Reviews tagging 'Blood'

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

21 reviews

acesiever's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Addiction, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

greta_reads's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

(sorry, english isn’t my first language) Wow. I really did not know what to rate this book. Because throughout most of it I really, really hated it. But I did not dislike it because of the way it was written or the story itself, but purely because of the fact that it had me in such a depressed and tense mood. The style that the story was written in wasn’t my favorite, but it felt authentic, even though I found it very hard to love the characters even if they were very relatable in part. So overall I‘m very torn, weather to recommend this book or not. 

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Content Warnings

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

lovelymisanthrope's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

I picked this up as a buddy read with a friend.
"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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Blood, Violence, and Sexual harassment

souzy_q's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Rape, Miscarriage, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Rape, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Suicide

maggiegirouard's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Vomit, Pregnancy, Blood, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Dementia, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Bullying, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Alcohol, Violence, and Miscarriage

Minor: Torture, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

gummy__smile__'s review

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Literally beautiful, shows the highs and lows of human life and the spirit it takes to grow and change in a world that is so messed up. Let’s you learn that people make mistakes and say the wrong things but everyone deserves to be okay and to get help. Our meaningless lives aren’t meaningless to us or the people around us and this crafted that narrative beautifully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Cursing, Alcohol, Sexual content, Bullying, Suicide, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Self harm, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Drug abuse, and Blood

chrisljm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

3.25; Objectively, this is a good story and it was written very well. I see why so many people love it and why it means so much to them, and I understand it can be especially important to those who’ve read it during specific times in their life. But subjectively it was hard for me to read because it was so incredibly bleak and depressing, and I didn’t enjoy that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Rape, and Racism

danat28's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was mostly focused on Henry Denton, the main character, and his life rather than the description about aliens and the end of the world. It was a good book, weird at some points but it has some good lessons throughout. Although

I didn’t love how the end was a complete cliffhanger.

I give it 3.5/5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Hate crime

claire_3lyse's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Medical trauma and Pregnancy