The Aggressive Reader

Author: Theaggressivereader

  • 06/26 Daily Prompt

    If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?

    Mannn I would go full on Victorian goth with the big black dress! This summer heat would devour me but enough said 😅

  • Daily Prompt

    What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

    1. My soon to be husband
    2. My kitty cats
    3. My BOOKS
    4. My mom and sister
    5. My home! Being home is a HUGE one.

  • The Lamb by Lucy Rose

    Rating: 5/5

    Spoilers: Light

    First off, I listened to this story on audiobook and at first I was worried I wouldn’t understand the accent of the woman who was reading, but I am so happy I continued because it added so much to the story! The narrators name is Emma Rydal and I adored her voice! I adored this absolutely vivid story and fell in love with these characters.

    The Lamb follows Margot and her Mama who live secluded away from others. One way they get by is by eating strays…no, not animals. Strays are what they call lost people that wander in their mist. Both Margot and Mama enjoy more than anything to have a good stray to eat. Strays being men, women, and children. This was their life, until one day, a stray woman entered their home and caught the Mama’s interest.

    In the Lamb, we follow Margot’s point of view as she watches her mom fall in love with this woman named Eden and watches how their lives slowly start to change. In some good and possibly bad ways for Margot. This book was so beautifully written and just left my heart shattered and full at the same time. There were definitely some horrifying descriptions and images that will not leave my mind (those damn fingers)!

    That ending…that ending is all I’m going to say. I could see a lot that happened was coming but damn…so well written that it still broke me. I AM BROKEN AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!

    Thank you for reading and subscribing!

  • Daily Prompt

    How do you unwind after a demanding day?

    It seems the obvious answer is with a glass of wine and chilling on the couch watching TV (nothing wrong with that)! But I unwind by drinking some ice cold water and chilling on the couch with my current read. Shiiiit, if the day was bad enough, catch me sitting on the couch staring at the wall 😂

    To unwind, I need silence. I need to escape into another world with my books or maybe even listening to an audiobook while I crochet. I just started crocheting this week and it helps you get out of your head! At least for me it does because I’m too busy cursing the loops I made too tight! Everyone has to find some way to unwind and I hope you found yours.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Daily Prompt

    How do you use social media?

    In between reviews, I would love to answer the daily questions that are asked on the site! BECAUSE WHY NOT?!?!

    So how do I use the evil that is social media? I use it for humor. I look for the memes and hilarious videos that help get me through the day…BECAUSE DAMN THIS WORLD IS GETTING WORSE AND I NEED A DISTRACTION. I need to see what is happening in the horrifying news and then I need to see a joke about it so I don’t want to jump off a building…and social media always provides.

  • In a Funk

    Hello followers, lately I’ve been in a reading slump (as we all have been there) and am giving an update on both my mental health and the More Than a Review book discussion with Wild Dark Shore. Well…it’s not happening…but Count My Lies book discussion is still a go! With how the world has been going lately, it has been hard to clear my mind enough to relax and read my multiple books, let alone one of them. I feel a lot of my readers can relate.

    I’ve struggled with my anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember, and I hate that it always takes a toll on my hobbies. Why it gotta take away the one thing that makes us happy?! Fighting it is an everyday battle and I’m in a type of weird funk where I want to sit down and read but at the same time, I feel like I should be up and doing something so I can’t relax and it’s a bit of a dilemma…I catch myself just getting on TikTok and scrolling through Facebook instead of doing anything actually productive. I’ve compiled a list of things to do to help me through this situation and wanted to share it in case you find yourself also through this situation.

    1. ONLY READ ONE BOOK AT A TIME. I know it’s hard but damn…you don’t need to overwhelm yourself with reading multiple books at once.
    2. ALLOW YOURSELF TIME TO DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Stare at the wall and think about the meaning of life if you have to. Clear your brain!
    3. STOP EATING SHIT. For the love of god…stop eating junk food and allowing your depression to tell you it doesn’t matter what you load in your face because it does!
    4. CLEAN FIRST…READ SECOND. A hard one for me to follow at times and I know y’all can relate.
    5. STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP. We all get in funks sometimes, so we don’t need to be mean to ourselves if we are taking time off from certain things.
    6. DONT LOSE YOUR CREATIVITY. So difficult to follow while in a depression but don’t let this world take it away.
    7. DONT FORGET TO CHECK ON OTHERS. Yes, there are times that people don’t check on you, but they could be going through a lot worse, and you’d have no way of knowing. Watch out for each other in this world.
    8. GET MOVING. I’m going to aim for 30-45 minutes of activity a day before sitting on my butt with a book. Hey…listen to an audiobook while getting active!

