I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember; it started with being tucked into bed with a fairytale on my nana’s lips. she would never shy away from the original stories, never dulling down their gothic roots by painting it with a childish glow. I can see now that’s why in my adulthood I feel a phantom thread pulling me towards dark fairytales. In my teenage years, I spent so much time watching booktube. sarah j maas was just beginning to release throne of glass and then a court of thorns and roses, and it’s really nostalgic to see how those books are living a second life here on booktok in my adulthood. the most important book in my teenage years goes to daughter of smoke and bone by laini taylor— it was the book that made me want to become a writer. when I met the author a few years after reading the book, I was so in awe of this person with a brilliant mind but who was also so kind and generous with her readers. these pivotal and formative years shaped my love of fantasy, and the authors I met inspired and encouraged my own storytelling. and now in my adulthood, I can see that what I read now is an accumulation of every book that came before. I am the reader I am now because of those books, and for that I am forever changed and grateful. I would also like to thank my nana, because although she may not remember this now, she gave her love of magic and reading to me. I promise to hold it close and pass it on to someone else someday. and in the words of 18 year old me: “I am lost and found between the pages of someone else’s story”. those words are still as true as the day I wrote them. only now, I also get lost inside my own. #BookTok #creatorsearchinsights #bookish #BookRecommendations #romantasy #bookcommunity #swiftie - @hannahtherosereads