Dark story about a depressed/grieving gay teenager (who may or may not be getting abducted by aliens) who must decide if he should press a button that will prevent the destruction of earth.

Family drama, a budding romance, a rekindled friendship, and a toxic relationship are all informing his ultimate decision.

At times funny, often sad, sometimes disturbing. Still trying to wrap my brain around all of it. I can’t say that I enjoyed it but it certainly gave me a lot to think about.

Note: got this years ago in a book riot box and didn’t read it until it popped up as a recommended read from my ALA yearly planner. ( )

We are the Ants is officially on the very short list of Science Fiction books that I really enjoyed. The main character, Henry, is struggling with some of the mundane aspects of teenage life, like not getting along with his older brother and navigating school life, but he also has a big question to answer. Will he save the world with the push of a button? His life in a small town in Florida includes family struggles, like his grandmother's progressing dementia, his absent father, and disagreements with his mother and brother. His social life is even more complicated navigating issues of bullying and his boyfriend's recent death by suicide and the after effects on his mental health, his friendships, and his romantic relationships. On top of all of this, he periodically gets abducted by aliens that he refers to as "sluggers" and they ultimately give him the choice and responsibility of deciding whether or not the earth is worth saving. The entire book is told in first person through Henry's very engaging narrative in a very convincingly authentic teenage voice. The pages flew by and I enjoyed every one. ( )

"That's what this was all about, after all. Making choices."

A great deal befalls narrator Henry in this book, as well as the various cast around him; life is neither a kind, orderly, nor predetermined arc. Perhaps the brutal parts are hyperbolic in their number compared to most people's lives, but these are things that we as readers have experienced or know of befalling others. While the story focuses on the adolescent main characters, it's noteworthy that the adults in the story are all coping variously with their own slings and arrows. At the end of the day, it's not about what happens but about what ones chooses to do thereafter and Henry at last arrives at that realization.

A fast, clean read and an unexpectedly satisfying experience, Hutchinson's book is a trail mix of irreverent prose, pop culture rhythms, adolescent angst and anger, cravings for affection, and some really mature thoughts about life, the universe, and everything. I'm really glad I came across this.

A final note: I picked up "we are the ants" because of its frequent appearance on Banned Book lists and can see how the same people that want to ban this consider Vonnegut and Heller pornographic without ever having read either. ( )

I'm finding it really hard to write a review for this book. All I knew about this book when I started was that it had quite a few positive reviews on here, but I didn't really know what to expect. So I was surprised at how immediately I connected to the story and the characters, especially the main character Henry. I suppose I expected a standard YA fantasy novel, but We Are the Ants was instead a beautiful science fiction novel.

I wanted to write a longer review but I've found myself at a loss for words and have had a half-finished review open in my browser for over a week. This falls into the very small category of books in YA in particular: where romance is a factor but not the ultimate point AND where the main character is LGBT. I've never read a book that captured how it felt to lose a fellow teenager that you loved deeply as well as captured all the passive destruction of depression. ( )

4,5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable. I don't have first hand experience of losing someone to suicide or of being in an abusive relationship, but I felt like this was a very good representation on what going through those things could be like. I especially thought that Henry and Marcus' relationship was portrayed very well. This is pretty much how I would imagine someone who stays with an abusive partner would justify the other's actions.

The main message I got out from this was that you have to save yourself if you want to survive, no one else can be happy for you. Just like you can't be the reason for someone else's happiness. I liked how there were no miracle cures, no "love concurs all" plot devices and how real it all felt. Life is ugly, and difficult, and often it'd be easier to just give up. But life is also beautiful, and amazing, and worth living. ( )