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Ants
“She was short and fat. Check. She was funny and flirty. Check and check. She hadn’t ever touched another human besides through a fiber optic connection. Definite, solid blue check.”
Ants tells the story of Natasha, a 19-year-old South Indian teenager, as she navigates through online dating, feelings of displacement, her desi background, insecurities and depression.
Afraid of rejection, Nat finds all her men online, in a platform called The Chatroom. There she meets Ben, another lonely teen living three thousand miles away. Although there’s nothing concrete about their relationship, Nat starts idealizing and fantasizing about what it could be – plotting and planning elaborate scenarios.
This explorative young adult novel is a tale of two people meeting virtually, exchanging flirty and racy messages, while never seeing the other’s face. Can Natasha, or anyone, truly fall in love with a person they’ve never seen or met?
Ants tells the story of Natasha, a 19-year-old South Indian teenager, as she navigates through online dating, feelings of displacement, her desi background, insecurities and depression.
Afraid of rejection, Nat finds all her men online, in a platform called The Chatroom. There she meets Ben, another lonely teen living three thousand miles away. Although there’s nothing concrete about their relationship, Nat starts idealizing and fantasizing about what it could be – plotting and planning elaborate scenarios.
This explorative young adult novel is a tale of two people meeting virtually, exchanging flirty and racy messages, while never seeing the other’s face. Can Natasha, or anyone, truly fall in love with a person they’ve never seen or met?
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 7, 2020
3 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Nikita Chinamanthur
1 book4 followersEver since she was a child, Nikita Chinamanthur has been in love with books. She first started reading, telling and listening to stories in printed pages, before quickly discovering the online experience. From Wikipedia articles to fanfiction and online chick-lit on Wattpad, to… more books, Nikita voraciously consumes words.
Chinamanthur started imagining the world of Natasha, the protagonist of her debut novel Ants, while she was studying for her English degree at the historically women’s Scripps College in Claremont, California. She had never seen herself represented in print, being a teenaged South Asian girl, and found a gaping hole in South Asian diasporic, YA fiction.
Nikita can also be found building her impressive movie database on Notion, or collecting minimalist posters.
Chinamanthur started imagining the world of Natasha, the protagonist of her debut novel Ants, while she was studying for her English degree at the historically women’s Scripps College in Claremont, California. She had never seen herself represented in print, being a teenaged South Asian girl, and found a gaping hole in South Asian diasporic, YA fiction.
Nikita can also be found building her impressive movie database on Notion, or collecting minimalist posters.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 30, 2020
Can I give this 10 stars? For the humor, cultural elements, imagery, time relevance (2020, woo!), honesty, dialogue, character development, emotions, LOVE, and the adventure in light of social distancing.
This novel comprises of numerous shower thoughts that most people wouldn't dare write down. From snapshots of the thoughts going through a 19-year-old Natasha's head to her experience on a virtual dating platform, you would want to laugh and cry along with her as she takes you into her world.
So hear me out: put this book at the top of your to-read list. I can wholeheartedly say that Natasha provides the best company. :)
This novel comprises of numerous shower thoughts that most people wouldn't dare write down. From snapshots of the thoughts going through a 19-year-old Natasha's head to her experience on a virtual dating platform, you would want to laugh and cry along with her as she takes you into her world.
So hear me out: put this book at the top of your to-read list. I can wholeheartedly say that Natasha provides the best company. :)
January 23, 2021
Ants is a coming of age story that follows the events of Natasha's life. From her insecurities to heartbreaks, sense of self to the relationship with family, the novel wades through the troubles an average teenager experiences in this world of online chatrooms & external validation.
This was quite a short read, and I liked that there were occasional glimpses of the 90s culture. Natasha's (or Nats', as she is referred to) story reveals the mindset of the diasporic population, juggling two identities and made to feel foreign in the home that will never truly be theirs; that's something that resonated strongly with me.
But apart from these subtle nuances, there wasn't much that I could connect with or enjoy in the book. In all fairness, that's because I can no longer relate to the trials and tribulations of a 19 y/o, and the way the book has been written paints a vivid picture of a teenager's thirst for love & attention, ideas of intimacy & more.
Nats' characterisation places a great deal of focus on her exploration of her sexuality, and we read about her attachment with boys she meets on online chatrooms. At times, the narrative tugs at your heartstrings and makes you wish for better circumstances in Nats' life.
The story solemnly brings out the concerns over cybercrime, catphising, and rape porn. Through Nats' fears & worries, the susceptible nature of young minds can be gleaned with clarity.
What I feel could've drastically improved my reading experience would be a more structured narrative style. I found it difficult to connect the dots between certain events that were mentioned in passing, and that still showed to be of importance to Nats' character arc. Also, the non-linear style of storytelling was a tad too disjointed for my liking.
On the whole, I found it to be an okay read that showed a lot of potential for bringing out a rich own-voices story.
Rating - 2.5 stars
This was quite a short read, and I liked that there were occasional glimpses of the 90s culture. Natasha's (or Nats', as she is referred to) story reveals the mindset of the diasporic population, juggling two identities and made to feel foreign in the home that will never truly be theirs; that's something that resonated strongly with me.
But apart from these subtle nuances, there wasn't much that I could connect with or enjoy in the book. In all fairness, that's because I can no longer relate to the trials and tribulations of a 19 y/o, and the way the book has been written paints a vivid picture of a teenager's thirst for love & attention, ideas of intimacy & more.
Nats' characterisation places a great deal of focus on her exploration of her sexuality, and we read about her attachment with boys she meets on online chatrooms. At times, the narrative tugs at your heartstrings and makes you wish for better circumstances in Nats' life.
The story solemnly brings out the concerns over cybercrime, catphising, and rape porn. Through Nats' fears & worries, the susceptible nature of young minds can be gleaned with clarity.
What I feel could've drastically improved my reading experience would be a more structured narrative style. I found it difficult to connect the dots between certain events that were mentioned in passing, and that still showed to be of importance to Nats' character arc. Also, the non-linear style of storytelling was a tad too disjointed for my liking.
On the whole, I found it to be an okay read that showed a lot of potential for bringing out a rich own-voices story.
Rating - 2.5 stars
April 21, 2022
This is a fascinating book. The author takes you inside the mind of a young person in today’s world that is so ruled by the constructs of social media, chat rooms, online dating and the predators who lurk in those places. The entire story takes place inside the thoughts of a young woman as she tries to untangle her feelings of self worth, confidence, sexuality and love. It’s very raw and real. I feel the author took a great risk in putting everything out there with this story and she should be applauded for not holding back. The notes at the end are important as well and I urge the reader not to skip over them. Well done and thank you for sharing your words with the world.
July 14, 2024
A fun and relatable coming-of-age story following the journey of 19-year-old Natasha. I feel like I was an ant following Natasha through her struggles and reminiscences of her past. Watching her log on to the online chat rooms and screaming to tell her what to write.
This was such a fun read, especially the format of the text and all of the comic and cultural references I could understand. I do think this is directed toward a specific audience and might not capture the interest and attention of everyone but it was engaging in the way where a story was formatted in the form of modern technology communication.
There were also some great quotes and one-liners that stuck with me making me feel Natasha's heartache and other times had me burst out laughing.
This was such a fun read, especially the format of the text and all of the comic and cultural references I could understand. I do think this is directed toward a specific audience and might not capture the interest and attention of everyone but it was engaging in the way where a story was formatted in the form of modern technology communication.
There were also some great quotes and one-liners that stuck with me making me feel Natasha's heartache and other times had me burst out laughing.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews