Book Love Overload

Do you ever feel like a book is just too good, and that you’ll never be able to perfectly encompass the way it made you feel and the beautiful experience it provided you with into a review? Do you struggle to find the right words to describe your complete love and appreciation of the exquisite piece of literature in front of you? Then you, my friend, may be experiencing what’s known as Book Love Overload (BLO). Untreated, this deadly disease can cause a struggle to articulate, lying in the foetal position while overcome by the feels, and yes, even slumps.

But why do we find it hardest to discuss or review the books we love without being reduced to inarticulate screeching, overuse of gifs or “keyboard spazzing”? Today we’ll be dissecting this problem that sweeps through the bookish community and finding ways to prevent BLO.

Become an emotionless robot.

Sometimes having a heart of steel can help combat this deadly disease, ensuring the reader not only is immune to feeling the pain of an exceptionally stunning book coming to the end, but also the joy and happiness reading the novel brought to them. In that way, the reader will be able to review what they have read with the least possible amount of feelings, ensuring their review is free from the symptoms of BLO. However, some may argue that this procedure means the reader does not get the satisfaction of fully immersing themselves in the reading experience.

We do not recommend this technique.

Put your fangirling through Google Translate.

Good Translate* has recently made a “Fangirl” setting, whereby you can smash your fingers against the keyboard in frustration that you cannot put what you’re feeling into words that any reasonable person would be able to understand. So Google Translate now translates your gibberish and screeching into words that you can simply paste onto your blog in place of a review. Here’s an example of this exemplary service:

Original

SKNAIDKDNDN OMG I CAN’T EVEN AJFKAN AHHHH

Translation

I’m overcome by emotions. I cannot express myself. It is amazing.

*not endorsed by Google Translate

Just… keep your emotions to yourself.

Not only will this method spare those around you from having to deal with your incessant screeching and hyperventilating, it will also provide the reader with a disease that is far worse than BLO and will therefore counterbalance the effects of BLO – becoming so encompassed by your own emotions that they will eventually devour you from the inside out. This is known as Animate Feels and can cause rocking back and forth, silently crying, and being kept up at night thinking about every book you’ve loved and have been unable to share with the world.

If you’re suffering from Animate Feels, please seek medical advice immediately.

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I have suffered from BLO many times, and it’s a slow road to recovery – to becoming a reviewer that can articulately and authentically share their thoughts on a book without displaying such symptoms. These are just some of the books I’ve read recently that have, unfortunately, caused BLO.

However, disputed the terrible symptoms of BLO and how debilitating it can be, BLO often provides readers with the opportunity to convey just how much they love a particular book. Sometimes words aren’t enough. Sometimes one needs to make use of blindly hitting your fingers on the keyboard, gifs and emoticons to accurately portray what they are truly experiencing. Not only does this act as a therapeutic method for the sufferer, but it also shows potential readers that they’re in for an emotional, jaw-dropping journey that will leave them with similar feelings. In a way, the symptoms of BLO also act as a type of warning – a warning that lets potential readers know of the phenomenal book they are about to pick up.

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So what are your thoughts on BLO? What books have caused this for you? How many of the books that you read do you review? How long does it normally take for you to read another book after finishing an amazing one? Let’s talk!

Images in header sourced from Clipartkid and Pinterest.

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