I read a paperback version of The Humans.

Genre: Science fiction, Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd.
Originally published: May 9th, 2013
Pages: 320 (paperback)
Audiobook length: 8 Hours 10 Minutes

Blurb by the publisher:
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. OR IS THERE?
After an ‘incident’ one wet Friday night where he is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin 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 an 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 . . . ?

My thoughts:
The first time I got to enjoy Matt Haig’s writing was when I found How to Stop Time at an airport while traveling, and that one was told so brilliantly that I knew that Matt Haig would potentially be another author to add to my favorites list. But before he could end up on that list, I had to find out if it was just the one book that I enjoyed, or if it was his writing and storytelling that would captivate me more than once.
So, when I saw The Humans while I was on another trip (maybe Matt’s books and I are destined to be travel buddies?), I had to give it a go.
The Humans is one of those books that got my attention not just because of the author, but also because it just sounded magically quirky and just up my alley. What can I say? I love weird books!
Little did I know just how weird and wonderful it would turn out to be, and what a special place in my reader’s heart it would find.
In the very beginning of the story, we find out that Andrew Martin’s body has been occupied by an alien (so not really a spoiler), and what I thought would be a big mystery of why Martin had changed, was more a wonderful story of an alien trying to navigate itself on earth.
The best thing about this story is definitely how the alien experience and reacts to the utterly weird things that we humans do. I laughed out loud and almost felt a little embarrassed when recognizing some of the human actions for just how weird they are.
There were so many moments where I thought to myself: “Yep. We do that and it’s so stupid!”.
Matt Haig touches on a lot of the ways we humans seem to be unable to change, how we can be way too self-destructive, but also the wonderful little things that make us the weird humans that we are.
This is the true magic of The Humans and what made it such a unique and wonderful read.
There are other elements to the plotline that makes this story a quick and exciting read. The alien’s mission is definitely one that makes it into a pageturner.
So, the big question is: did Matt Haig make it to the favorite authors list?
Absolutely!!
If you’re looking for a different kind of science fiction read, I would highly recommend The Humans.

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