For those of you that are overly observant, I’m sure you have noticed a severe lack of book reviews lately. As a matter of fact, there hasn’t been a single one since Feb. 3rd. The reason? Tahereh Mafi. That’s right…I’m throwing her highness under the proverbial bus. But, I assure you it is for a very good reason. On Feb. 4th the last novel in the Shatter Me series hit stores. (It’s called Ignite Me…you can buy it HERE.) I (like sooooo many others) have been waiting desperately for this book…for almost a year. So I cleared my schedule. Spent Monday re-reading Unravel Me (book #2) to prepare myself, then got a good nights sleep (Pfft! Ok, yeah…that’s crap.) so I could dive right in to book #3 the second I could get my overly eager man-hands on it. Lucky for me I got it pretty early in the day. Unlucky for me, I had a million blog related things to do. So I curbed my eagerness and did what any good blogger would do. I cried. 
Then… I got to work. Long story short (so I can get to the actual point of this post) by noon I was done with my duties, and by 6:00pm I was finished with Ignite Me. (Yes, you read that correctly…I read a 416 page book in 1 sitting in 6 hours.) I devoured it. But a few minutes after I finished I realized something. I read it too fast. I was so eager to find out what happened that I didn’t savor it, and my mind went into lock-down mode. 
I couldn’t think of anything else. I was so stuck in Mafi’s world that mine suddenly ceased to exist. So I read it again. And then I read it again. After 3 times I realized I had a problem. I was suffering from PTWD (Post Traumatic Warner Disorder) and unless I could find something else to occupy my mind, KO was screwed. So I did the only thing I knew to do.. I picked up another book. And I hated it. So I picked up another one. And I hated that one too. Again…. Total crap! 
Up until this point I had never had the pleasure of suffering from a book hangover. Honestly…I thought it was a myth. (I apologize to those of you I made fun of. And by made fun of I mean screamed “total bullshit!” at.) I get it now. There are such things as black holes and bookcases of emotions. But, that doesn’t stop me from wondering… SHOULD a book cause you to totally lose your shit? I read more than the average person. I consider myself slightly intelligent. I am crystal clear on what is reality and what is fiction, so what was it about THIS book that turned me into a person completely incapable of enjoying ANYTHING else? 
Was it just THAT GOOD? Was I more than moderately (maybe even obsessively) invested in the characters? Did I see pieces of myself inside this brilliant work of fiction? Whatever the case may be, I found myself staring down the barrel of unforeseeable after-effects. The most important being that I am a book blogger who suddenly didn’t want to pick up another book! Talk about other books? Sure… But actually read one? NO! Everything I touched I compared to Ignite Me, which isn’t fair to those other books. AND…if I can’t be fair, I can’t do my job properly. Thankfully… I have since regained my mental stability. 
And…yes, I am starting to read again. But I wanted to ask all of you WTF was going on? Have YOU ever suffered from a book hangover? Have you ever read anything so perfect that you couldn’t imagine moving on from it? Did you lose your ever loving mind like I did? Please…tell me that I’m not alone.
Of course you’re not alone! It happens to me all the time. Usually for me it is because a book has me so emotionally invested that I can’t stop thinking about it. I have a couple of books that I’m still waiting for the sequel (hello Crow’s Row) but I can still tell you everything that happened in the book because I remember it so well (which hardly ever happens!). I have the feeling the book I’m currently reading is going to be like that since I already can’t stop thinking about it, and I’m only like 25% into it. *sigh*
Gahhh…. Crow’s Row!!! That book ripped me to shreds. I am dreading/can’t wait for the sequel. (If she ever freaking finishes it.)
And come on now…WHAT BOOK??? You can’t drop a bomb like that and not spill the beans. Share…share my friend. 🙂
Torn From You by Nashoda Rose. You have to read the prequel novella first, With You, otherwise I think the story wouldn’t make as much sense. But it is VERY dark so far. So take that as a word of caution to those who don’t like dark stories.
And I completely agree about the sequel to Crow. I keep stalking her Facebook page for updates. Last I heard was January but obviously we have passed that.
Awesome. *adds it to TBR* And I know what you mean, I actually stopped following her feed because I got so frustrated with the “almost done” statuses. I figured out of sight out of mind until I saw it in the new releases.
I love everything about this post right down to the crazy gifs. Welcome to the book hangover club. I nominate you to be the chair of our first meeting. After we profess our undying love for Warner we can tackle other important issues….like Emmy and Cameron ☺️
Ahhhh Warner *sigh* All this Emmy & Cameron talk is pushing me towards a reread. Can we make that a club requirement?
You are so not alone. I recently made a promise to myself to not procrastinate and read all the last books of all these series I had started. There were like 5 I needed to read. So weirdly enough I start off this goal by reading the last book of my least favorite series. It was so bad that it literally sucked the life out of me. I couldn’t get to any of the others for a week… Then I read the last book in one of my favorite series and it was so so… again sucking the life out of me. I read the other three and they were actually really well done but I was so drained by the other two that I couldn’t even really be fully and truly happy. It was one of the weirdest experiences ever! I still have a few more books to read that will end a series but I’m seriously dreading it. I’m tempted to just not read them… Lordy, these reader problems, yo!
It IS a weird feeling. It’s so hard to describe, I’m glad other readers can relate. I thought I was losing it. As for series…they are my hardest to handle. I read so many firsts for review purposes, then run out of time to read the rest of the series. I usually spend the majority of my holiday break rereading just so I have a clue of what’s going on. THEN, once I’ve caught up I’m so involved I pretty much ignore civilization. Eating is an option not a mandatory life saving necessity.
A reread of Crow should absolutely be a club requirement. But I just don’t know if I can handle that ending again! It was brutal. Ripped my heart out. I just need the sequel to come out now!