how to cope with a book hangover




you know the feeling: you read the last sentence of the book, slam it shut, and promptly explode with a plethora of FEELINGS and EMOTIONS. how are you expected to continue living after reading that? how does one carry on????? CONGRATULATIONS! you’re officially suffering from a chronic illness* often known as THE BOOK HANGOVER. okay, maybe i shouldn’t be congratulating you, but be happy that you’ve had the pleasure of reading a book as emotional and fantastic as the one you just finished! luckily, i have a few tips & tricks for dealing with book hangovers.

*the book hangover is not an official-official illness……… yet

reread parts of the book, or simply reread the entire book (or series)

one common mistake of dealing with book hangovers is that people often try to push it away, read something else, or forget about it. but little do they know that this does the exact opposite of what you desire. you need to feed into the hangover. have the urge to reread that memorable section? READ IT. sections build up and you just want to reread the entire book/series? nothing’s stopping you! pick it up and relive the words.

make or find internet things related to said book – playlists, fan edits, aesthetic posts, fan fiction, etc.

people on tumblr are (usually) fantastic. you will find music playlists that will make you feel all the feels all over again; you will see graphics, edits, and/or aesthetics that make you feel like you’re reliving the story; you will find fan fiction based on the characters and settings, making you reimagine the world. it will be terrible; it will be fantastic; it will be terribly fantastic. and after finding all those things, you may be inspired the create your own version of these things. GO. INSPIRE. CREATE.

scream talk to someone about the book

the book community is here for a reason. ~expel all the feels~ there will probably be someone out there who has read the book (even if it hasn’t been released yet). talk to them! scream together; cry together; reread together. do your thing. and if you can’t find anyone who’s read the book and feels the same way you do about the book, be a book pusher. talk about how fantastic and magical this book is; shove it in their faces; tell people to READ IT READ IT READ IT. and of course, don’t forget to remain spoiler-free, so those who do read it will suffer experience all that you’ve experienced.

write a review and/or discussion post

this is probably the most effective way for me to get over my book hangover. i type out (or talk out, if you’re a booktuber) all my thoughts: what loved about the book, what i didn’t love, what surprised me, which characters i wanted to hug, which parts i cried, and every. little. detail. include gifs and quotes and EVERYTHING. you don’t even need to publish this review/discussion (if you’re not a book blogger or just don’t want to). for me, writing the review itself is enough to cope with the book hangover.

when you’re ready, pick up another book

CONGRATS! (for real this time) you’ve gotten over your book hangover and should be ready to move on. this book will always have a special place in your heart, but you should be emotionally and mentally stable enough to continue. pick up another book – maybe in the same genre, maybe in a completely different genre – and hopefully, or not so hopefully, go through the experience all over again.

(if you still have not full recovered, i recommend continuing to reread and make/find bookish things related to the book. if the hangover persists, contact your local bibliophile and hopefully they will be able to offer some physical assistance – ie. indulging on all your ice cream, watching sad movies, etc.)

i hope this guide was helpful to your book hangover! i was inspired to write it after my own hangover from THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING; have you ever experienced a book hangover? how do you generally cope? let me know in the comments!