Book Review: The Humans

The Humans is a science-fiction/dark comedy book written by British author Matt Haig.  The narrative of the book follows an alien lifeform who is sent to planet Earth to infiltrate and prevent the human race from discovering of a mathematical equation which would forward their advancement to a level which could threaten the entire universe.  To do this, the alien species abduct and kill a Cambridge University lecturer called Andrew Martin.  Charged with taking the form of Andrew Martin, our alien main character must find a way to incorporate itself into the dysfunctional life Andrew Martin left behind all the while learning its way through what it truly means to be human in the process.

On the positive end, I liked the setup behind this books story for the most part.  While the concept of an alien coming to Earth and learning what it means to be fundamentally human isn’t an untouched idea, I really like how Matt Haig approached it.  He pulls no punches in showing the dark and pragmatic perspective the alien race employs when approaching this mission by killing off their abductee straight away. That dark foundation makes the honest approach to human life and its bizarre intricacies much more impactful in my opinion as you’re getting a much more direct breakdown from an external perspective.  I think the way the plot concludes though is not nearly as compelling as the majority of its setup.  I feel Matt Haig wanted to leave the plot on a reflective point, but I think the creative liberties he takes with some of the characters with the key revelations in the book seem odd and not in line with the entire concept of human reactions he was going for.

The main staying-point for this book and any other Matt Haig book though is its formatting and writing style. Haig has this wonderful ability to frame a lot of the story through the inner-monologues of its characters who he injects with a lot of dry wit and humorous commentary. I think he fully embraces the idea of putting an extra-terrestrial in South England and making the local population and events feel more alien to the reader than the actual alien! That was the main sticking point during my time reading the book.  There’s a truly humorous but oddly endearing approach to the way Matt uses his trademark writing style to explore the fundamentals of human life in a way that never feels preachy or biased.

The Humans is a reading experience I can genuinely recommend to anyone looking for something new.  Matt Haig fully dives into the concept at play here and while I do think the ending lets the rest of the book down slightly, it’s not nearly enough to diminish the value this book has to offer.  It’s a smart, quirky and altogether refreshing reading experience that makes it well worth picking up and working through if you’re in search of something a little bit different.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