We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (Epub)

Description

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.

Only he isn’t sure he wants to.

After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.

Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.

But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.

User’s Reviews

2016 Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year A 2017 ALA Top Ten Rainbow List Title “A beautiful, masterfully told story by someone who is at the top of his craft.” –Lambda Literary “Unfailingly dramatic and crackling with characters who become real upon the page.” –Booklist, starred review “Bitterly funny, with a ray of hope amid bleakness.” –Kirkus

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson is a remarkable account about the coming of age of Henry Jerome Denton from his perspective as a much-persecuted 13-year-old. The reader will have to read most of the novel before discovering the complete name of this protagonist. Through most of the novel, he will be identified with the name “Space Boy,” a title he despises. This is not a whining, complaining account; it is delivered more from a position of resignation, hints of despair, and an acceptance of the inevitability that the world will end on 29 January 2016. Since that is a given, absolutely nothing that happens prior to that point has any meaning. The only possible alternative will occur if the aliens convince Space Boy to hit the Big Red Button. Without Henry’s agreement to do this, planet Earth will cease to exist.Published in January 2016, this 465-page novel has two central anchoring ideas. The entire novel is an account of Henry’s life for one year prior to 29 January 2016. The daily events happening to and around him will influence his decision to push the Big Red Button. If he pushes it, planet Earth continues; if Henry’s despair is so great and he does nothing, the Earth ceases to exist. Only Henry knows this. It is not that it is a secret, he has tried to tell others about his frequent abductions by the aliens as they continue to check with Henry and emphasize that the decision is completely Henry’s to make. Henry’s attempts at telling others has earned him the name “Space Boy.”With such a serious decision to make, readers might think it would be a good idea to keep Henry happy. That brings us to the second anchoring point that appears throughout the novel, the suicide of Jesse. Henry loved his boyfriend and believes that he, Henry, was responsible for his boyfriend’s death. Henry is bullied in school both for his belief in aliens (Space Boy) and for his openly homosexual relationship that he had enjoyed with Jesse. One of the biggest bullies is a very rich high school athlete, Marcus. This appears quite strange because Marcus and Space Boy are in a covert homosexual relationship that developed as Henry tried to find a substitute friend to fill the void resulting from Jesse’s suicide. The many, many incidents of school bullying center more on the alien factor than the homosexual one.This novel explores the issue of homosexual relationships in a way that is the best I have ever read by not exploring it. Throughout the novel, there is simply an acceptance of Henry’s lifestyle choice. His mother accepts it and even wants to have a safe-sex talk with him. Audrey, the closest person to Henry that might be called a girlfriend, accepts Henry’s choice. That is probably because she was a best friend to Henry and Jesse before the suicide and she was aware of the boys’ relationship. Because Henry blames himself for Jesse’s suicide, he has withdrawn from even the platonic relationship he had with Audrey. Audrey is sad about this and tries throughout the story to rekindle their earlier relationship. The reader will learn (not a spoiler) that Audrey also feels guilty because she believes she was the reason for the suicide. Even Henry’s grandmother, Nana, accepts Henry’s choice when she can remember to think about it. She is suffering from Alzheimer disease; her struggle is an important story-within-a-story and contributes wonderful insights on the progression of life.Marcus as the choice to fill the void of the dead Jesse could not continue as a relationship with Henry. One-half of the time spent in satisfactory sex contrasted with the second-half of the relationship spent in administering punishing physical violence to Henry was a bomb waiting to go off. Luckily for Henry, the arrival at school of a new guy, Diego Vega, provided an alternative. Starting out on a very platonic and intellectual relationship, there were signs that a sexual component would evolve. The conflict here was that Diego (also called Valentin) had a deep, dark secret that he refused to reveal to Henry. All Henry’s attempts to question Diego were rebuffed. Google searches about his life before Henry returned no results. Honesty and openness were important to Henry; nothing could proceed without a transparent base of honesty and full disclosure.The character interactions in the book are brilliant as they engage in dialogues defining their relationships. Henry mentions that he loves his brother, Charlie, because he has to but as far as daily life, Henry despises his brother. As the novel progresses, Henry finds that he didn’t really know much about Charlie. Henry engages in dialogues with Nana despite her frequent mental absences when she is not sure who he is. Henry’s advice to his mother on life choices is ironic and is the one point where I had to almost suspend belief. How can a person this young make such great, deeply philosophical observations? I found myself using a highlighter frequently as Henry made observations that were stunning philosophically stated with such simplicity.There are some really great “outtakes.” These are chapters depicting how Planet Earth might disappear for reasons other than Henry failing to hit the Big Red Button.This is one of the books I recommend highly for all ages (mostly 12 and up). Young people will empathize with the depictions of classroom life. The sexual angle is done with no sleaze and no unnecessary referencing. The importance of strong family relationships is emphasized even though Henry’s family appears to be the definition of dysfunctional.And then there is THE QUESTION. Did Henry push the Big Red Button?

⭐ “Sometimes I think gravity may be death in disguise. Other times I think gravity is love, which is why love’s only demand is that we fall.”TW: attempted rape, off book suicide, suicide discussion, bullying,Our main character, Henry (16-years-old) has been getting abducted by aliens on and off for the last 3 years. Most recently, they confided in him that the world will end in 144 days and all he has to do to prevent it is to press a button that will stop the end of the world. But he dosen’t press the button because he feels life just isn’t worth living.This book is a journey from feeling like living and all the things that come with it are pointless, to finding meaning in the little things. This book was so well defined in that aspect I felt this message rings loud and clear on all the pages. I felt myself looking for meaning for him and hoping that he feels it too. I felt his emotional journey and how hopeless everything could feel and I found characters that gave this book light and meaning.This book was a really amazing wild ride of emotions. It started out with a bunch of detestable characters and our main character justified in his hatred toward them. As the book progresses, the characters become less detestable and more human.I adored Diego because I felt like he was humanity’s hope. I felt like he was Henry’s salvation and that he brought so much energy and life to every page he was on. He was the positivity to Henry’s negativity and the hope to Henry’s hopelessness. Diego is litterally the light of the book and I adored him and how he treated Henry.I have heard so much hype surrounding this book. This book is considered YA, so it is a quick and easy read that is held to YA standards of writing and ease of content. I enjoyed this immensely for the YA book that it was.

⭐ I bought this book as part of a 30 Days of Pride Book Review project. The following is that review:This is such a good book. Sincerely.A snippet from School Library Journal on the back cover said — “Hints of Slaughterhouse-Five.” And I thought, comparing yourself to Vonnegut is setting a pretty high bar… but, yes, hints of Kurt Vonnegut, indeed. Of course, Hutchinson isn’t Vonnegut (who is?) but just like with my favorite Vonnegut novels, this book begs to be quoted, but has so many quotable lines that tie back into themselves that it becomes impossible for me to figure out where I want to start or stop quoting it, until finally I decide instead of reading you any of these passages, I should just make you read this book. On the surface this book is about some real concrete story point things. It is about a boy named Henry Denton who is abducted by aliens and given the absurd power to decide the fate of the world, while struggling to deal with his own family and relationship drama, with a doomsday clock quietly counting down in the background. But then it is also about a lot of other things. It is about grief. It is about being fifteen and weird. It is about hooking up with the wrong person because you can or because they are there or because you don’t think you deserve any better… It’s about being human and insignificant in the grand scheme of things and whether or not that should stop you from caring about living…One of my favorite Vonnegut quotes is, “Do you realize that all great literature is all about what a bummer it is to be a human being? Isn’t it such a relief to have someone say that?”This book is about what a bummer it is to be a human being, how short, brutal, and absurd our lives are, and whether or not we should keep making the choice to live them anyway.I really enjoyed finding out whether or not Henry Denton would decide to spare humanity… almost as much as I enjoyed all the various Sci-fi theories he proposed as possible world ending phenomena for when the doomsday clock eventually ran out.I want you to read this book. And, some of you, I know, will never actually read this book… whether because it isn’t your taste or you’re too busy or you just don’t enjoy reading… but I want you to read it, anyway. Like, I know if you started reading this book, you would want to keep reading this book, and I don’t think you would regret reading it. It’s just that kind of book.It has my ringing endorsement, but let’s put it on the project scales.First up: The Queer Counterculture Visibility Scale. The main character was white, male, and gay. I’m giving points here for: Class issues, a side character’s sexuality being more fluid than a binary Gay VS. Straight, and a very honest look at mental health. I also kind of like that the struggles that our main character was having in his life did not revolve around his sexuality. Things weren’t tense because he was gay, but because he was being abducted by aliens and no one believed it. I don’t know if it is weird or not to give it a half point just for not being another coming out story, which are great and necessary, but are really saturating the YA genre… but it’s my scale, and I made it up, and I can score it however I want.3 out of 5 starsSecondly: The Genre Expectation Scale. This is a young adult novel, in that the main character is a fifteen year old boy, dealing with highschool, family, relationships and the pain of figuring out what kind of human being he is. But it easily surpasses any expectation I would have for the “Juvenile–fiction” Genre. It is well written and poignant without being pretentious. It is able to be dark without having to turn off the lights and nihilistic in a way that doesn’t actually reach hopelessness. It is a well crafted, well thought out, and well edited novel.5 out of 5 stars(easily)

