSUES

Ok

Words.

So.

This was beyond amazing. I cried through the last third of it. This is not a light book, and while I found the ending happy and really enjoyed reading it and laughed and marked lines, it’s also not a lighthearted book.

Eliza has severe social anxiety and, although the book names only the anxiety, she’s also very depressed.

I have never read such good representation of anxiety and depression. I mean, I probably have because I read so much I do forget a lot of it most of the time, but this was amazing in the way it voiced things I’ve thought almost word for word. The way it creeped into my mind and everything *clicked.*

I…

I think this might have genuinely helped me when I was a teenager. Maybe not, but. But. I waited so long to get treatment for myself when I knew I needed it and pretended so hard that I was making it all up that I actually started believing my own lies until things started going too far for what I could believe. And this. Is. Everything. This is IT.

I’m not making sense and I’m on too much of a book high to even care.

I’m looking at the cover of the book right now, at the little word bubble saying “her story is a phenomenon, her life is a disaster” and like.

Disaster?

That could have been me.

Not Eliza’s life, but her feelings. Her single focus, the one thing and maybe another thing on a good day that made it possible to do everything else, and still not be able to do enough to be like a person. To be anything other than vaguely functional. Go to school. Eat. Shut down your family when they try to talk you because you can’t let them know how bad it is inside you, and or because you already have to live through it and you’re sure as hell not going to talk about it and have to live through it *again* but you NEED them to see you and talk to you because you're dying and you're trapped and you don't know what to do.

You Find something (in her case, someone) you genuinely like, convince yourself you can be like a real person, you can have fun, you can fall in love, you can talk to people. Only to have everything crashing down by something that you can’t help, but what if you did things differently? Could you have stopped it? It doesn’t matter you were barely able to live, because that’s in the past and you’re in the now.

Because you don’t choose to be so stressed you can’t breathe, or so sad you feel sick. But it’s so, so hard to believe that and this book. Got. It.

Um, warnings of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, mentioned harassment, and suicidal thoughts.

On the bright side, the fandom rep was PERFECT and the bits of Eliza’s web comic that are shown are really cool!

Content Warnings

katiereadsalot7's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I had no idea I would love this so much. It was selected as book of the month and the only thing I knew was that the main character had anxiety or some disorder and, being around the same age, I thought it would be interesting to read. Little did I know midway through the book I would start almost uncontrollably sobbing for Eliza. I just want to give her a hug. I’m glad that in the end her parents—AND HER BROTHERS Sully and Church I am in AWE—were so supportive being there when she really needed them. I’m so proud of her, that she bounced back from the dark place she was in and learned her own worth, that it wasn’t dependent on her work. I think Eliza might be my new favorite character.

“My point is, we ascribe value to the things we care most about, but sometimes we don’t stop long enough to take a look at the bigger picture. You are able to see who your brothers are, separate from what they do and accomplish, but you have trouble doing the same for yourself. Worth as a person is not based on any tangible evidence. There’s no test for it, no scale. Everyone’s got their own idea of what it is. But I can tell you that Monstrous Sea is not the measure of your value in life, Eliza. Whether or not you finish it does not determine if you should live or die.”

Content Warnings

hgdammann's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

_persephone's review against another edition

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funny inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

tigerproofrock's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A tender view inside the life of a painfully shy, autistic-coded, high school senior.

Content Warnings

blueyballoon's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i have do many thoughts but mostly, i hate that i don’t have more

update 2 weeks later: i literally can’t stop thinking about this book and how much i learned to love living in the main character’s head and how much i cherished the romantic relationship in this book

multiple months later: still thinking about this book so i’m upping it to 5 stars

Content Warnings

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