Reviews

Umanii by Matt Haig

thumqer's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

4.5

mattia_masciadra's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

journeying_homeward's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

haidynnoelle's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 a very unconventional love story in my opinion. the alien learns what it’s like to live, feel, and love as a human. 

hilikus_00's review against another edition

4.0

3.5.

The final 50 pages of this book was its high point. It kept me more-or-less interested throughout, with rather likeable characters. I did find it to be a tad on the superficial side, given that it was trying very hard not to be. I found some of the key moments to be lacking in substance and they ended up being totally glossed over

Spoiler

Ari's death

.

Overall a nice, enjoyable read and an interesting take on the genre.

Really loved the ending.

zoe_thebookdragon8's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely loved this book! I liked the concept and the general idea. The outcome was a little bit predictable, but there were still some twists i didn’t expect at first. 

I am always fascinating when a book is trying to give us an outside view of human life and I am obsessed with the way Matt Haig did it. Just in a very humorous way, with a lot of criticism (never too harsh) and adoration. 

Definitely a must read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Death

tschuliareads's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

sterlingprimerius's review against another edition

2.0

I have to admit it was tough to rate this one. I love science-fiction, but this did novel did not live up to expectations. For most of the book I was leaning towards 2 stars, near the end it came close to getting 3 stars, but in the end I decided a 2 star rating is much closer to how I felt for the majority of the book.

After reading the positive reviews for this I jumped in expecting witty and funny science-fiction. But it ended up never really clicking for me. You see I’m supposed believe that a highly advanced alien came to earth to masquerade as a human, but didn’t grasp simple concepts such as clothing. Yes, it’s entirely possible that his species doesn’t use clothing, maybe they never did, maybe they evolved to not needing it anymore. However when you are that advanced and intelligent, it should be a simple observation that virtually every human being wears clothes.

The alien knows who he is supposed to be and who his family is, by name, he knows the Earth name for the hypothesis he is there to prevent from becoming public knowledge, but for some reason he still needs to learn English after arriving on Earth? How was that alien ever going to blend in without problems?

This made the beginning of the book extremely hard to get through. I picked it up multiple times, read a few pages, but never really getting into it. It wasn’t until I hit the half way point that I really felt like the book was at least a bit interesting, and I ended up finishing it.

But I can’t stress enough that I did not laugh a single time. The naivety of the main character just wasn’t believable. It excites solely to make supposed outsider perspective remarks about the human race. And most of these remarks aren’t new insights, we have all heard or seen them somewhere. On top of that the story is mighty predictable.

kns1924's review against another edition

3.75

overall an enjoyable read. easy to get through, and while the characters weren’t spectacular, i liked them and was hoping things worked out for them. the science fiction elements seemed a little absurd, and i thought the book was cheesy, as a result of the heavy handed philosophical sections about the good in humans, and trying slightly too hard to be funny in the beginning. not to say it wasn’t at all funny - it was, and, again, i enjoyed the book. i don’t think it’ll stick with me for that long, and it got cheesy at points, so it’s not quite 4 stars though.

jennmb's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0