Reading is Just Sanctioned Obsession

(and we like it)

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Reading is literally admissible obsession. It’s socially tolerable crying fits as an adult. It’s going to sleep at 2 a.m. because you CHOSE to make yourself suffer.

And if you couldn’t guess, I’m absolutely okay with that.

If you’ve ever read a book, fallen in love with a character, then proceeded to follow them across seventeen fanfics, three Pinterest boards, a Spotify playlist, and one unhinged TikTok slideshow after the other, you know exactly what I mean.

We are not reading for balance. We are reading to descend into a hell of our making.

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🕮 This Week’s Bookish Mood

me, every other month: Yeah, I finished the book. Move on? No, I live here now.

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I thought about this a lot while I was bingeing Riot House like my life depended on it. That book hooked me so hard I made videos dragging everyone in, plus made it my entire personality for a suspicious number of weeks.

It was exactly the kind of obsession that felt delicious: dark academia, twisted romance, a male lead who wasn’t just generically mean, but epically, irrevocably, catastrophically in love.
(if I wasn’t already crashing out, his internal monologue confessing his love was the moment I fully lost it)

I wouldn’t change a thing. Because sometimes we don’t want realism.
We want the insane tension.
We want to scream when characters make dumb decisions and immediately fold like, I would forgive him too, babe. Same.

Not to go all ‘therapist mode’ but I do believe books let us channel real feelings in imaginary ways.
we endure and welcome fictional pain because it's the only place we can process those emotions without immediate consequences.

… other times we’re just having a blast intellectually thirsting over a man who’d absolutely fail a psych evaluation

The funniest part is this acceptable hyper-fixation doesn’t stop at books.
We dive headfirst into the fics.
We follow the characters into 87 slightly different alternate universes because we simply cannot and will not let go.

And at times *dun dun dun* we cross over into the forbidden territory: the hate-read.

Case in point: Zodiac Academy.
Nine. Books.
Practically twenty if you count every novella and anthology.
Did I love it? No. Did I dedicate a whole YouTube video to it? Absolutely.
Did I read every review like I was fighting for my life? Yes.

Because obsession often isn’t about liking something.
It’s about needing to see it through.

It’s that justifiable madness that makes reading so addictive.
And hey, being ‘unwell’ is half the fun, ain’t it?

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Your Turn 🤗

What’s the last book you couldn’t let go of? I’m talking “This book owns me!”, "It ruined me", "I’m still hate-reading it, please send help"

Let me know in the comments, I love hearing what’s currently devouring your brain.

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Final Note

Books are escapes, yes. But more than that, they’re invitations. To feel and to find your community.

If you’re in the chat, you know I’ve been bingeing our current Fanfiction Anonymous book club read on wattpad. I forgot how joyful it is to read with people who immediately comment on the exact paragraph you were yelling about. It feels like I’m on a sleepover with all my besties and someone is always saying exactly what I’m thinking.

So if you’re here obsessing, you're not alone. I’m right there with you, clutching my non-existent pearls and screaming in the chat. Thanks for joining the sleepover.

𓂃🖊 Rachel

Nostalgic throwback as Clippy suggests you read:

📎Why fanfiction gets in your blood and refuses to get out

📎Straight from the group chat: 7 books that annihilated our collective brain cells

📎The dark romance book that will put you in a chokehold