I may need to revisit this one in the future but for now DNF at 10%. I am really intrigued by the plot and what I’ve heard about topics that are covered but I am struggling with the writing style. It feels too overly descriptive and that every sentence is written to be clever. When it’s every sentence, I think it loses the impact and it also keeps pulling me out of the story. This may be my current mood and I know many people are absolutely loving this but it’s not for me right now. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and Libro.fm for the advance reading and listening copies.

This is third book from Rumaan Alam, and his writing just gets better and better. This book seems to be on every list this fall for the best books to read and I can see why. Leave the World Behind was attention grabbing and had me engaged to the very last page.

Amanda and Clay rent a beach home on Long Island for a family vacation. The trip starts out idyllic for them and their two kids, however they receive a knock at the door one night and it is the owners of the house, G.H and Ruth. There is a blackout in NYC and they want to stay in their home in Long Island where they feel it is safest.

What Alam takes us on is a journey of race and class, all while we have no idea what is happening outside the house. The couples have no choice but to work together while they have no clue what is going on anywhere. There is no TV, telephones, cell service or Wi-Fi to let them know if they are safe or not.

This was an exceptional book. I could never guess the direction this story was going in, but I am glad I didn’t as is left me so intrigued until the end of the book. Alam is becoming a can’t miss writer for me. I can honestly say, I do not believe you will be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley and Ecco for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this. It was so good and such a short gripping read. I flew threw it. For some reason it reminded me of little fires everywhere before starting because of the family dynamics but this should in a class of its own. Would make a great tv series or movie!

I'm not even sure what to say about this book. Its eerie and tension-filled and overly wordy. The story is weird and nothing seems to happen and the overly expressive writing just got old for me after a while. I kept waiting for something good to happen and it just never did. The ending left me wondering. Not my type of book Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

.........what the hell did I just read?

I won’t say much for spoilers sake. Brief summary: a family is vacationing in the Hamptons when the owners show up because of a blackout in the city. Then it becomes clear that something strange and scary is going on in the world.
I really wanted to love this book. It is very weird and intriguing, it did hold my attention and have me dying to find out what was going on but we get basically no answers. And the writing was just not my thing. Long stream of consciousness over descriptive paragraphs about nothing at all.
If you want a creepy dark read, I do recommend giving this one a shot even if I didn’t totally love it. Thank you to @netgalley and @ecco for this gifted digital ARC.

What an incredible book. I can understand why this has been nominated for so many awards. The language is effortless and, yet, incomparable. I loved the descriptions, the melodic prose. The story was compelling and told in such a way that I have never read before. Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book treats the end of the world exactly how one might imagine it would play out: slow and banal with seconds of horror interspersed throughout a trying family vacation in the elite Hampton's. These characters are not saints, and the unexplained events that happen don't unsettle them enough for them to forget their unconscious biases. The characters are simply people, flawed and vain, who neither deserve nor don't deserve to survive the possible end of the modern world. But is it the end of the world? How does one know the world is ending if there is no media to announce the end? And how is one supposed to act if the world really is ending? While Alam hints at the destructive events happening across the world, the characters remain mostly safe in their isolated Hampton's house. And this feels like the ultimate privilege. This books is terrifying for it's normalcy, and it'll strike a chord with readers in 2020.

There are many days this past year that I wanted to close my eyes and be in another place and time. Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam really hits home with its multi layered story from prejudice to paranoia.

Clay and Amanda and their two kids are an almost upper middle class family living the American dream. They treat themselves to a week on Long Island and rent an isolated vacation home. All seems normal and mundane until in the middle of the night there is a knock on the door. An older black couple, G. H. and Ruth, claim they are the owners and have left Manhattan because there is a blackout and they couldn't get to their high rise apartment. Are they who they say they are? Can they trust them? Are they safe? Is the power loss just New York? Just the U.S.? Is the world ending?

This book is my first by the author and I am excited to read his other work. The beginning is a slow burn. The narrator lets us see how typical the lives of these people are from their shopping list to their kids' obsession with their phones. Slowly the narrative turns as we see their fear of this unknown couple, then the pace quickens as they are cut off from outside communication. The narrator gives us glimpses of what is going on but not enough that I ever felt anyone was safe.

