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A review by dani005
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
5.0
I loved this book so much!
This had one of the best character developments that i have read so far in a long time. The development wasn't rushed, as you watched this kid work through things that are hard for any fifteen year old to comprehend. The obstacles that Lucky had to face were beyond hard and they were things that no fifteen year old should have to face. But then that doesn't seem to matter sometimes in our society because circumstances happen that we can't control and often, even those in higher authority who can help do something about it don't because we get too caught up in our own lives so much of the time, to notice the harsh realities occurring around. That's what Lucky was having to deal with; learning where to rely on others and where to rely on himself.
The subject of this book isn't an easy topic in the least. But A.S. King did a fantastic job of approaching it. He wound each section of this story so smoothly, introducing aspects with a smooth continuous pace so that no aspect was rushed too fast and thrown all up in your face but neither had been allowed to become too slow either. He knew how to foreshadow the events of the story with just enough of a hint of what is to come to create a building suspense. As well, he didn't shy away either from the brutal honesty of the subject he was incorporating into his story and just how cruel some kids can be.
However, this book wasn't all doom and gloom. Not even close. There were fantastic comedic reliefs also. In all honesty, in the beginning of the book and being introduced to the ants (major instigators of comedic relief alongside of course Lucky himself), i wasn't sure what to make of them because they just seemed kind of out of place. But they grow on you. they do. They become these fantastic side characters as the story pregresses that chant and scream for Lucky and you can't help it but chant and scream along with them. They added a different partial perspective that just helped to keep the story from becoming too dark.
Also, the secondary characters involved in this story were intertwined within this story beautifully. THe author introduces them and you see them how Lucky first viewed them and then as time passed, Lucky's perspective changed of these people as he saw that people aren't always as they seem and he starts to understand them and accept them for their flaws and learn to love them. Lucky came to see them not as perfect individuals that he could be envious of anymore, but as others like himself who were struggling with their own faults and shortcomings and hardships. They became people who he could connect with and empathize with and be empathized for. They added whole layers and dimensions to this novel that folded themselves into this story to create it as a whole elaborate illustration of what it is to face the hardships in life; creating a raw, heart-warming and often hilarious story of just how hard it is sometimes to learning to grow and be yourself as a teen.
This book deals with a heavy subject and no it didn't explore every concept to the idea of bullying and there were so many angles of other characters that we didn't get to see but then maybe that's just something left unsaid; something for the reader to think about. These secondary characters all had such complicated lives and A.S King saw to making that clear to us through the perceptions of Lucky. We saw through Lucky's eyes, just how clearly possible it is that all of us, each have our own hardships to rise up to; that all of us see the ants in every day of our own lives.
This had one of the best character developments that i have read so far in a long time. The development wasn't rushed, as you watched this kid work through things that are hard for any fifteen year old to comprehend. The obstacles that Lucky had to face were beyond hard and they were things that no fifteen year old should have to face. But then that doesn't seem to matter sometimes in our society because circumstances happen that we can't control and often, even those in higher authority who can help do something about it don't because we get too caught up in our own lives so much of the time, to notice the harsh realities occurring around. That's what Lucky was having to deal with; learning where to rely on others and where to rely on himself.
The subject of this book isn't an easy topic in the least. But A.S. King did a fantastic job of approaching it. He wound each section of this story so smoothly, introducing aspects with a smooth continuous pace so that no aspect was rushed too fast and thrown all up in your face but neither had been allowed to become too slow either. He knew how to foreshadow the events of the story with just enough of a hint of what is to come to create a building suspense. As well, he didn't shy away either from the brutal honesty of the subject he was incorporating into his story and just how cruel some kids can be.
However, this book wasn't all doom and gloom. Not even close. There were fantastic comedic reliefs also. In all honesty, in the beginning of the book and being introduced to the ants (major instigators of comedic relief alongside of course Lucky himself), i wasn't sure what to make of them because they just seemed kind of out of place. But they grow on you. they do. They become these fantastic side characters as the story pregresses that chant and scream for Lucky and you can't help it but chant and scream along with them. They added a different partial perspective that just helped to keep the story from becoming too dark.
Also, the secondary characters involved in this story were intertwined within this story beautifully. THe author introduces them and you see them how Lucky first viewed them and then as time passed, Lucky's perspective changed of these people as he saw that people aren't always as they seem and he starts to understand them and accept them for their flaws and learn to love them. Lucky came to see them not as perfect individuals that he could be envious of anymore, but as others like himself who were struggling with their own faults and shortcomings and hardships. They became people who he could connect with and empathize with and be empathized for. They added whole layers and dimensions to this novel that folded themselves into this story to create it as a whole elaborate illustration of what it is to face the hardships in life; creating a raw, heart-warming and often hilarious story of just how hard it is sometimes to learning to grow and be yourself as a teen.
This book deals with a heavy subject and no it didn't explore every concept to the idea of bullying and there were so many angles of other characters that we didn't get to see but then maybe that's just something left unsaid; something for the reader to think about. These secondary characters all had such complicated lives and A.S King saw to making that clear to us through the perceptions of Lucky. We saw through Lucky's eyes, just how clearly possible it is that all of us, each have our own hardships to rise up to; that all of us see the ants in every day of our own lives.