⭐ For a book creeping near the 500 page mark We Are the Ants takes the long route to start and then suddenly floors it in the last 50 pages.The good: The main character Henry is believable, broken, and has some good cynical sarcasm (I expected more,) and the book introduces some other interesting characters. The story is not a single prong, but actuallyhas multiple branching points that all help lead to the conclusion.The bad: The ending (last 50 pages) without giving away any plot points everything in the book comes to a head and what could have been given the detail and explanation of 100 pages suddenly is crammed into half that. I’m some texts that may be okay, but in a situation where relationships and details were in depth the first 400 pages for it to suddenly end was a key down.

⭐ I went into this book not really knowing much or expecting much. All I really knew was that this book was about a queer mc and his boyfriend had left him (I wasn’t sure about the details). I guess I had sort of expected this to be something like Illuminea of sort. As soon as I started reading this book, I realised I wasn’t getting that. The writing style of this book was beautiful and thought provoking. Reading this book was a rollercoaster. There were times when you thought the mc was okay and even happy but the next, he’s not. And he’s sad and talking about it and in the process, makes you sad. I was highlighting so much while reading this book (ebook)! I enjoyed the characters from Henry to Zooey (but there were a few characters I wanted to punch very badly). Henry struggles so much through this book. I felt so bad for him and I just wanted to wrap him up and protect him from the world. The book was brilliant and amazing! It was interesting to see the science intertwined within the story and sort of a little break from the rollercoaster of Henry’s life. This was such an incredible and heavy book. I loved it from page 1 to the end.

⭐ I’d probably avoid this book if you are actively suicidal. Though I think the message might actually help some suicidal people, it might trigger others. No way to be sure. This was like returning to my adolescence and rolling around in it. The intensity of feeling. The life or death grandness of emotions. The horror. The pointlessness. I grew up Gen X and this book reminded me of that helpless time, but I think Gen Z will resonate with this story more than any other generation. I think they’ll feel it in their bones. It will either support them and help them not feel alone, or maybe send them spiraling. Hard to say. As the book says, maybe it doesn’t matter. Brilliant, painful, and unforgettable.

⭐ Okay, truthfully, I read this shortly after it was first released, and have loved it ever since. I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of it, and finally got around to it.Diego’s charm really made this book for me. I’m normally not a fan of downer characters, either, but Henry had every reason to be a downer, and he was all of that and more in spectacular angsty teen fashion.Reading the synopsis of this book WILL NOT do it justice. It sounds so far-fetched, and it really is, but it’s pulled off well. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a sci-fi story or anything that focuses on aliens. It’s a plot point… and a plot device… but it’s handled in pretty much a completely different way than what you would probably expect.That being said, a couple years later, and I still adore this book. I believe it’s Hutchinson’s best work to date, and it may never be topped by anything else he puts out.

