Writing That Feels Like Magic
For me, it all starts with the writing. Not in a fancy or overly literary way, but in the sense that I want to actually feel like I’m inside the story. I love when an author’s descriptions are so vivid that I can picture the scene in my head, hear the background sounds, and almost feel the air around me. That’s when I know a book has me hooked.
When it comes to thrillers, I like writing that’s clean and direct, the kind that keeps your heart racing and your eyes glued to the page. But for fantasy or romance, I’m a total sucker for poetic prose. I want the kind of lines that stop me in my tracks, that I have to reread just to appreciate how beautiful they are. Fairydale, anything by Sarah J. Maas, and Alchemised by Senlinyu all gave me that exact feeling.
Writing style matters to me, but it’s not everything. I can look past a few flaws if the story or characters make me feel something real. What I love most is when a book pulls me in so completely that I forget I’m reading at all. That’s when it feels like magic.
Characters That Feel Real Enough to Ruin My Week
If the writing pulls me in, it’s the characters that keep me there. I fall hard for morally gray characters, the ones who make questionable choices but have a story behind every scar. I want to dig into their pasts and understand why they are the way they are. Give me found-family dynamics, soul-deep bonds, and people who love each other so fiercely it hurts a little.
I’m drawn to characters who have lived through something painful but still find ways to laugh or hope. I love the sarcastic side characters who add warmth and humor to dark stories, and the ones who quietly carry more emotion than they let on. Basically, I want to feel like these people could walk right out of the book and ruin my week by not being real.
What loses me are characters who stay flat or never grow. I get frustrated when someone is stubborn or clueless just for the sake of drama. I need characters with purpose, with dreams, with something in them that feels alive.
Sometimes I see pieces of myself in a character, and other times I find someone I wish I could be. Either way, they leave their mark. The best ones always do.
The Feelings That Stay With Me
No matter the genre, I read for the emotions. Sometimes I want a book that feels like a warm hug, something comforting that makes me feel safe and seen. Other times, I want to absolutely fall apart. I want my heart shattered in a way that somehow puts it back together stronger. I want to cry, reflect, and feel everything a character is feeling like it’s my own.
Some stories heal me in ways I didn’t know I needed. Others inspire me or make me rethink things I thought I already understood. I’ve even had books that I can tie directly to songs I love, where every lyric feels like it was written for that story.
I’m always drawn to themes like grief, resilience, healing, and love after loss. I don’t mind if the story is dark and emotional or soft and cozy, as long as it makes me feel something real. I want the plot to move, the characters to grow, and the world to keep unfolding until the very last page. And when I finish, I want to sit there for a while and just let it all sink in. That’s when I know I’ve fallen in love with a book.
Why I Keep Falling in Love with Books
At the end of the day, it always comes back to how a story makes me feel. I don’t care what genre it is or how many pages it has — if it stirs something inside me, I’m in. Books have this quiet way of finding you when you need them most. They remind you that you’re not alone, that love can look a hundred different ways, and that healing is never linear but always possible.
That’s what Fictional Therapy is for me. It’s a space to fall apart and piece yourself back together through the stories that make you feel alive. It’s a place to cry over fictional deaths, swoon over fictional love interests, and maybe even see yourself reflected somewhere between the lines.
If you’ve ever closed a book and just sat there, feeling everything and nothing all at once, you’re in good company here.