Skip Ahead, Skip Ahead!

I am such a bad angsty reader! I really need to own this, and I know I can’t be the only one, but… sometimes… when I know something really bad, or stressful, or emotionally upsetting is going to happen in the book I’m reading….. Iskipaheadandreadthelastchapter! Or the epilogue! EEEP! I know, I’m so bad! I can’t help it. I. DO. NOT. DO. ANGST. WELL! Even when I know the book is going to have a happy ending. Even when I know the characters will get their HEA. I trust the author. I really, really do. What I don’t trust is my anxiety! My brain is a crazy swirly place of what-ifs. And I cannot handle that when it comes to characters I’ve grown attached to. And I get attached really, really easily. I don’t do it with every book, just some. Okay, most. And it’s not always with every book by a specific author, just some of their books. And the type of angst definitely makes a difference in how far ahead I skip, and how much of the skipped-to chapter I read.

I don’t do angst between the main characters well at all. I’m more an external conflict cherisher. I love when the main characters come together against someone or something else. I skip ahead far less often when I see that coming. But when the conflict brewing is between the main characters? Nope- Bring Me The Epilogue! Even though I know it will all end well, I need to know how! And I need to know how long the resolution will take! I need answers only the last 2-4 chapters can bring me. And then I need to know exactly how many pages are between the break-up argument and the make-up sex. Once I know, I can continue on the author’s chosen journey, content in the knowledge that it does in fact all work out. I need to know if I’m going to be awake for the next 30-45 minutes, or if I need to hunker down with some tea for the next 2 hours. Hah- you thought I was going to say “or if I should go to sleep and finish tomorrow,” didn’t you? Fat chance! Not happening! I will not sleep without a solid resolution between the characters.

Now, if the conflict is external, I’ll squirrel that ending away for the next morning, content in my dreams that the baddy gets what’s coming to them and the characters I love will prevail. Sometimes that comes back to bite me in the ass and I wind up locking myself away in my office, or tuning out the world from my reading nook, so I can finish the book first thing in the morning. Because even some of those external conflicts, (*cough* Brittney Sahin *cough* Finding Her Chance *cough*) have some pretty intense, heart-stopping, ugly cry moments. And I cannot, will not, must not stop mid-conflict. Nothing will get done anyway, so I might as well power through it.

I will also read the hell out of spoilers! I won’t give anything away in my reviews, but I will scour other people’s reviews of certain books looking for that spoiler so I know just what kind of angst I’m going to be dealing with. (pssst… I’m looking at you Melanie Moreland…. I’m ready for The Amendment now.) Because for me, it really is about the journey. Once I know where the characters wind up, the joy for me is in how they got there.

Ok, so there you have it. Who’s with me? Are you an angst junkie? Or are you a spoiler fiend? And if you know of a good angsty anxiety support group, point me in that direction, wouldja!

Other angsty novels I had to skip ahead for:

Saving His Heart by Avery Maxwell

Reckless Miles by Claire Kingsley

Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score

Strictly Professional by Kathryn Nolan

Collateral Damage by April Wilson

Rough Country by Lauren Landish