The Humans

This was an entertaining premise, and Haig did it some justice. The protagonist is an extraterrestrial being impersonating a math professor, Andrew Martin. The being tries and fails to understand people, and more specifically, the type of person Andrew was.

Haig's absurd humor hit the mark for me. The main character understood so much more and so much less than the readers. It was a clever and enjoyable way to prompt people to (re)consider human motivation and priorities.

I do think that the beginning and middle of this story are definitely stronger than the end. Things got too sentimental and repetitive for me. I'm a sucker for the “supernatural entity becomes oddly taken with humans despite originally intending them harm” trope, but not when combined with the “man changes entire worldview due to the love of a good woman he finally appreciates” trope. I thought one of the worst bits was the chapter with numbered advice (including some flippant and reductive items about suicide). It felt like one of those “in this house we...” wall decor pieces. I quickly lose interest when ideas as stale as “pain is necessary for there to be joy” start impacting plot.

Overall, though, I had a good time. The Humans is a fun, funny way to think about big questions that can be asked of and about humanity.