Every book lover knows the feeling of diving into a good story: the way you lose yourself in the words, the line between reality and this new fantasy blurring. Naturally, it comes in stages.

Stage 1: Trying to get into the story

Usually, the beginning of a book is hard to read, unless it's a sequel. You're still getting accustomed to this new world and characters, trying to learn their quirks and how the world works, all in a couple of pages, before you really know what the plot is really about.

Stage 2: The book starts to pick up

Now you're interested. The characters start to show some more depth, and you're learning what makes them tick. You're thinking, What's their motive? Why are they acting like that? You're starting to need to know what happens next.

Stage 3: The climax

Shit just got real. You're completely and utterly emotionally invested in the story, everything's falling apart, and you just want your favorite character to be okay and everything should be okay and why is it not?

Stage 4: The devastation

Maybe your favorite character just died. But something bad happened, something that's propelling both the plot and the characters now, but you just don't know how you're going to go on. But you still turn the page.

Stage 5: The end

Your fingers are itching for the sequel, or if not, you're thinking about starting the book again, cover to cover. Now you're stuck back in the real world and not really sure what life means anymore.