how to overcome the most horrible reading slump you ever had

let's hold hands and stare into the void together

I’m a little insane.

but hopefully you are two and this won’t feel as weird, you know?

I always believed I had a healthy relantionship with stories (like, books—not Instagram—ew) until I discovered the 2005 movie version of “Pride and Prejudice”. the first time I watched that movie—on my very old, very well used vaio laptop—I immediatly pushed play again right after finishing it.

I just needed to watch it again.

easy to say that movie—and the Jane Austen novel that created it, of course—became my whole personality. it still is and, to me, it’s one of the greatest movies ever made.

yes, I will die on that hill.

I should have known, though. that wasn’t my first encaunter with an obsession. “High School Musical” held that title before, and the “Harry Potter” series before that. hiperfixating, I know understand, is just part of who I am. I’ll obsess over something until I can’t take it anymore, but I'll still hold it dear in my heart for a very long time.

I mean, I still know the lyrics to every HSM song, and I have an HP tattoo (as bittersweet as that is in 2025).

but I haven’t experienced this level of hyperfixation before. “The Empyrean” book series has me in a chokehold, enough to me keep me in a reading slump that’s lasting weeks. the third book of the series, “Onyx Storm”, was released more than a month ago, and I haven’t finished another book since.

I learned—by following the same pattern I did with “Pride and Prejudice”, re-reading all books immediatly after my first read—that it’s possible to miss fictional characters. I really miss them all, and I feel like keeping myself in the universe, is a way to have them close.

I can’t stop thinking about the story, reading theories about book 4 and obsessing over Rebecca Yarros’s Instagram updates, hoping she’ll drop a hint that she’s writting again.

I know, I have a problem.

but I swear it’s not my love for this story.

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there’s more to a hiperfixation

the first thing I did when drafting this post was google ‘why do we hiperfixate’. I shouldn’t be surprised that the first answer was:

people hyperfixate to cope with difficult feelings, such as stress, anxiety, or depression.

huh.

reading more about it, I learned that “a hyperfixation is an intense focus on an object, activity, or person that drives someone to ignore everything else in their daily lives”, and that it’s common in people with ADHD or autism—but anyone can hyperfixate.

so I started reflecting on the beggining of my 2025. the season blues definetly got the best of me. my best friend spent February—in full—away from Canada (she was enjoying a much needed sun-and-beach therapy in Brazil), snowmaggedon took over Montreal and, again, life felt a little meh.

even though I’ve never been diagnosed, I’ve always suspected I’m on the autism spectrum. regardless, I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole life.

so the hiperfixation made sense.

I was coping with feelings that I didn’t really want to face.

and that’s ok.

so when the “Onyx Storm” release approached, I used the opportunity to re-read “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame” and take a full three weeks focused only on reading those books. of course, life was still being life and work was the same, chores were always there waiting to be done, and hanging out with friends (when possible) still happened.

but I also got super sick in the meantime and lost all motivation, so reading was my coping mechanism, my safe place.

(it usually is, I have to say.)

I didn’t expect the crash to be so strong though. I set a reading goal for the year, and after “Onyx Storm” I tried to tackle my TBR. granted I might not have made the best decisions—all books were nonfiction (I tried five different titles), and the fiction book I did try to read was one I didn’t finished long about because I thought the pace was to slow for me.

sorry Addie LaRue fans, I still don’t like it.

it became a little unberable, you know? so I did what every ‘90s-kid-millennial-woman-raised-by-Disney would do in this situation: I dramatically threw the book I was trying to read against the wall, allowed myself a good cry and finished by screaming “ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!” to the void.

my dog was not impressed.

but latin dramatics aside, it did the trick. I took seriously the words of a friend that said “only another hiperfixation will fix your current one” and alowed myself to overload on “The Emperyan” series by consuming as much content I could until I was sick to my stomach and another obsession caught my attention.

out of nowhere, I wanted to re-watch all 12 seasons of “Bones”.

but most of all, I just needed time to let myself feel the miserable feelings those books made me feel, the nostalgia, the the longing, the ‘omg, what’s gonna happen, now?!’. I needed to read my favourite scenes again and again, and see other people’s reaction to the ending so I wouldn’t feel alone.

