Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

19 reviews

davidbythebay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I am crying. Wow. I was a little skeptical based on the premise, but it did intrigue me enough to read this. I am so glad I did. This book sums up life in the best way: we keep marching on even if we don't have the answers and we can never get them. This was amazing, BUT check the trigger warnings! 

I was so enthralled by this, I lost track of time while reading. It was an immensely entertaining and sometimes sad book that brought sad tears and happy tears to my eyes. Beautifully written, this took a teenager's point of view but made him mature, yet adolescent. Henry was not a child and he was not an adult caught in a child's body. As Henry is gay, like many LGBTQ+ people, he has grown up and matured early so that he can combat the bullying and dangers of this world. His situation has provided even more instances by which he has had to grow up far too fast. I can't tell you how many times I've been told or my LGBTQ+ friends have been told how mature we are for our ages. It comes with the territory I guess. But having this mature teenaged perspective is dead on perfect. 

I am absolutely going to read more by this author given how wonderful this book is. 


⚠️ TW: violence, physical violence, abuse, parental abandonment, bullying, depression, suicide and suicidal ideation, sexual assault, pregnancy, miscarriage, loss, grief, neglectful parent, memory loss, talk of sexual situations (not in detail). ⚠️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Child abuse

mitsubachigirl's review

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Dementia, Sexual assault, Vomit, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Addiction and Cancer

feelinpeachykeen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

This was my friend's favorite book before she passed away, and I think after realizing it I understand why. I think a lot of people need something like this book in their lives, and I'm glad it came to me when it did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Sexual assault and Miscarriage

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

rachelwierick's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

2.75

Everyone in this book sucks. Audrey is the only character with half a brain. The only reason I stuck with this book was because it had an intriguing premise, but it ended up being really disappointing. I’m glad this was a library book and I didn’t spend any money on it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

nenesuxz's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

1.5

Honestly, I was really looking forward to reading this book, sadly I was really really let down. This book dragged on for too long in the hopes of being inspiring and profound, when really it was a cast of characters failing this kid over and over. I did not find the characters in this book likeable, if anything I was super annoyed by them and their actions  This book put me in a reading slump, the writing wasn’t great and the plot was eh…… I really didn’t like this one, can’t believe I got it as a hardcover….

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse

sonjajohnson's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

mxfahrenheit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Feels almost identical to At the Edge of the Universe

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

ha1yan's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I really didn't enjoy the use of

a rape attempt

as a situation to have the love interest save the MC.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Blood, and Dementia

Minor: Racism and Self harm

Attempted sexual assault