ARC Review: We Are the Ants

About The Book:

  Title: We Are the Ants

  Author: Shaun David Hutchinson
  Pub. Date: January 19th, 2016
  Publisher: Simon Pulse
  Pages: 464

  Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Mental Illness

  Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis :

Henry Denton doesn’t know why the aliens chose to abduct him when he was thirteen, and he doesn’t know why they continue to steal him from his bed and take him aboard their ship. He doesn’t know why the world is going to end or why the aliens have offered him the opportunity to avert the impending disaster by pressing a big red button. 

But they have. And they’ve only given him 144 days to make up his mind.

Since the suicide of his boyfriend, Jesse, Henry has been adrift. He’s become estranged from his best friend, started hooking up with his sworn enemy, and his family is oblivious to everything that’s going on around them. As far as Henry is concerned, a world without Jesse is a world he isn’t sure is worth saving. Until he meets Diego Vega, an artist with a secret past who forces Henry to question his beliefs, his place in the universe, and whether any of it really matters. But before Henry can save the world, he’s got to figure out how to save himself, and the aliens haven’t given him a button for that.

Review:

"If you knew the world were going to end, but you had the power to stop it, would you?"

After I finished We Are the Ants, I kept wondering how it's going to be possible for me to review this book. How am I expected to verbalize my thoughts about something to my followers that affected me on such a personal level? And for that matter, that I think will affect everyone on such a personal level. This book deals with pretty heavy topics - mental illness, suicide, coming out, physical abuse, substance abuse, mental abuse, alzheimers, bullying, and pregnancy. Probably even more than these. So if any of those are intense trigger warnings for you, I'm alerting you now!

There isn't one bad thing I can find to say about this book. And I think that is my problem right now. I'm trying not to spoil you for the amazingness that is this book. I want you all to experience this masterpiece without my influence - so what can I say? I can say that the friendships are dazzling, the characters pasts are wicked and unforgiving, their lives are mystifying and their futures are perilous. Is there anything else I can say about this book?

The diversity is beautiful.
The narration is beautiful.
The character development is beautiful.
This entire book is beautiful.

"Words are how others define us, but we can define ourselves any way we choose."

I've come to the conclusion that I can't convince you to read this book based on why it impacted me, because this book is going to touch everyone in a different way. I won't say that this book is an easy read, because it's not - it's heartbreaking. But even though it will feel like this book is gutting you, you will keep flipping the page. It's masochistic really. We are the Ants is unforgettable story of death and loss, love and birth - and I PROMISE you that you will not regret reading this.

Thank you to Simon Pulse for providing this
book in exchange for my honest review

- Jocelyn