I don't even know where to begin for the review of We Are The Ants. This is one of those rare books that is SO GOOD that you don't even know what to say about it to others. Just read it. That's all that needs to be said really. One of my friends bought this book (she also LOVED it) and let me borrow it (thank you to her) and as soon as I finished I gave the book to my husband and told him to read it ASAP.
In We Are The Ants Henry Denton has been abducted by aliens since he was thirteen and now the world is going to end and the aliens are giving him a choice. Let the world end or push a big red button to stop it. The aliens give Henry 144 days to stop it. Henry just has to decide if the world is worth saving. His dad left them, his brother's girlfriend is pregnant, his grandmother has Alzheimer's, his mother is barely coping, and his boyfriend committed suicide last year. Then Henry meets Diego Vega who forces Henry to question everything.
I'm sure this whole review will be pretty inadequate at explaining perfectly how I feel about this book. I mean I was entranced by this novel from the very beginning. By page 7 I was already laughing my butt off at some of the things Henry said. Here's two quotes from that page alone that had me cracking up:
"It's comforting to know that regardless of our vast differences and the light-years that separate our worlds, we'll always have nipples in common."
"Before you ask: no, the sluggers have never probed my anus."
But don't let the humor in We Are The Ants fool you. There is a very deep and dark story underneath the surface. For example here is a beautiful quote that I will just love forever:
"He didn't kill himself because of a single overwhelming problem; he died from a thousand tiny wounds."
Which brings me to another thing that I loved so much about this book. I adore the way mental illness was written in this book. There are some very real and very important things to be learned from this book about mental illness and also bullying.
I also have to praise the author on writing a book with a gay character and it's NO BIG DEAL. I'm all for LGBTQ pride and the best part about it in this one is that it's not the main focus of the book. Henry is gay and that's that. Welcome to 2016 where we can have diverse characters and not have to have it pointed out in every page of the book that the character is "diverse."
Overall We Are The Ants is a deep and thought provoking book that delivers big time on some very important subject matters and all under an umbrella of hilarity. I just can't get over how well written this book is on some tough topics, but it never felt like I was slogging through a depressing book. That is talent.
I would recommend We Are The Ants to any ant, I mean human, who is alive. This is definitely worth a read. If you still aren't sure that this one is for you then I recommend you also read this review We Are The Ants ARC Review-- Dear Shaun, Thank You by Tika over at Fangirl Confessions. Her review is what really made me interested in reading this one. So thanks Tika!
