Back in January of 2018, I picked up “Eliza and Her Monsters” by Francesca Zappia for the first time. I read the whole book in one sitting captivated by Zappia’s writing and story formatting. The words on the page spoke to me and I felt found. Since January of last year, I’ve reread the “Eliza and Her Monsters” four more times. At the end of September, I discovered that Zappia would be releasing a new book on Oct. 1. I was ecstatic about another book from her. I begged my mother to buy me her new book for my birthday (Oct. 2nd). On my birthday, one gift my mother handed it to me was in a rectangular book shape. I carefully tore the white and gray wrapping paper to reveal a rainbow cover with one color blending into the next. It appeared that the rainbowish color was fog in a forest. In the middle of this forest was a dark cabin. A feeling inside me struck. Was this a Halloween book? I pondered excitedly.  I ran my hand over the shiny lettering and opened the book.

The inside of the book revealed a drawn out map with silly notes from, presumably, the characters. Flipping past the map was an illustration of each character. Not knowing anything about the storyline at all, I was confused.  Is the book about a group of characters? Are they all family? Only time would tell for me to find out. I finally flipped to chapter one to discover what the novel was about.

“Now Entering Addamsville” is a contemporary young adult paranormal novel following a teenage girl, Zora, who can see ghosts and her town, Addamsville, is full of them. In fact, not just full of ghosts, but known for its ghost stories, yet Zora is the only one to know they’re true. When a crime, clearly done by a paranormal creature, happens, Zora knows that she must catch the creature to save her town, but that becomes a lot more difficult when she is the one being framed for the crime.

As the book began, I was disappointed. There was a lot of background knowledge that was executed poorly. It was told in random scenes that had nothing to do with the overall plot. At some points, it felt like a rant from the author. For example, there was a whole paragraph dedicated to how amazing dogs are. The randomness of these scenes was choppy and made the writing, at first, feel young and inexperienced. 

After the first third of the book, it was like a switch got flipped. All of a sudden Zappia’s words began to flow together and the plot ran smoothly with the complex character dynamics. It became rather intriguing and I could not put the book down. I devoured the rest of the story and it left me content while wanting more. 

Zappia’s paranormal world is elaborate and intricate, yet the story doesn’t center around the world. It centers around Zora, who got tied into the paranormal aspects of this world. This changed the reading dynamic entirely. It made the satisfaction character-based over plot and although they both end well, as a reader any faults with the plot in the ending are overlooked.

The characters’ endings were absolutely gorgeous and I can’t get enough of this crew. Their care and love for one another are aspiring and not overdone. The perfect amount of friendships and family care put into Zappia’s novels warms my heart.

Overall, I’d rate the novel ⅘ stars. The beginning was messy, but the rest of it made me re-fall in love with Zappia’s writing style. It has enough ghosts to fulfill the spook factor, but warn your friends to bring tissues to read.