Hi friends,

Today in our Top 5 Tuesday, Shanah  @bionicbookworm wanted us to talk about our top 5 book hangovers.

If I had to nominate my top book hangovers of all time, I’d come up with a list you already know for months or years as in: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma;  Birthday by Meredith Russo;  Making Faces by Amy Harmon;  A Charm of Finches by Suanne Laqueur and Full Tilt by Emma Scott.

But where would be the fun right?

So today I decided to talk about my most recent book hangovers.

Most recent as in the last three to four months max.

But first, what does a book hangover look like? How do you recognize a book hangover? Here is when Epic Reads saves the day once again! You can read their whole post by clicking on the graphic below.

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The most invalidating symptom of a book hangover is the inability of picking up a new book!

It’s a little bit like a heartbreak: nothing tastes good anymore and nothing you read seems enjoyable. Every story seems bland after the epic read you’ve just finished!

You feel adrift and lost. Like a kid who’s lost his mom or dad. Like a pup who’s lost his way home.

In one word: you kind of GRIEVE the loss of that amazing story you’ve just finished.

And you wish you could read it anew, with newbie eyes.

What are the cures?

It depends for everone.

Me? I take a day “off” reading. Then I read something easy, something “generic”, not bad but not great either. And then, when I feel better, I try to find my next fix! That story that will send me on a high, give me a rush like none other!

Books that give me hangover are not (always) ugly cry!

If a book amazed me with its writing or made me think deep or opened my eyes on something I had never seen under that angle I can get a hangover. 

So, that being said, here are my most recent book hangover and a few explanations why they made such a lasting impression!

Book Hangover because…I was left stunned, speechless and never would have guessed it:  The Life You Stole by Jewel E Ann (the duet , truly).

I was tired, went to bed and …woke up at 4 AM with Roe, Evie, Lila and Graham’s story in my head, a huge need to know what would happen and so …I resumed reading!

By the end I was going on 4 hours sleep, was in need of coffe and concealer to hid the bags under my eyes.

I had, many heated and conflicted emotions. I wanted to read for Evie and Roe. For Lila too. I got angst, sleep deprivation, tears, rage, sadness, hope, fear…. Jewel E Ann wrote a story that clearly brought me through the whole emotional spectrum. A story very, very hard to read because you FEEL for the characters and suffer alongside them but so worth it!

Book Hangover because that book opened my eyes, made me cry, feel and should be read by everyone: Someday, Someday by Emma Scott

This is a MM romance story. The romance part being very important as love is universal and we love a person, not a gender.

But this is MORE.

In her author’s note (which is one of the bests I have read) Emma Scott writes: “Max’s story has real-world reflections as well, as homelessness among LGBTQ youth are higher than the national average by a margin of 120%, and LGBTQ youth are reported to have attempted suicide at a rate five times higher than their straight peers.”

This story emphasizes the difficulties homosexuals face at being accepted for who they really are.  I thought that stories like this do more for LGBTQ and drug addicts than any medical journal or TV news. Because Emma, speaks to our hearts and opens our eyes and minds.

Book Hangover because I felt humbled at how easy my life was by the end of the story: Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

I can’t fathom how Cilka survived that hell. How she managed to survive not only Auschwitz but also Siberian camps where she will be defiled by men yet again.

Where did her enormous strength come from????

“To have lost everything. To have had to endure what she has endured, and be punished for it. How can she go on? How can she work for a new enemy? Live to see the women around her tire, starve, diminish, die. But she – she WILL live. She does not know why she has always been sure of that, why she feels he can persist but she can.

It is fire then that keeps her going. But it is also a curse. It makes her stand out, be singled out. She must contain it, control it, direct it.

To survive.”

I could not say it better than what’s on the cover “From child to woman, from woman to healer, Cilka’s journey illuminates the resilience of the human spirit – and the will we have to survive”.

BRILLIANT!

Book Hangover because the author made me believe her story was a biography where none of her characters were real! She tricked me completely! Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I was so amazed that I began looking for that band and their songs that I never had heard before …. Just to realize that they never existed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had absolutely no idea as I went into this book mostly blind!

And that’s when the extent of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s talent hit me like a Macktruck!

This sounded so real!

These people felt like real old band members, now retired and retelling their lives and adventures in vivid details.

I never found a moment, a sentence where this felt like a fictional story!

I am still in shock.

For nearly two hours of listening to part of that audiobook I was so convinced it was a biography.

Just ….WOW!

Book Hangover because of the ending and because I could identify (in my dreams) with the mom who seduced a boy from a band : The Idea Of You by Robinne Lee

This love story is intense, it’s conflicting, it’s beautiful, it’s angsty and it’s extremely well written. I can’t believe that this is Robinne Lee’s first book. She has an incredible talent to bring characters to life and give so many nuances to their feelings. She built that story like a seasoned writer and played my feelings like a maestro. It was never unbelievable, never grotesque in the exaggeration, never cliché. I am in awe.

Book Hangover because Leigh bardugo is simply brilliant and made me fall head over heels in love with SoC duology and King of Scars (Still crying on Matthias and I want to marry Nikolai)

I truly love how Leigh Bardugo weaves all these stories like a big tapestry with unexpected ramifications. She is not only an unrivalled plotter but she also gives flesh and bones to her characters in such way that they all feel real. Even the ones seen as remote side characters are written to make us root for them and bleed when we lose some! I love the sarcasm, the witty banter between dashing and extremely brilliant Nikolai and powerful Zoya.

We have twists aplenty and I have no idea how I will wait for the sequel!

Book Hangover because that story, heck, that series elated me and I just can’t get enough of it : Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

This sequel was once more exhilarating! I don’t have a better word to describe my mood and feelings while listening to Suzy Jackson brilliantly narrating Spensa’s adventures!

Brandon Sanderson gave me everything I love in epic stories:

A kickass heroine who began as the underdog and had to fight teeth and nails to reach her goal;
A new crew, comrades in arm;
A villain who is not the most obvious one in the story;
An incredible set of characters, extremely well fleshed out to make them feel like your real friends or foes once again;
A quest with many ordeals;
A fantastic world building;
Very important messages and lots of wisdom that I think many kids and adults should soak and ponder.

Let’s summarize with: I was enthralled, exhilarated, amazed and I want everyone to read/listen to it!

That’s it (for now)! Now what are either your most recent book hangovers or the most powerful or your reader’s life?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie