By Celeste Eback, Opinion Editor

Attention all art students suffering from crippling social anxiety, severe imposter syndrome, and thriving in online spaces, I have just the book for you. “Eliza and Her Monsters” by Francesca Zappia is a story of a high school comic artist struggling with ordinary life and popularity in the online world.

Eliza Mirk is a senior in high school who doesn’t have many friends. To most, she’s just an everyday girl—another head in the crowd who likes drawing. Everyone’s aware of her online personality, LadyConstellation, who’s the author of the popular webcomic, “Monstrous Sea”, but not a single person is aware Eliza is LadyConstellation. However, when her secret comes out, it creates more problems than it solves. Can she find a way to balance being in the spotlight while being a high school student, or will she crack under pressure and be consumed in the waves of her anxiety and never leave her head?

As an artist myself, I adored this book. I feel like it truly captured what it feels like to be an art kid in high school—always wanting to create but never wanting to tell anyone what you create. The writing was phenomenal, as well. The variety of media in this book (texts, forum posts, profiles, artwork) elevated the writing. It shows just how many other things can truly tell a story. My only critique is that the romance arc in this story could use some fine-tuning. Also, the ending did fall a little flat for me. I do believe that the actions that Eliza took to start helping herself were what she needed to do, but it felt a little too rushed. However, it was still an amazing experience nonetheless, and still highly recommend this.