ARC Review: The Humans

Title: The Humans
Author: Matt Haig
Category/Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Sci-Fi
Release Date: July 2nd

See it at Goodreads


The critically acclaimed author of The Radleys shares a clever, heartwarming, and darkly insightful novel about an alien who comes to Earth to save humans from themselves.

“I was not Professor Andrew Martin. That is the first thing I should say. He was just a role. A disguise. Someone I needed to be in order to complete a task.”

The narrator of this tale is no ordinary human—in fact, he’s not human at all. Before he was sent away from the distant planet he calls home, precision and perfection governed his life. He lived in a utopian society where mathematics transformed a people, creating limitless knowledge and immortality.

But all of this is suddenly threatened when an earthly being opens the doorway to the same technology that the alien planet possesses. Cambridge University professor Andrew Martin cracks the Reimann Hypothesis and unknowingly puts himself and his family in grave danger when the narrator is sent to Earth to erase all evidence of the solution and kill anyone who has seen the proof. The only catch: the alien has no idea what he’s up against.

Disgusted by the excess of disease, violence, and family strife he encounters, the narrator struggles to pass undetected long enough to gain access to Andrew’s research. But in picking up the pieces of the professor’s shattered personal life, the narrator sees hope and redemption in the humans’ imperfections and begins to question the very mission that brought him there.



Some say The Humans is “just” about an alien. Well, yes, this is true. But it’s more than this. But it’s also about finding the humanity in ourselves. This book. THIS BOOK, you guys. I can’t speak highly enough of it.

There’s always that one book you pick up and you just know you’re going to like it before you even start reading. This is that book. I’d been anticipating this book for months. Ever since I’d read Haig’s The Radleys last year and was put on to this author’s writing, I was excited for its release. And seeing the above blurb just had me salivating for what was to come. I’m glad to say I wasn’t let down in the slightest and I’m screaming for more books now.

The Humans provides the reader with a lot of charm. It is funny, insightful, and inspiring. I couldn’t put it down once I started reading. The only annoyance I had to be honest was the math chatter at times (because I loathe math), but seeing as how our main character is a math-whiz, it was understandable and essential to the story. I adored “Andrew’s” growth and progression throughout as he stayed on Earth, especially his interaction with the family dog. And really, who can't love heart-warming moments with a dog?

This book I will be recommending to everyone, just like The Radleys. It’s fantastic. Brilliant and beautiful.