Once we’ve reached the last line of the very last page in our current book, we are left with this ever daunting question. Now that I’ve finished this book that has consumed my life for so many days where do I go from here? Well, you enter what is known as a book hangover. This is a mourning period so to speak where after you’ve finished a book that you formed such a deep attachment to you are left with this emotional distress now that it’s over. Much like grief, there are 5 distinct stages when it comes to book hangovers. But is there a cure for a book hangover? Is there a way to stop them all together? Before I answer that, we first have to explore each stage of a book hangover.
Denial
The first stage is denial or as I like to call it the “Nope nope nope this did NOT just happen” phase. By definition, denial is the act of refusing to believe something and doing everything in your power to make it seem untrue. This feeling might begin as you are nearing the end or the moment right after you finish the book. Denial may start as you don’t want to believe that it’s over as you are not ready to say goodbye to the characters or this world that you have fallen in love with over the course of a few hundred pages. The denial phase is often made worse if the ending of said book is left on a particularly emotional cliffhanger. I personally make this worse for myself as I can’t help but read the last page no matter how hard I try to just enjoy the reading journey as it comes. If I know the ending is just going to upset me, then I intentionally stop reading for a few days to delay the inevitable pain.
A common coping mechanism during this stage is to read fanfiction that alters the ending so it is happy instead of a gut punch. This allows us to pretend even just for a little while more that the ending didn’t actually happen and that it didn’t just tear our hearts out.
Anger
Coming off of an upsetting cliffhanger, once you are no longer in denial about it happening, now you become just plain angry. This may or may not involve throwing the book across the room or angrily slamming the cover shut with a muffled scream. You may even look so distressed that someone near you will ask the perfectly reasonable but nonetheless triggering question of “Are you okay?” The answer will of course be no and you will begin ranting to anyone who will listen about your many feelings over a certain moment or character action.
Bargaining
When our emotions are too intense whether in life or with our books, it is not uncommon to want to alleviate some of the pain. Is this where bargaining comes into play. This can involve tweeting the author to tell you what happens or beg them to send you an advanced copy because there is no way on God’s green earth that you can wait a year to see how everything is resolved. Please I need about 100 more pages! I will sell my first born to get Chain of Thorns RIGHT NOW!
Depression
After angrily throwing said book across a room a few times or begging for more with no reply, you may try to move on to a new book. This is where depression starts to sink in as you are just not ready to start a new literary journey. This is by no means a mark against the new book because no matter how good it may be you aren’t ready to let go of the world or the characters you formed such an attachment to. If it was at any other point in your life, you could have loved this book, but right now it is just not enough to move you out of your funk. Not matter what the new plot is about, you will just constantly be thinking about the other characters you just left and how they might behave in this new story. He’s not funny like Will Herondale. I miss Will. What would he do in this situation?
I will admit the only time where this was not the case was when I started reading Harry Potter as a way to move on from Empire of Storms. Maybe Harry Potter is always the answer and I’ve just found the perfect cure for a book hangover. But if not, there is one final stage you will enter…
Acceptance
Finally, after going through all the emotions above, you reach the final stage in the cycle: acceptance. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re suddenly happy or that you’ve moved past the grief that you felt. It just means that you have accepted that the book you loved ended and accepted that whatever happened actually did happen. Cordelia really did leave for Paris with Matthew after SO MUCH miscommunication with James. Yes, Aelin basically sacrificed herself for her friends. And yes, Rowan did twist the knife even further into our hearts by revealing they were married. Just because you’ve accepted it, doesn’t mean you have to be happy about it.
Unfortunately, it looks like there’s no way to skip stages or maybe I just haven’t discovered it yet. I know it’s cheesy to say time heals all wounds, but I think that might be true. I’ve have three solid book hangovers in the last few months where I’ve read so much fanfiction, scrolled endlessly through tumblr, and re-read my favorite parts over and over again just because I wasn’t ready to let those books ago. Then as time went on, it didn’t feel as all consuming as it once was. If you are currently in the midst of a book hangover or feel one coming, I know it may not feel like it now, but there is light at the end of this very dark tunnel. You will find something new to obsess over that will haunt your every waking hour. And when that too ends, as all good things do, the cycle will thus repeat itself.
featured image via canva