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This book was a roller-coaster of emotions and confusion, but i loved every minute of it and it was a book that i just did not want to put down.

One thing i love about SDH's writing is that he writes his characters in such a realistic way. Lua has a bad attitude and says shitty things to his friends some times just because they are in a bad mood or jealous. I also loved how SDH approached the use of a gender fluid character! Ozzie gets annoyed and frustrated that his parents keep telling him what to do and they hide things from him. Calvin deals with his issues in a negative way that only some people understand. What i loved about SDH's explanation of Calvin's 'bad habits' is that he explains it in a way that few people will understand, but once they read the explanation of why calvin does what he does, they just connect and understand him fully. While i do no condone the behaviour, i think this explanation was needed as i feel that due to it being a stigmatised behaviour, not a lot of people fully understand why people do it, and you can tell that SDH understands.

I only have two downfalls of this book. Firstly, there is A LOT of physics talk in this novel, and i just suck at physics so i found it really difficult to understand Ozzie's theories of what was happening. SDH does do a good job of trying to explain it in a manner that at least helped me kind of have an idea of the theory, but it was just an area that i am not familiar with so i struggled. And the last aspect, and to be honest i am just not sure about this one (its good and its a downfall?), was the ending.

**SPOILER**

I am so happy that everything was fine in the end, and that Ozzie got to at least see Thomas again, but really nothing between him and Calvin happened??! I was sad when it just seem to revert back to normal and the relationship that Ozzie and Cal had build had just not existed, because i think the both of them had helped each other throughout the book in their own broken kind of way. Additionally, im just not sure about the ending in that i have no idea why everything in the book happened, happened? Why was Ozzie thinking the world was shrinking? Why did people disappear for him? Why was it just him? I have so many questions and i think it would have been fun for SDH to create a whole new world, or theory or something to explain what was happening.

However, with this being the second book of SDH that i have read, i can say that both of his book gripped me and i cannot wait to read more of his books!!

non so veramente che dire, bellissimo. da leggere
monbro's profile picture

monbro's review

4.25
emotional 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

took me a lot to finish this books which is kinda embarrassing lmao but i was still not over we are the ants.
at first i was kinda skeptical about whether i was liking it or no cause i kept comparing it to we are the ants, but it’s actually an amazing book.
it touched very serious topics and i think it was pretty well done. my heart was racing by the last 120 pages or so.
the ending was realistic; the author has this way of turning his surreal plots into something that does make sense within reality, just like he did previously. it did leave me kinda :// cause that means [the situation] was never brought to light, or maybe it just never happened which kinda sucks, but i guess it’s a good ending. also i LOVE calvin.

ronmccutchan's review

5.0

If you enjoyed Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not, this is another surreal YA novel with a gay plotline that keeps you guessing as to what exactly is going on. (Similarly, if you read Hutchinson's Five Stages of Andrew Brawley, you know he's explored this territory before.)
janxious's profile picture

janxious's review

5.0

"It’s impossible to let go of the people we love. Pieces of them remain embedded inside of us like shrapnel. Every breath causes those fragments to burrow through our muscles, nearer to our hearts. And we think the pain will kill us, but it won’t. Eventually, scar tissue forms around those twisted splinters like cocoons. They remain part of us, but slowly hurt less. At least, I hoped they would."

This book was amazing from chapter one and I'm going to say it was a great book to start with my reviews.

The whole concept of the book is engaging, and the history itself is amazing and filled with a lot of feelings. Ozzie is just a human trying to get his life together while the whole universe is collapsing. He's resilient, and i think that says pretty much everything.

I'm going to say that this book goes to my favorites shelve and I can't wait to read more of Shaun's books.
medium-paced

This some final destination shit.

Also crying in the club right now.
dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional reflective medium-paced

Life is life. It happens, it goes on. Eventually, it ends, but other lives continue, new ones begin. That’s just the way of it. My life would keep going on until the day it didn’t, and I could either make the best of it or waste it wishing for what I didn’t and might never have.

The universe is shrinking and there’s only one person aware of it. A weird yet affecting book about just living our lives/living in the moment, to not dwell on the past or worry about what’s to come. Not as amazing as We Are The Ants, but still a great read!