School, Loss, and Other Things That Get You Down

Hello, you awesome people!

I haven't done a blog update in awhile, and after realizing I haven't posted a review since August 27th (!!!) I figured I should probably give a heads up about why.

It started with a writing slump. I was having trouble writing reviews over the summer, for a multitude of reasons. The main thing though was that I just couldn't seem to get the words down on the page. It was (and still is!) driving me absolutely crazy. I'm one of those people that will agonize over reviews, wanting to make them as best as they can be. And recently, writing reviews is like pulling teeth for me. Which, frankly, sucks.

Then this thing called anxiety happened. Actually, I should say, this thing called school happened. Which caused my anxiety to spike. You see, dear readers, I have severe anxiety. It gets to the point where I can barely do anything but crawl in my bed and cry. And, sadly, it gets to that point more often than not recently. School is a lot of pressure, and it kind of brings out the worst in me. I worry about every little aspect of it. The social, the educational, the whole-this-could-dictate-my-future-thing, all of it creates this black whole vortex that I get swept away in. Essentially, it's not awesome. And has been really wrecking me for blogging.   

Then, at the end of the month, the worst thing so far happened. My grandfather passed away suddenly on September 21st. We didn't know how sick he was. We all thought he was going to make it through. It was really, really hard. That Tuesday, my family flew in from Ireland to be together. It was great to see them, and I think it really helped all of us get through it. We didn't expect it, but they all ended up staying at my house. Which barely fits three. And had to house nine. Although it was squishy for awhile, it was so nice to be together. There were lots of ups and many many downs this last week and no time for anything but my family. The last of them flew out Monday night so I'm just getting back into the swing of things. 

Just in time for my two midterms, one midterm debate, and a midterm essay. All within the week. Joy. 

So, I guess I'm going on a bit of a reviewing hiatus. I hate that I have to do this. I really don't want to. I hope it won't be long. I hope I'll be back reviewing by the end of the month. But, really, I can't know for sure. Reading and blogging are two of my favorite things and to have to push those both to the side is really breaking my heart. I'll still have some posts going up (blog tours and such) but as for straight up reviews, those will be few and far between if any go up at all. Sorry to the publishers who sent me ARCs that I haven't reviewed yet. I'll get there, just not right away. And sorry, readers, that I'm failing at this whole blogging thing. I hope to be back and better than ever in due time.

**This will NOT affect the Courtney Summers Read-Along. That event will still go on as scheduled. This event is something I really have been looking forward to and, dammit, I'm going to keep it going**

So, that's it for me. I'll still be on Twitter, and feel free to email me. I'll be back soon (hopefully very soon) and can't wait to see you guys then. 

- Ciara (Lost at Midnight)