You’ve all been through it. You started a new book series or started to binge-watch a TV show on Netflix. You grow excited and think to yourself: “This has got to be the best thing since sliced bread.” But then you get too excited. You love the show so much that you follow its Instagram account, add the actor and actresses on twitter, or scroll through hashtags relating to the book series. Or maybe you do nothing more than walk in on a conversation your friends are having about the episode you missed the night before and then *BAM* disaster strikes. You come across a spoiler and your reactions are strangely similar to the five stages of grief.

Here is the breakdown to reading a spoiler.

 

1)    SHOCK

Immediately your mouth drops open and your eyebrows raise up. It takes you a second to process. Did you actually just read that?

 

2)    DENIAL

No no no, you think to yourself as you stare at said spoiler, mouth agape. You tell yourself that it can’t be true; there is no way that the author would kill off the main character. There’s no chance that John would leave Rachel for Stephanie.

3)    ANGER

 

This is an obvious one. Soon after reading the spoiler, you’re filled with rage. You want to break your phone in half or maybe go cry angry tears in the corner.

 

4)    SELF-BLAME

 

You might even blame yourself, asking, “Why did I think it was a good idea to search through #GameofThrones on twitter when I have only seen two seasons?” or “Why would I look at [insert show here]’s Instagram post when I missed last night’s episode and haven’t been able to watch it yet?”

 

5)    SULKING

You just sit in the corner and mope, not wanting to do anything but lay on the floor and think about everything except what you just read. You wonder if you should even finish the book or if it is worth it to finish the season when you know what is going to happen.

6)    Acceptance

Eventually, you come to terms with the unwanted revelation. You continue to read the book or watch the show because it’s just too good not to continue. Plus, there’s no way you’ll come across another spoiler, right?