Leave the World Behind tells the story of Clay and Amanda, who while vacationing on Long Island with their children, receive a late night knock on the door of their rental home, only to find the owners, a well-off Manhatten Black couple, asking for entry as they escape a mysterious black-out in the city. Each of the adults are scraping to come to terms with their current circumstances and what, I anything, they can or should do to survive when they have no idea what actually happened.

Alam uses perfect pacing and direct, sometimes even aggressive prose to propel the reader through the story, all the while deftly providing commentary on everything from race and class to our overwhelming need to be connected via our cell phones to the world at large. The narrative sweeps back and forth from scenes resembling normal life to scenes straight out of a horror novel, reminding the reader of how normalcy can still creep in despite the very surreal events reminding the characters that something has gone wrong.

I also enjoyed the omniscient narrator for this novel; it allows the reader to know just a little more than the characters, though not much. I actually wouldn't recommend this novel for anyone who needs things explained to enjoy a book.

For everyone else, though, I definitely do think this is a great example of a literary thriller that really draws the reader in and wholly recommend it.

This book is the weirdest, strangest, most suspenseful read for me this year for SURE. I went into Alam's Leave the World Behind without any clue what was happening and I ended the book without a clear understand of what happened but not really caring because the story was so suspenseful.

It's best to go into this book without any context - just know that a white family (Clay, Amanda, Archie and Rose) travel out to the depths of remote Long Island for a vacation, staying in a rental. When the owners of the rental show up, a Black older couple named G.H. and Ruth, telling the family that there was a blackout and something bad is happening in NYC, the two families must work through this crisis together.

Alam really does a great job of building tension. Are G.H. and Ruth telling the truth or are they up to something more sinister? Will Clay and Amanda accept the other Black couple or will their "nice white people" liberal racism come out? It's interesting (and super frightening) reading this book while living in a pandemic. It made me think about how prepared my family is for a disaster, and where I would go to feel safety and comfort.

Overall, many people won't like this. It is just vague enough for folx to not understand, feel bored, or disappointed with the ending. But I fell into this story about the cross sections of race, class and status, the impacts of humans on the environment and what it means to feel safe.

This is a horror story. I did not know that before I read it and I was very surprised. Its not the kind you read before Halloween to get you into the spirit, it is an end of the world, what will happen to me and where will I be kind of horror story. It’s not my usual genre, therefore I am not comfortable rating it high or low. It’s very readable, though very slow at times, but I kept going not knowing what was going to happen and it kept me hanging. Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the e ARC!

Leave the World Behind is a story that thrums with tension, which begins to bubble up from underneath as the story goes on. As the characters become more freaked out, you are sure to follow suit, making for a very anxiety-inducing reading experience.

This story is a deft thought experiment of all the 'what-if's you've briefly contemplated—what if you were in a vacation home and someone knocked on your door at night, what if there was a blackout across the entire country, what if we went to war, what if there was a nuclear disaster, what if we were stranded, what if, what if, what if. The list could go on and on. While the story revolves around the collision of two families at a vacation home outside of New York City, Alam includes moments that touch on racism, parenthood, power, gender norms, and more. The level of anxiety and tension in the story makes these ideas jump from the page even more—nothing remains under-the-surface in this story.

This is a solid, engrossing, and quick read that will wrap you up in what slowly turns into a nightmare. I'm not sure this was my favorite reading experience, since I was super stressed the entire time, but it is a really interesting and clearly powerful novel.

This book was disappointing to me. I feel like the author did not even know where he was going with the story. It jumped around so much it was hard to follow. While I like the idea of an open-ended ending for readers to come to their own conclusion, I feel like the whole story was just for me to figure out. The author did not provide anything at all for the reader except a bunch of jumbled descriptions that contradicted themselves.

All you really need to know about Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind is that it is a finalist for the National Book Award.

But, if you want a little more info, also know that this is a slow build suspense novel that makes observations about race and class that are subtle on the surface, but carry a deep punch.

Between the short cliff hanger chapters and play between creating questions and giving answers to mysterious moments, I couldn’t put this one down. Be warned though, although there are both spooky and gory moments, it is somehow neither a thriller nor horror, but rather it’s own genre of excellently paced literary fiction.

"They were equipped to handle certain fears. This was something else."

This book had me at the edge of my seat the entire time! I don't want to give too much away but the plot revolves around a Brooklyn family who rent a house on Long Island where they can "leave the world behind," only to be surprised by visitors with news of a happening no one quite understands.

I've seen reviews that say the book is overwritten, but I found Alam's writing colorful and vivid. The scenario the characters find themselves in makes you question how you would act in a similar situation and I found myself relating to their behavior and concerns, especially when we're still in the middle of this global pandemic. Who do you trust in moments of crisis? What will you risk for your family's safety? And can you find a way to go on when life as you know it may no longer exist?

I can't say I enjoyed this book but I couldn't put it down either. It made me think and freaked me out. It was dark and unsettling. It's not a book for everyone but it's one I won't soon forget.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and the author for an advanced copy to review.

Leave the World Behind is an eerie novel with an apocalyptic feel that explores issues of truth, trust, and uncertainty heightened by a remote location and lack of basic services. Two families--from different ethnicities, generations, and social strata--are left to grapple with the unease of being in each other's company as they are forced together because of a major power outage and lack of information from the outside world. These relative strangers must find a way to overcome their individual and shared fears amid signs from nature of intense foreboding and ominous change.

As they make overtures to establish mutual trust, one thing is certain: life as they know it is no longer a given, and the world will be forever changed. These six strangers must unite in a singular mission of survival as they come to terms with what the future may hold.

This haunting, addictive read is spellbinding in its own right--and also conjures feelings about our current uncertain times and the unknown collective future we face in the midst of a global pandemic.

From reading the synopsis alone, Leave the World Behind had me thinking it would be a thriller with some social commentary, but the story is more than that (in a good way). After I finished this one, I read one review that described this book as genre-bending, which is spot-on. Yes, there is suspense and social commentary about race and class, but there are also sci-fi elements and themes of coming-of-age, parenthood, and marriage. I found this multifaceted approach to telling the story intriguing.
This is the first novel I’ve read by Alam, so I don’t know if the writing style is consistent with his other work, but I struggled with it early on and had difficulty engaging with the story as a result. I was fortunate to receive the advanced audiobook version as well, and found myself more receptive to the writing via that medium. However, the story still fell flat for me. While I appreciate how the narrative was constructed and that it was ultimately something more than a thriller, the tone was dry and I could not be brought to care about the fates of these characters - even the children. I’m not saying every story has to have entirely likeable characters, but because I was already struggling with the writing, having no character I cared about made it difficult to appreciate the larger themes of the book.
I think this book became a victim of its own hype for me. It’s been selected for celebrity book clubs, long-listed for the National Book Award, and named to multiple most anticipated books lists...and I just don’t get it. Yes, the story is provocative and relevant, but the execution is just not there. 2.5 stars

Different than any thrillers I’ve read. Thought it was going to be a different type of story but it was satisfying all the same. A family on vacation. When the owners show up with news of a blackout. Then alarming noises, animals acting strange and a weird sickness come into the story. A missing child. A parents nightmare. Page turning and compulsively readable but the ending left me unsatisfied. This is a new to me author I will try his other books

4.5, rounded up

Not a plain old thriller!

This book tricked me! Here I was reading a book about an apocalypse! This is NOT my genre! I went into it blind, like I love to do, and I thought I was getting a plain old thriller. But I don’t want to scare off people—this is more like apocalypse light. There’s no gore, no dead bodies, no zombies. And there is distance (covering my mouth so I don’t say more). I think of it as a family drama with weird things happening.

First, a quick and vague plot synopsis: A rich, white family rents a ritzy, remote house for a summer vacation. It’s mom and dad and their two teens. In the middle of the night, the elderly black owners of the house show up.

The idea of a thriller was stuck in my head, so I thought sinister people, not sinister outside forces, were the players here. Being genre-dumb has its perks, though—from the second there was a knock on the door, I saw endless possibilities of disaster.

Joy Jar

--That knock-knock was no joke. The scene became one of the tensest I’ve read this year, because I absolutely had NO idea what was going on. Fantastic suspense, fantastic writing! I was right there inside the family’s heads and skins, total immersion. The writer is a smart cookie and knows how to spin it so that the family’s fear becomes our fear.

-The language and style are sophisticated; always a giant plus! Every sentence is carefully placed and is perfect and wise. The book is philosophical without being pedantic or dense. Great new vocab words for those of us who like to learn them (which I then promptly forget, lol—but it’s fun at the time).

-There are juicy little hints that something is wrong outside paradise. I was right there next to the characters, trying to figure out what was happening.

-Loved how the writer portrays fear and desperation. Hope, shock, worry, all mixed in the stew. Very realistic. Characters are committed to the hope that everything will be fine. They downplay, rationalize, insist. Here are these six people, all scared, all in their own personal hell, and yet forced to interact. You really get a sense of what it feels like to be disconnected and isolated yet have people around. The couples are strangers, so motivations and preferences are unknown. No one knows what to expect from the others. And since the situation is scary, they can’t just relax and socialize. The way all this is done is very clever and eerie.

-The apocalypse doings are creative.

Complaint Board

-Do I really need to hear about every single thing in a grocery cart? The list of foods is hugundous! Major yawn! The food shop is at the beginning, and I feared I’d be exposed to some serious detail-itis throughout the book. (Didn’t happen, phew!) Later, as I realized I was loving the book, I decided to spin it differently (we always make excuses when love comes into the picture!). I decided the list was okay because we got to know something about the family by seeing what they were eating. We saw their snobbery, their secret delights, their junk food—revealing their complicated tastes, giving us hints about their personalities. Sort of “you are what you eat”?

-Greta the Grammarian says a verb tense drove her nuts. (Always beware when I start talking in second person; I’m trying to escape the embarrassment of this gripe!) It happened a couple of times. Here’s one of the culprits: “Our phones reminded us precisely how bad things had got.” I know it’s just me, but I hate that “got” is used instead of “gotten.” I want, no, I NEED, the “ten” at the end. Gotten, gotten, gotten! My linguistically-bent, teacher daughter told me it’s acceptable now to use the “got” structure. (Another one that drives me nuts: He got “bit” by a dog instead of he got “bitten” by a dog.) Argh!! Yes, I know, this is ridiculously minor so why did I even go there? Blame Greta.

-I will tease you with this one word: Teeth. I was a dental assistant when I was 14 (!). I think it messed me up when it comes to teeth because it made me question the parents’ reaction. I will close my mouth now. Read it and find out what the hell I’m talking about.

-I didn’t hate the ending but I didn’t love it either. I wanted more closure. The only big complaint, I’d say.

Even though one couple is white and one is black, I don’t think race came into play very much. It’s definitely not the main gist of the story. Other reviewers felt differently; I might be missing something.

This is a book that will stay with me. Lots of drama. It’s unique, sharp and dark, uncomfortable and scary. If you have fantasies of worse-case scenarios, this might not be the book for you. But if you like a very well-written family drama with fascinating dynamics and world-weird thrills mixed in, grab this one because it is wicked good! I could not put it down. It’s not very long, so fast readers will zoom through it in no time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

DNF @40%

Ugh. I'm so disappointed. I really tried but the writing was so wooden and awful. What was with all fragment sentences??? Very bizarre. I had to read the same paragraph over and over again because I couldn't understand what I just read and I don't have a learning disability so yeah, I blame the writing style for my mind wandering. The plot sounded so intriguing. Such a shame because I think this novel could've been something dark and brooding but I can't forgive lazy writing. Next!

Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins for the digital ARC.

What a fascinating and incredibly unnerving novel. What begins as a novel discussing race and privilege slowly transforms into a rumination on living in ~Pandemic Times TM~ and the ending of ways of life as we know it, which is particularly intriguing given that, from what I understand, Alam began this novel before the reality of COVID-19 had settled.

If you are interested in the nitty-gritty of disasters in your fiction, however, I would steer clear of this one: part of what Alam does so brilliantly is to capture the fear of not knowing what is going on, and what impact it may have (for you, for your loved ones, and for the world) as our characters enter into a state of total isolation, without access to anything but one another (and even that reassurance begins to dissipate). If you're willing to get on that thought train (or, more accurately let that all-too-real thought train into your fiction reading) I would highly recommend giving this a go.

Thank you to Ecco (Harper Collins) for providing me a free early e-copy of this work through Netgalley. Leave the World Behind is out now.

Clay and Amanda take their family on vacation in the Hampton's, it is important to note that they are white. One night they get a knock on the door.. who could be there? The owners show up, an older black couple who arrive frazzled stating there has been a blackout. This book is a great example of race, class, and family dynamic. How will we behave when we believe the world is ending?

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and author Rumaan Alam for this copy of Leave The World Behind!

(3.5 rounded up)
Seinfeld Meets Twilight Zone
Amanda, Clay, and their teenagers Archie and Rose are vacationing in an Airbnb home in a remote area in the Hampton, when late at night there is a knock on the door from the owners. They are older and in a panic as there is a blackout in Manhattan and they decided to leave and drive to their vacation rental home for shelter. At first Amanda and Clay are fearful that they were going to be kicked out. G. H. and Ruth assured them they weren’t going ask them to leave but would stay in the “in-law” suite in the basement ~ and, of course, will refund part of their payment.

As the two families live together, tension, fears and strange things happen and they don’t know if they are happening everywhere or just in their a remote area ~ no close neighbors, no TV nor cell reception..

Story had me curious as to what was going on? I love a good thriller/suspense novel but ½ way in I had serious doubts this was going to work for me.

Some parts the writing was great others over- written ~ such as Amanda’s grocery shopping ~ item by item, then the details on smells and body parts especially private body parts and then the description of vomit all were a bit much!

Hmmm BUT I DID finally “GET IT” I questioned if it was a futuristic thriller, a satire or just
a mind game.
I believe Book Clubs everywhere are going to go nutty over discussing this novel!
Did I like it? Hmmmmm

A Netflix movie is in the works with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.
https://www.slashfilm.com/leave-the-world-behind-cast/

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Publishing Release Date October 6, 2020

I was really looking forward to this book after seeing some great reviews for it. I decided to go with the audiobook. The narrator was good, but I really wasn't too impressed with this story in general! A white couple with their 2 children leave the big city to stay in a vacation home in the Hamptons. During their vacation they hear sounds and voices outside, turns out to be the homes owners, an older black couple. They tell them there has been a blackout in the city, and that they need to all stay there. They have no way to get information on what is happening. This leads to much suspense about who can trust who and what is actually happening with the blackout. How they go about their days with strangers and whether they actually feel safe.

This book instills a sense of fear and claustrophobia. You get the point of view from both families, and what is going on in their minds. It handles the subjects of family, race and privilege. I felt some of the language and story was very intricate, and maybe a little confusing at times. In the end, I really wanted to know more about what was going on in the outside world. What was this blackout about? I can definitely see people enjoying this one as it builds with suspense as you read, but it wasn't a fav of mine!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher, and librofm for the review copy. All opinions are my own!

The premise is unbelievably good, and I couldn't put it down at all. I read the whole thing in less than 24 hours. But I think the thing I admired most is the prose. So compact and economical. I find myself studying his sentences, wondering how he managed to convey so much in so few words!

In a previous review of this book, I wrote that this is one of those books that makes you want to go "hmmmm". I am definitely stretching the theme of coming of age for this book, but I think once you finish reading, you will also see the growth, actually of more than one character. This book moves along very innocently and then it takes a very sharp turn and you are on a downhill rollercoaster you might not find stopping any time soon. I felt like I was watching (or listening to) an M. Night Shymalan movie. The characters are well developed and the plot very intriguing. Clay, Amanda, and their children experience the same isolation of those who are facing quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet they are far outside of the city with no contact with the outside world.

This was such a remarkable and chilling read.
Clay and Amanda, along with their teenage children Archie and Rose, go on vacation, from New York City to an isolated area of Long Island.
They rent a beautiful, expensive house in a quiet and secluded community.
Late one evening, their idyllic time is abruptly interrupted by a knock at the door.
Ruth and G.H., the homeowners, an elderly black couple, are back from the city with disturbing news of a blackout. They came home, wanting to feel safe.
Clay and Amanda aren't sure if they trust them. The cell phone and internet coverage they have is spotty, it's difficult to get any information.
Strange things begin to happen, turning their world upside down.
This one started out a little too wordy, but I began to immerse into this creepy, unsettling story and it was full of suspense. I was anxious to know what was really going on.
A dark, atmospheric mix of family drama/horror /mystery.
The sudden ending lowered my rating a bit, I prefer more closure.
Thank you Ecco for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

A family of four tries to get away from the bustle of New York City by vacationing in a semi-secluded, but luxurious rental. However, their reprieve is short-lived. A series of unexplained events shuts down the cell towers and satellite systems, rendering modern technology useless. In a twist, the owners of the rental show up with the news that most of East Coast has lost power. Dramatic events unfold as the two families grapple with the unknown and a new reality in a world ostensibly destroyed.