and once I felt everything, my attention moved somewhere else.

granted, I can’t think too much about it—otherwise I’ll lose myself to the loop again—but hey, progress, right?

do you have any good advice on how to power through a reading slump?

let me know in the comments!

how to overcome the most horrible reading slump you ever had

listen, I’m not cured. reading is still difficult, and I’m struggling to finish “The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue” just to take that damn book out of my reading bucket list. but I saw someone write on notes the other day that there are seasons in life when you won’t read as much, and that’s ok.

it really is.

so overcoming a reading slump is not just about finding another good book to read (there’s always another good book to read), but allowing yourself to feel your emotions and giving youself time to process that story before moving on to the next.

so here are the things that are helping overcome this, one day at a time.

1.don’t force it

if you don’t feel like reading, then don’t. listen to the voice of reason (my failed experience) and slowly drop the book you’re currently holding. yes, that’s it. you can do it. just drop it. there you go! good job.

don’t force yourself to do something you don’t really feel like just to keep up with your fable reading goal.

2.deep dive if you need to

as I said before, I hiperfixate. my whole personality became Xaden and Violet’s relationship and I regret nothing. I watched hours of tiktok with theories, read tons os reviews, listen to the “Fantasy Fangirls”’s deep dive like it was mess on a sunday morning.

I was Cady Heron thinking “I spent 80% of time talking about Regina The Emperyan series, and the other 20% of the time praying for someone else to bring her it up so I could talk about her it more!”

I realized, however, that’s part of being a fan. so I let myself be a fan of something I loved. until I felt ready to move on.

3.pay attention to what you pay attention to

for some mysterious reason (the opposites attract trope), Violet and Xaden reminded me of Bones and Booth, from the 2005 TV show “Bones”. I loved the show and binge-watched it with the same passion I did everything else I really loved until (I believed) they messed up the plot on season 6.

but it’s been a while since I watched it, so why not do it again?

you know what you need better than you give yourselff credit for. paying attention to what’s grabbing your attention matters because it shows where the comfort you believe you need will come from.

4.go for walks

when I got bored and couldn’t read the same scenes anymore, or watch another tiktok with the same ‘omg, what?!’ moments, I went for a walk with my dog. I would leave my phone at home so I wouldn’t be tempted to keep watching stuff online, but walking allowed me to exercise, process my thoughts and feelings and just get out of the house a little bit.

(even though walking in the snow is worse than leg day at the gym.)

5. journal if you have to

I’m not ashamed to say I dedicated two (or three) entries to those books. I needed to write about them, understand why I loved them so much, and live through the heartbreak of knowing I’ll only truly know how the story continues in two (or three, or more) years.

I journaled. my journal is just for me, so I can write about whatever I want. you can too.

6.when it’s time to read, make the effort

that’s what I’m doing. I’m almost done with Addie LaRue and have a few other books lined up, and all I can think is ‘hey, I can do this! I can finish this book. c’mon, just one more page’, like I’m talking to a five-year old struggling to eat their veggies.

the pep talk helps. of course, I’m not going to keep reading a book I absolutely hate—life’s too short for that—but people kept recommending V.E. Schwab’s book to me for a reason, and I want to know what it is.

so if you need to make some extra effort to go back to reading, do it. it’s different than forcing yourself to read when you really don’t feel like it, but when you’re ready, give it a little push.

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maybe this whole essay was just an excuse for me to talk about Rebecca Yarros’ books a little more (I can hear that little voice in my head saying ‘maybe we should read it again’), but hopefully this will make it easier for you to master your own book slump.

reading is such a joyful habit, it saddens me when I don’t feel like it all because I’m fantasizing that a 6’2’’ fictional shadow-wielding man is my boyfriend, but it happens.

whatcha gonna do, am I right?

hey, did you enjoy this essay? if your answer is ‘yes’, can I ask you a huge favor? share it with someone you love - it might do wonders for them too! you only need to hit the buttom below:

that’s it for today.

take care,

maki.