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chris_reads'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
4.75
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
chrisljm's review against another edition
- 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
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
bookloverwitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Biphobia
ang_mendoza'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
3.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Bullying
Moderate: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Violence, Drug abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Abandonment, Rape, War, and Pregnancy
cheye13'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Violence
Minor: Vomit, Body horror, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, and Dementia
half_bloodreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
"They tell themselves that this is the year things will happen, never realizing that things are always happening; they’re just happening without them"
"Depression isn’t a war you win. It’s a battle you fight every day. You never get to stop, never get to rest. It’s one bloody fray after another. Jesse got worn down and didn’t think he could fight anymore"
"Jesse didn’t die of a broken heart, Henry; he died of a broken brain. It took a lot of therapy for me to understand that Jesse committed suicide because he was sick. It wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t his fault, and it sure as hell wasn’t your fault."
"Do you want me to press it?"
"I think I want you to want to press it."
*everyone has a past and is dealing with stuff here, which actually is pretty realistic
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide, and Abandonment
davidbythebay's review against another edition
- 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 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). ⚠️
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
reeseyyy's review against another edition
- 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
We are the Ants is a very dark, but touching story of a young teenager, named Henry Denton, who lost someone very close to him, and never fully dealt with it. The way Hutchinson brings in science fiction to (what seems like) a completely normal world amazes me to this day. The author makes every character seen in their own struggles, even ones that not everyone will like. Reading the story unfold made me feel like henry was truly telling his story, and we got to watch him finally accept himself.
Audrey and Diego both gave Henry so much hope that he needed from losing Jesse. I mean, is the world really worth saving if Henry lost the one thing that made life seem beautiful? The question: Should he press the button? Henry had every right to ask everyone if they would press the button. The world can be a terrible place, and saving it could cause so much hurt towards others. His brother’s wife losing her child, or just Jesse losing himself. Henry could be portrayed as a someone evil human, but all he was was struggling to figure out how to handle himself and his own life.
Did he really get abducted? Henry sending in his journal to his science teacher shows how much he grew throughout the story. Diego or Audrey wasn’t the only reason he was saved, he was the person who allowed himself to overcome his own obstacles. Now towards the end the readers can believe that he wasn’t really abducted and that that was his way of giving himself something else in his mind, but no one will really know.
The end. The last sentence in the book. This is what got me. It is such a moving line that really concluded the whole story and what it was sending out as a message. “We are the ants and we’re still marching along”. We are all ants in this huge world but we all have a small part and will continue to march along and play it. It was such a sweet way to end the book and that is one of the reasons I love it.
Overall I love love love this book and will definitely read it again. If you are struggling or just need something to read I would 100 percent recommend this, however it is very powerful so make sure you’re in the right headspace.
TW: Suicide, Bullying, Sexual Assault
Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
ashleycmms's review against another edition
- 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
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
being_stupid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment