1. You've started to take your lingering feelings for the hero/heroine a little too seriously.
2. And you realize that all your crushes are now based on peoples' similarities to that fictional character.
3. You find yourself casually using the fake slang from the book in your real-life conversations.
4. You've started to think of "reality" as the world where the book takes place.
And you have to find a way to get there.
5. You've ordered everything else the author has ever written.
6. And furiously researched any possibility of a sequel.
Page proofs
7. Or any possibility of a movie adaptation.
8. And if there is, you set a countdown on your phone for opening night.
9. You keep your copy of the book with you most times, to reread your favorite bits when you have a free moment.
10. And the more beat-up it gets from dog-earing pages and marking passages, the more you love it.
Because it makes you feel like the book is actually yours.
11. You feel irrationally jealous of people who haven't read the book yet.
12. You've explored the book's fan fiction community online.
13. And seriously considered submitting your own.
14. Which has inevitably led to you getting into a few heated debates about the book online.
15. You've bought jewelry based on the book, and worn it with pride.
And it becomes a litmus test of sorts for potential new best friends.
16. And you've already decided on a literary Halloween costume this year.
17. You've tried to make yourself move on by starting a new book, but it just isn't the same.
18. Which makes you panic, because you might never find a story you love as much again.
19. But, after some time, you inevitably do.
20. Because whether you realize it or not, there's always room in your heart for another great book.
21. And the cycle starts all over again.
