“We may not get to choose how we die, but we can choose how we live.”

From the author of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes a brand-new novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.

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. (Goodreads)

This is only the second travelling book that I have participated in, and it has left me wanting for more. Have you ever joined a travelling book tour? It’s really fun! It’s like receiving a book subscription box filled with goodies from your closest friends. If reading books with annotations is not your thing, perhaps this type of activity will not suit you. But if you are like me–and I personally believe that the reading experience is enriched by the notes and highlights and feelings of the readers before me–then this is definitely something you will enjoy. Big thanks to my awesome friend Meds (IG: @middayreads) for hosting 😘

Now let me show you the unboxing of the We Are The Ants (WATA) traveling book!

Members are supposed to get one item from each set of gifts from the previous readers/participants, and it was so hard to choose because everything is so adorable 😍 But in the end, of course I had to decide. So here’s my final loot:

Of course I also added my own gifts before sending the box on to the next reader:

“Words are how others define us, but we can define ourselves any way we choose.”

And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this unboxing as much as I did. Will you now be looking out for a travelling book to come your way? Or are you thinking of hosting one for your friends? I know I am!

I do hope you get to read We Are the Ants, too. I certainly enjoyed all the science trivia and the different doomsday scenarios (yes, those are fun!). It also has some of the most beautiful friendships and relatable family relationships I’ve ever encountered in a book. It is equal parts scary, depressing, funny and hopeful. It’s a lovely book that forces us to face the terror and beauty of our mortality. Definitely a must-read 👍🏻

Overall Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Shaun is a major geek and all about nerdy shenanigans. He is the author of many queer books for young adults. Find out more information at shaundavidhutchinson.com. He currently lives in Seattle and watches way too much Doctor Who.

Buy Links

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO | ABEBOOKS | BOOK DEPOSITORY | INDIGO | ALIBRIS | BETTERWORLDBOOKS | INDIEBOUND

Full list of participating bookstagrammers:

🌷Angelica @altercattus

🌷Merv @themervreads

🌷Kimmy @fairygodreader_

🌷Princess @pryngols

🌷Diane @backpackreads

🌷Jen @jendollente_reads

🌷Rica @annyeongbada

🌷Rose @thatbookishteacher_

🌷Lindsey @unopenedpages

🌷Faye @berttiebooks

🌷Meds @middayreads