A review by akira_outofthegravity
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After the suicide of his boyfriend and being abandoned by his best friend, Henry is left alone in the world. He’s in a toxic relationship with his bully, his awful older brother is going to be a dad, and his grandmother is slowly losing herself to dementia. Henry is also periodically kidnapped by aliens. They’ve now given him a choice, the world will blow up in a couple months time, and only Henry has the power to stop it. But will he find a reason to?

This book is everything I wanted A Little Life to be, it doesn’t shy away from its very delicate and sad subject matter, but Henry’s evolution into his better self is incredible and honestly gave me hope that I, too, could be semi functional one day. His suicidal ideation is very well written and the death of his boyfriend Jesse is very delicately handled, and shows the aftermath of that act without blaming anyone- including Jesse himself. All in all this is a heartbreaking story but it ends happily, which is all I can ask for.
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