I started reading because I have dyslexia, the extra reading was supposed to help up with reading tempo. I never disliked reading but it wasn't really my favourite thing either at that time. My aunt owned lots of young adult fantasy books so by the time I went to highschool I had found my genre.
From the first day of highschool till the very last day (even after I changed schools) I was bullied, badly. I didn't fit in with the popular crowd and neither did I ever try, but I started to feel really lonely, spending more time in the school library then the cafeteria.
my love for books grew and grew in those days, the special escape a fantasy novel provides is one I found nowhere else.
My dreams stopped being horrible scenarios, the nightmares where I got ripped apart slowly changed into magic filled dreams full of faeries, vampires, werewolves and many others. after a few years and lots and lots of read books, I started adapting some of the good traits of some female characters, nothing mayor, more the "how would she deal with this?" type of thing or my personal favourite: "I am Celaena Sardothien and I am not afraid". For me this gave alot of confidence.
In those years with few friends and little to do, I found a haven in books, a place to just be me without withholding a part, without making myself more quiet and less noticeable. To this day, even though I now have some friends whom I love dearly, I always carry a book for safety reasons.