    Thank you so much for reading! Take care of yourselves!

  • Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville

    Rating: 4/5

    Spoilers: Medium

    So, was I expecting that? NO, I WAS NOT! I thought I was getting a regular mystery/thriller story but got surprised by elements of horror. Elements? I mean this full on became horror on top of the detective story. I got this copy from the library because I wasn’t for sure if I would like it or not, but this is a story that I might want a physical copy of!

    Blood Like Mine follows a couple POV’s. One being a woman named Rebecca, who is on the run with her daughter who she calls “Moonflower.” The other being a detective named Marc Donner, who is on the search for a serial killer who has been active for 15 years. The connection between these POV’s was obvious to me but I didn’t expect the turn this story took.

    I’m not big on detective stories but the mix of genres made it easier for me to read. I don’t know how to explain it, but modern-day detective characters bore me to tears! Older stories like Sherlock Holmes are just tolerable…I think this is the only reason I didn’t rate it higher. I just can’t stand the same detective tropes of them ignoring their family for their work and spending years on one killer or making that their excuse for ignoring everything else in their lives. Also, them always being alcoholics…. Just tired of the same stuff OVER AND OVER AGAIN. It was not the usual ending for Donner like other stories similar to it though. Different endings are just what the detective stories need to even catch a glimpse of my interest.

    Adding the horror element was definitely the move to create a different and more exciting story. Of course, the first book I rent in a while is better than the last book I bought! LAWD help me. This book may be added to my shelf soon.

    Thank you for subscribing! Happy reading!

  • March Wrap Up!

    What a fun and very odd month of reading! I hope you got as many reads in or more than I did! Welcome to the beginning of April! Huge things coming your way soon with More Than a Review book discussions, writing blogs, and of course more reviews. Stay tuned!

  • Book Discussion Announcement Numero Dos

    Join me in reading Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy in the second half of April! We are following a family that lives on a remote island and are the only caretakers of it. It was once full of researchers but now this family is the only inhabitants left and are having to deal with being completely alone in their own ways.

    I am all for the setting of this story and look forward to finally starting! I hope you all will join me in this discussion at the end of the month.

  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

    Rating: 4.5/5

    Spoilers: Light but this book has been out for YEARS so I doubt I will be able to spoil anything at all!

    I’m finally making my way back into fantasy worlds! For a while there, I couldn’t care less about YA fantasy, adult fantasy or any fantasy whatsoever! An Ember in the Ashes might have just pulled me back in, and book two has just been purchased! This book reminded me of being a teenager again, devouring fantasy series. I’m very surprised and disappointed in myself that this was not one of those series! I remember it being huge when I was a teen, and I just didn’t get to it. I’m ecstatic that the day I got to it is here!

    An Ember in the Ashes follows two-character POV’s. One is a girl from a group called the Scholars named Laia, who loses her Nan and Pop to the ruling group called the Martials. The soldiers take her brother, her only family left so she finds a group called the Resistance and begs them to help her find him and to set him free. In return for their services, they make her a slave girl to the cruelest person in the Martial army and leader of the soldier school, the Commandant. Our second character is a Martial soldier (A mask) named Elias, who is about to graduate. More than anything, he wants to be free and has been trying so hard to find a way out because the life of serving the Empire is not what he wants. Laia and Elias will eventually collide in more ways than one and guide each other toward their goals.

    An Ember in the Ashes brought me a cast of characters that I was able to feel empathetic towards which is a huge win for the author, since it is so difficult for me to care about most characters in a book, let alone a series. I can’t continue a series if I don’t care! I’m so happy with how quickly I got through this book. At night, I could hardly put it down! Like I said earlier, I deprived my teenage self of this hit, but I will no longer deprive my adult self. Onward to A Torch Against the Night!

    Thank you for following up and happy reading!