Allegiant and the Book Blogging Community: A Ramble

In August I reread Divergent. Yesterday and this morning I read my way through Insurgent one more time. Allegiant doesn't come out until Tuesday, the 22nd, and I don't know what I'm going to do.
Of course I'm not the only one. You're not the only one. There are probably thousands of us sitting behind our computer screens, ranting away on our blogs, twitter, youtube or to your parents, your spouce or your kids or whatever else your medium might be. We are all waiting for that promised day when we will finally see the first few lines of the book in our hands, and we will finally find out what we have been waiting so long to know.

What. Happens. Next.

I have been with the Divergent series from almost the very beginning. I started blogging about a month after Divergent came out, and that was where I first heard of it. I read it for the first time about three months later, before there was even a name or cover to Insurgent, before there was a movie being made or a big fan base. I never think it's a bad thing to jump into a fandom late (hey, I still haven't read The Book Thief) but there is something special about having to wait a year for the next book to come out, and spending time ranting to everyone else how much this book means to you. There is something special about not knowing what will come next, because there isn't anyone there to spoil it for you, and there is no movie you could watch first. This is going to sound so hipster, but honestly, the book community online is where we discover books before they are cool. That's what we do, and there is something special about that.

It's always sad to see a final book in a series come out. It will always be sad, but even after I read the last word on the last page of the Divergent Trilogy, I know our love (assuming, hoping we all love the book) of this series will still go on. The movie, the novellas, and the love of this community, it was all because of our shared love of this wonderful series.

The problem is, some of us didn't think ahead (ahem, me) and pre-ordered the book from wherever, and it will take maybe three or four days for the book to arrive on our doorsteps. While these days pass we will be spending much of our time wondering why we, yet again, pre-ordered the book instead of going to the bookstore and getting it ourselves.

So, starting on Tuesday, I will be hiding for twitter, and blogs, and goodreads. I won't come back until I have the finished book in my hands, the last few words rattling around my mind, and a need to shed my feelings with the group of people I know will understand the most, you guys.

But of course, until then, we wait.