We Are the Ants in Hype or Like Friday

Jan 19, 2020 Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, contemporary, standalones, mental-health, lgbtq, cover-envy, favorites

“We may not get to choose how we die, but we can chose how we live.
The universe may forget us, but it doesn't matter. Because we are the ants, and we'll keep marching on.”
What a wonderfully sad, heartbreaking, powerful book that I absolutely adored. We Are the Ants is a story hard to describe, at least for me it is, but I think it really comes down to grief and acceptance.

When your life seems like a series of mistakes and misfortunes, but you're given the chance to save the soon-to- ...more

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Mar 09, 2019 Jasmine rated it it was amazing

Shaun David Hutchinson's We Are The Ants is a compelling, heartbreaking and inquisitive exploration of finding meaning in life. The story follows Henry Denton, who has been abducted by aliens since he was twelve. Henry and the people he loves have gone through a lot of shit in their lives so far, and Henry isn't sure how to live with it all, especially how he feels about his ex-boyfriend committing suicide a year ago. So, when the aliens present him with a choice to save the world from its oncom Shaun David Hutchinson's We Are The Ants is a compelling, heartbreaking and inquisitive exploration of finding meaning in life. The story follows Henry Denton, who has been abducted by aliens since he was twelve. Henry and the people he loves have gone through a lot of shit in their lives so far, and Henry isn't sure how to live with it all, especially how he feels about his ex-boyfriend committing suicide a year ago. So, when the aliens present him with a choice to save the world from its oncoming doom in 144 days by pressing a button, he has a lot to think about. Is the world worth saving or would it be better for everyone if the world were to end? Henry isn't sure. With science on his side and through the examination of many pros and cons, looking at the people he loves and the people who have hurt him, he has to come to a decision: destroy his and everyone else's pain or let the world carry on.

First of all, let me just say I am utterly astonished by this book. I came out of it thinking if I could write something like it, I would be over the moon and probably grow a really big head. Shaun David Hutchinson is a phenomenal writer, it takes a lot to really bring something unique into the world and he has truly done that with this book. The story explodes with thought-provoking ideas and emotions that leap off the page. A book that can make me cry one moment and laugh the next really has something incredible going for it and I am actually left pretty damn speechless.

Henry Denton is a character you will be drawn to from the very beginning. His voice and presence throughout the whole book is spot-on in its sarcastic wit, thoughtful and clever observations of science and life and overwhelming pain. Henry's feelings about life are shadowed by far too-many awful things that have happened to him. His father left them when he was younger, his alcoholic mother is trying to get by in her crappy waitress job, his older brother is a college dropout who got his girlfriend pregnant, his Nana has Alzheimer's, his boyfriend killed himself and he's bullied by the popular guy that he's also hooking up with in secret. All of these things and more are enough to warrant his reluctance to immediately push the button that will save the world because he can see how much pain there is in it.

When Henry reconnects with his best friend Audrey who betrayed him and makes a unexpected connection with Diego, the new kid in school who tries hard to make him see the beauty in the world while dealing with his own demons, he has even more to consider. But what it all really comes down to is whether he feels like he deserves to live and deserves all this love when so many things keep going wrong and his ex-boyfriend is dead. His family and his friends might be enough to convince him to save the world, but then again, maybe not. After all, it's proving really difficult to believe in a world the boy he loves decided to leave behind.

Henry's relationships with multiple characters in this book are really the heart of the story. Each character has a purpose in giving Henry things to think about, the good and the bad in the world, what's worth living for and what isn't. Every character brings something into the story and I just absolutely loved that. The many ways Henry interacts with them all, whether his brother Charlie and his girlfriend, or Diego, the boy he isn't sure he deserves to love, or the science teacher at school who believes in him, or his Nana whose memories are running away from her, was incredibly touching. Each character affects Henry so differently and the way they contributed to the story to paint a bigger picture of Henry's turmoils and his happiness was so insightful and created more complications in whether he would press the button or not. I loved how both Henry's and the other character's stories developed from the start to the finish, how all the little pieces of their own stories fit together to portray life in all its beauty and its horror.

I am really unsure how else to express how much I am awed by this book and I am honestly not even sure if this review makes any sense at all. All I can say is that We Are The Ants is a book that needs to be read and it's just one of those books that is truly unforgettable. There are so many elements to this book that made me feel so much and reminded me to not take my life for granted and to keep on living the best life I can. The world is a complicated, harsh place at times and sometimes you have to work to find the good in it, but you can and whatever good you do find is worth living for. ...more

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