Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. 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.
Three words: Super. Nerdy. Awesomeness.
I really enjoyed this book. It was written in such an easy, flowing way - the narrative never once got boring or slowed down, despite the story being about a girl who is basically a socially awkward recluse who sits in her room drawing comic books.
I liked Eliza a lot, despite the fact that she wasn't a traditionally likeable character. She kept to herself, was sullen with her family, didn't socialise. But she was super passionate about what she did and I loved that. She's mega introverted and doesn't really fit in with her family or peers at school, but she has hundreds of online friends and worshippers.
There's enough geeky fandom in here for the most hardcore fans to relate to and I liked the interspersed comicbook pages and the narrative thread of Monstrous Sea. I wish I had this as a hardcopy book instead of an ebook as I think I'd have got more out of the comic side. As an aside, Monstrous Sea read a lot like Saga, even down to the style of art. So if you liked Saga, this could be a good book for you.
Underneath the main comicbook-writing thread of the story, there are other layers about mental health, anxiety, depression, isolation and social exclusion. It's kind of darker than other geek books I've read, but was totally interesting.
The only thing I didn't fully buy into was the romance side. I wasn't a huge fan of Wallace. He was okay, but not great.
That aside, this was still a good book and definitely recommended.
4.5 stars