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rocketdea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Miscarriage
lilcurious's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Self harm, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Homophobia
mjae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Bullying, Self harm, and Suicide
Minor: Violence, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
greta_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Death, Rape, Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Bullying, Dementia, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
deleore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, and Death
Moderate: Rape
louisallama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think I found it very hard to connect with Henry is because the book felt quite juvenile. Usually I'm fine with YA but for whatever reason it really didn't work for me this time. I'm not sure why but I was just completely uninvested in Henry's life and emotions. He has multiple very big and real problems that are poinient even to adults, and yet he never got past feeling like a whiny teenager to me.
The other problem is that there are a whole slew of deep, existential questions that could come of finding out that aliens have given you the choice to stop the world from ending in 144 days and this book explores basically none of them. I understand that it was more used as a vehicle for Henry deciding whether he wanted to live, without the trauma of making an actively suicidal main character for the whole book, but he ends up being very blasé about it. The closest we got to Henry asking these questions of himself, was him asking the extremely obvious, "am I going to push the button" throughout the book, as well as asking every character what they would do if they knew the world was going to end but they could stop it, both of which are resolved every time within a paragraph or two. I would think that this is something that I would agonise over, especially if I wasn't fully swayed one direction or the other. And while Henry's life truly is a steaming pile of garbage, linking this back with not feeling connected to him, I never actually felt like he was suicidal at any point, or ever had any conviction to press or not press the button.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Dementia, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, Grief, and Suicide
Moderate: Self harm, Miscarriage, Cursing, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
lovelymisanthrope's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"We Are the Ants" follows a teenager named Henry. Over the past few years Henry has been abducted by aliens. On one of his most recent abductions, the aliens have told him that Earth will blow up in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. But the world has not been kind to Henry, and with some much sickness and heartbreak, why should he push the button?
I think if I had picked this up five years ago, I would have loved it, unfortunately, this book just did not have that punch I was expecting. The plot, themes, and mannerisms of the main character really reminded me of "Going Bovine" by: Libba Bray, and once I had that in my head, I just could not enjoy the story because it did not feel original too me.
I respect what this book did, and I think the themes and topics discussed are important and done so in a profound way. One of the big topics is suicide. Henry had someone very close to him commit suicide and it has really haunted him ever since. I have not seen a ton of media highlighting how suicide impacts those left behind, and how they work through their feelings of grief and arrive at a state of acceptance. This book shows Henry going through his process to get through this dark time, and it highlights how other characters who were impacted by this death have to deal with their grief in their own ways.
I would recommend this book to a young adult looking for a book that packs a punch and makes you question what makes life worth living.
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Blood, Violence, and Sexual harassment
niteskyi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
melvinbelvin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
satansluckycigarette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Domestic abuse