SYNOPSIS
There are a few things Henry Denton knows, and a few things he doesn’t.
Henry knows that his mom is struggling to keep the family together, and coping by chain-smoking cigarettes. He knows that his older brother is a college dropout with a pregnant girlfriend. He knows that he is slowly losing his grandmother to Alzheimer’s. And he knows that his boyfriend committed suicide last year.
What Henry doesn’t know is 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 was 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.
The question is whether Henry thinks the world is worth saving. That is, 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.
★★★★★
I’m writing this while my feelings about this book are raw and heavy and I’m going to try my hardest to not make this review as ramble-y and scatter-brained as I want it to be – I have so many thoughts scrambling around my brain, desperately wanting to spring out. This book was that good.
This is now my favorite YA contemporary book. I desperately want to ramble on and on about everything I feel, but I figured I should organize my thoughts, and this review, a bit better.
I picked this book up for its critical acclaim. The rave over this book convinced me to delve into a story that I didn’t think would be my cup of tea. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I adored the plot of this book – everything felt so raw and real, despite the aliens. The premise of a boy given the choice to save the world was captivating – this boy, who’s had familial troubles, who had to go through the pain of his boyfriend committing suicide, who had to go through bullying and falling out of friendships – he’s given the choice to save everyone from inevitable disaster, by the push of a button. The story dealt with grief and loss and guilt, with bullying, with friendship, with love. Captivating, raw, and poignant.
The characters felt real. No one was written out, no one was unimportant. Every single one of these people in Henry Denton’s life felt relevant to me. I can’t even dislike the people I’m supposed to hate. I can’t even choose favorites; Henry, Diego, Audrey, Henry’s mom, Zooey, Charlie, even Ms. Faraci – they all hold a special place in my heart. Some of my favorite scenes, though, are those between Henry and his mom. Their scenes in particular felt so raw and emotional. All of these characters were written with depth and personality, and I’ve been saying this a billion times, but they all felt real. You could connect with each and every one of these characters, one way or another. The main character being in the LGBTQ+ community is the cherry on top of this beautiful, amazing cake. I can say that as much as I loved the plot and writing, the characters drove the story, and I couldn’t be happier with that.
THE WRITING. Henry’s narration. The humor. This book was so incredibly well-written, to the point where I couldn’t find it in myself to say something, anything, negative about it. Except there were some typographical errors, which essentially have nothing to do with the writing (more so on the editing), so I didn’t even mind. I was so soaked into and captivated by the writing and it really did feel like I lived in Calypso.
The book ended in such a satisfying, wholesome note (I tried my best to describe how much I loved the ending of this book, but those words were what came off the top of my head – again, I’m a mess).
I cried throughout the last several pages of the book.
It’s almost a cliffhanger in some aspects, but not really. The ending was the perfect conclusion to the perfect book.
Five stars ★★★★★, if it wasn’t already obvious. No matter how much I tried to hype this book up in this review, no matter how much I tried to make you feel what I felt while reading this book, you wouldn’t, unless you read We Are the Ants yourself. This book meant so much to me and it would bring me much contentment if you decide to pick this book up and read it, every single word, because I have absolutely no doubts that you’re going to love it.
ABOUT THE BOOK
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
Published 19 January 2016 by Simon Pulse
Young adult contemporary, sci-fi
★★★★★
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