Author: Matt Haig
Pages: 295
Format: Paperback
Published: July 2, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: August 1, 2025
My rating: 
Thoughts
Going into The Humans, I thought I was in for a quirky, alien-point-of-view look at humanity. And while that’s technically what I got, it ended up being so much deeper than I expected. This book is humorous, yes — but also contemplative and quietly profound. What starts off as a clever concept slowly transforms into a moving meditation on love, identity, and what it means to be human.
The story follows an alien sent to Earth to complete a mission involving a Cambridge professor. Told entirely from the alien’s perspective, the book strikes a tricky balance: its voice is both otherworldly and oddly relatable. I got K-PAX vibes throughout, and there were moments I even forgot I was reading from the perspective of a non-human narrator. That’s how grounded and emotionally resonant the writing is.
The book covers a wide range of themes — morality, connection, grief, healing. For me, it was the reflections on love and the moral complexities of being human that hit hardest. I tend to have a pretty bleak view of humanity in general, but this book genuinely softened that just a bit. It gave me something to think about.
The human was actually subtler than I expected, which worked in the book’s favor. The early chapters, where the alien is baffled by human customs (and particularly fixated on bodily functions), offered a good laugh. But as the story progressed, the tone deepened, and what emerged was a story about transformation. The alien grows to care deeply for the people around him — especially the professor’s son — and the more he bonds with them, the less he cares about completing his mission.
I thought the son was the most meaningful human character, and the way the narrator related to him was handled beautifully. Even though there was significant drama between the Professor and his wife, it was the father-son relationship that really grounded the story emotionally.
The Humans is hard to classify — it begins as science fiction but soon drifts into literary and even philosophical fiction territory. But the genre almost doesn’t matter. This is a book with heart, insight, and a surprising amount of warmth. I think anyone could enjoy it. It’s the kind of story that leaves you feeling a little more hopeful about the messiness of being human. This is very much a 5-star book!