⭐ Henry is a teenager that has to deal with being bullied, family troubles and occasional abductions by aliens.When the aliens make it clear to Henry that the Earth will be destroyed after few months they offer him an opportunity, push a button they present to him and save the Earth.Most people might have done so right away, pushed the button as fast as humanly possible. But Henry is not most people and he means to think long and hard about if the Earth is worth saving or if it would just be for the best to let it all end.I can’t remember where I heard of this book and went into it not expecting too much but I ended up really liking it and was pleasantly surprised.Though it has aliens I wouldn’t count this as science fiction, it’s more of an contemporary in my opinion.We are the Ants deals with heavy topics like suicide and bullying but it also has something hopeful about it. This was an emotional ride, at times this book had me close to tears of joy or sadness and by the next chapter it had me laughing.The only thing that I can think to criticise is that I found some things a bit repetitive at times.

⭐ What do you do? What DOES a young gay teen boy do when he has the weight – and possibly even the fate – of the world upon his shoulders?WE ARE THE ANTS is a very intriguing tale – part fantasy, part speculative fiction, part M4M romance – and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.It was a tad reminiscent of – but definitely NOT derivative from – Scott Heim’s amazing novel of 10 or so years ago, MYSTERIOUS SKIN.That being said, I still was not totally convinced that Henry was being regularly abducted by aliens – and actually I don’t think we’re meant to be TOTALLY convinced of that since the imaginative author does drop a couple of hints about sleep-walking and blackouts. I’m not a scientist but I occasionally read books about science and I tend to believe that biology and physics are pretty much the same throughout the entire universe. I do believe that there IS alien life out there somewhere – billions and billions of planets to be considered – but I tend to think their inhabitants will be pretty much like us. The aliens here just seemed like they were special effects from a low budget SF movie. But, don’t get me wrong, Henry believed they were real and I decided to be an engaged reader and grant the author – a great story teller – “suspension of disbelief.”MC Henry has had a very difficult time in his life and the empathetic reader cannot help but love him.One facet of the story that interested me a lot were Henry’s many speculations on how the world might end – since the decision was SEEMINGLY up to him – some with an apoplectic whimper, some with an apoplectic bang.Henry’s grief with regard to his first boyfriend’s suicide is a very deep and thought-provoking part of the novel and has a great deal to do with what is going on in Henry’s mind. And yet, with his slowly developing friendship and then probable romantic interest in Diego, we can also see that it may very well be possible for Henry to move on. One hopes so.POSSIBLE SPOILER:The ending is very “up in the air” – and rightly so. I think readers will need to decide that for themselves. But, it IS a year later now and we’re all still here.I rate it 4 1/2 stars but I rounded down because the characterization of the aliens just didn’t totally convince me they were real. Still, this was a great book. And I will read it again because I’m sure I missed some wonderful things along the way.

⭐ This was just… WOW!To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much.But as I read, and read some more, and couldn’t stop reading, I knew this book was something special.Simply put— I was blown away!Give me angst-y YA contemporaries with diverse characters and a sci-fi twist, and I’m in love! There is so much truth happening in the pages of Shaun David Hutchinson’s novel: about life, grief, and mental illness… it was absolutely beautiful. Each page was a wonder! And for all the life-affirming qualities, there is, too, very heavy subject matter concerning suicide, physical and sexual assault, and homophobia. Each character (and I do mean every damn one) was so well-developed; fleshed-out with their own wants and faults, which was refreshing for this genre.One minor complaint:Some of the passages felt a bit redundant.There’s so much more I could say about this book, but I’m still trying to process all of my emotions.All you need to know, I guess, is I’m happy I read this.

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