Release Date: 23rd April 2014
Publisher: Canongate Books
Pages: 304
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones
Source: I picked a copy of this up from a second hand bookshop.

Synopsis

After an ‘incident’ one wet Friday night where Professor Andrew Martin is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, he is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst a crazy alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, and he’s a dog.

Who is he really? And what could make someone change their mind about the human race. . . ?

Review

I read How To Stop Time by Matt Haig and absolutely loved it. I’ve heard amazing things about The Humans so picked it up as soon as I saw it in a local bookshop. Our narrator is an alien sent to planet Earth to erase any mention of a mathematic equation that will far advance the human race. What follows is a set of awkward encounters as the alien attempts to navigate life on Earth.

This book was completely different to what I expected. There were plenty of really funny moments as the alien attempts to understand why we do the things we do and I really enjoyed this unusual concept, however the main focus of this story is what it means to be human. It read like an in depth study into human nature.

This is a really profound and original novel and one that will stick with you. It’s quite a short book and I read it very quickly, but I was still talking about it a few days afterwards. So many people love this book and have rated it really highly however I had a few minor issues that made me rate this book a bit lower. I in no way think this is a bad book, I was felt really put off by the incredibly short chapters – some are only a page. It felt a bit jarring to the story and that lessened my enjoyment. My second issue was the vague ending which I didn’t really like. I won’t say too much about that because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but it definitely wasn’t how I wanted things to end.

The Humans is an interesting look into human nature with a fun and humorous twist. If you’re a fan of science fiction novels this is definitely one to be on your wishlist.