We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson—Book Review

Trigger Warnings: suicidal thoughts, mentions of suicide, physical assault, rape, depression, and mental health

Other times I think gravity is love, which is why love’s only demand is that we fall.

There are a few things Henry Denton knows, and a few things he doesn’t. Henry knows that his mom is struggling to keep the family together, and coping by chain-smoking cigarettes. He knows that his older brother is a college dropout with a pregnant girlfriend. He knows that he is slowly losing his grandmother to Alzheimer’s. And he knows that his boyfriend committed suicide last year.

What Henry doesn’t know is why aliens chose to abduct him when he was thirteen, and he doesn’t know why they continue to steal him from his bed and take him aboard their ship. He doesn’t know why the world is going to end or why the aliens have offered him the opportunity to avert the impending disaster by pressing a big red button.

But they have. And they’ve only given him 144 days to make up his mind.

The question is whether Henry thinks the world is worth saving. That is, until he meets Diego Vega, an artist with a secret past who forces Henry to question his beliefs, his place in the universe, and whether any of it really matters. But before Henry can save the world, he’s got to figure out how to save himself, and the aliens haven’t given him a button for that.

Dreams are hopeful because they exist as pure possibility. Unlike memories, which are fossils, long dead and buried deep.

While it took me forever to read this book, it is through no fault of the author or the amazing story that is told here. It is a story of grief, mental health and learning to forgive yourself and aliens abductions and the potential end of mankind. (yes, aliens and the apocalypse are in the book, its fantastic!)

It starts off with Henry, a year after his boyfriend Jesse committed suicide and Henry has pulled away from everyone. He is watching his world slowly fall apart one disaster after another.

The Sluggers give Henry 144 days to decide if the world is worth saving.

He believe that it is not.

It is a hard thing to deal with: life. And Henry's has not been easier than anyone else especially after losing Jesse and having his school dub him crazy for believing in the existence of aliens. Believing that they come and kidnap him in sleep and strap him to a table, limbs sprawled out and experimented on, he becomes a lab rat...Henry has named them the Sluggers" do to their slug-like appearance. They have been doing this his whole life, since he was a child and one of thing big conflicts in this book is that no one believes him-- his mother, his brother, his friends, his ex-boyfriend. On top of this he is dealing with his mothers chain-smoking and irritation, his brother now expecting a baby and his grandmother's Alzheimer worsening. In the end we all die, anyways and no one will remember us. His family dynamic is shaky and barley standing, one more feather and everything could collapse. Which I think is how many of us feel, too much family drama and just wanting to escape before it comes crashing down.

I loved the family. It is stressful and messy and siblings that piss you off. But somewhere along the way you discover that in their own way (no matter how harsh it may seem) that they truly do care about you. The brother, no matter how much of an asshat he is truly does love henry and the mother, with all of her stress is wanting the best for her sons ( as one should).

Enter Diego Vega. The mysterious new kid. The artist. The boy that draws Henry in. He appears at the beginning of the school year stumbling into the wrong classroom and look out-of-place as every in his loud personality and confidence that washes over every single person within a 5 mile radius. He makes Henry start to wonder if the world is worth being saved after all in spite of all if its mishaps and shortcoming of humanity.

He makes Henry question himself and his faith of humanity, never doubts what Henry says and forces him to confront his demons.

But Diego moved Calypos, Florida for a reason.

Trying to help Henry confront his issues, Diego will have to reveal some of his monsters.

Trigger Warnings (important!!!)

This book does deal with some heavy topics though. Not only are there mentions of Henry's ex-boyfriend Jesse's suicide, there are mentions of his friend's having suicidal thoughts and even Henry himself. I know this has probably been run into the ground but after someone takes their life it can have horrible repercussions mentally for the friends and family of the deceased. And I feel that Hutchinson showed that really well in this book.

There are also instances of homophobia and physical assault that Henry has to deal with. The assault not only due to the fact that he is openly gay but also because he genuinely believes that aliens abduct him and is now seen as a "freak". There is a rape scene towards that end of the book... and personally, I almost could not read it. I thought about skipping over it entirely when I realized what was about to happen as it made me feel horribly sick. I read though it--sick to my stomach but I read though it.

Sadly, I cannot give you exact page number to skip as I have loaned my copy out but it is near the far back. I believe within the last 4 or five chapters possibly. It is at a carnival or fair grounds if that is of any help.

I loved this book and definitely plan on reading more of Shaun David Hutchinson's books soon. I just have to make it through my small TBR before I go adding more to it right now. But I highly recommend this as it was this odd combination of YA, sci-fi, and mental health, with a coming of age plot all rolled into one beautifully written bundle.

4/5 stars

Bookshop: We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

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Liv Atterson is an Indiana based writer, where she is finishing a General Studies Degree and plans to continue to get her Bachelor’s in English and Art History. She is an avid believer that you can never own too many books just too few shelves. She is currently working on her debut book.

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