This book is a bit horror, a bit thriller but mostly gut wrenching suspense. The ending is a bit open ended and I wanted more detail but that is me. If you are feeling isolated or paranoid with the world right now this story might add to these feelings but you will enjoy the story telling of it all.

I received a free copy of the book from the publishers via Netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#leavetheworldbehind #suspensebooks
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Escape from the August heat of New York is an annual pilgrimage for most people. I can remember summers spent in the Berkshires years ago. The characters in Rumaan Alam's new novel, Clay and Amanda, take their two stereotypical kids (glued to phones) to an impressive house on Long Island. The place is quite secluded, visible neighbors and even shops seem scarce.

Amanda makes a grocery run on the first day and stocks up with delicious vacation things like strawberries, excellent cheese, and wine. The only drawback for all of them is that they have no internet connection, and even the phones have no signal. The kids immerse themselves in the lovely pool, and the holiday proceeds well. On the second day, there is a knock at the door, and the vacation is interrupted by strangers.

I moved to the edge of my seat with the door knock and went on a bumpy ride with RA. Everything changed in an instant, and this typical story of middle-class life became a profoundly suspenseful story about race, politics, core values, and beliefs. Leave the World Behind made me think about all we have and all we are in life. I loved the book and the frightening questions it left behind. The story is disturbing and thought-provoking at its core. It is not a book to miss this year!

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

I had to dnf this. I was really excited by the premise but I couldn't get past the writing. Way overwritten, filled with incomplete run on sentences. Sorry to put this one down.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into reading this during a pandemic! This book was very atmospheric and gave me all the creepy feels. This book starts with a family getaway which takes a turn that the family didn't expect. Very enjoyable read however if you are a little unsure about reading about a crazy time in the world during a crazy time in the world, then you might want to wait a bit but be sure to keep it on your TBR!

DNF 20% in. I like the plot/concept, but this book is so overwritten I just couldn't keep going. I love descriptive, metaphorical language as much as the next reader, but it needs to be sprinkled, not slathered. Here's an example of way too much of a good thing - a description of a drive through Long Island:

"The towns were either blue collar and full of Central Americans or prosperous and populated by the white demimonde of plumbers and interior designers and real estate brokers. The actual rich lived in some other realm, like Narnia. You had to happen onto it, trace speedbumpy roads to their inevitable terminus, a cul-de-sac, a shingled mansion, a view of the pond. The air was that sweet cocktail of ocean breeze and happenstance, good for tomatoes and corn, but you thought you could also catch a note of luxury cars, fine art, those soft textiles rich people leave piled on their sofas."

This book has been nominated for the National Book Award, so I must be in the minority. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam is a suspenseful novel centered around a white couple, Amanda and Clay, who rent out a remote Airbnb for a summer vacation with their teenage son and daughter. Shortly after arriving, the owners return to the home following a blackout in New York City. The owners are a wealthy black couple yet Amanda and Clay are still wary to let them in, but begrudgingly agree. The tension builds slowly throughout the novel, making it incredibly atmospheric. It is a character-driven novel that is a bit of Bird Box meets Jordan Peele's Us. The book opens up an interesting commentary on race, classism, and fear and how these can all intersect. Overall I enjoyed the book and the premise of this book!

Many thanks to the publisher HarperCollins Publishers - Ecco and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

4.5 rounded up to 5

There's a lot of mystery around what this book is exactly about. Everyone is being deliberately vague and after having read it myself, I can now say that is the right approach. I finished this over the weekend and ever since then, I’ve been trying to think of how many other books made me feel this way. Not many, that’s for sure. This is a book you have to deliberately read (and go blind into) and allow yourself to absorb carefully. I think one of the most genius things about it, is that everyone will have their own reaction and response to it. The reason being is that fear is unique. We aren’t all afraid of the same things for the same reasons. Alam takes that knowledge and puts that on display perfectly. He moves the walls of the room closer and closer and closer until you can only hear the sounds of your own heart beating faster and faster and faster. This book is brilliant and while I know it won’t be a favorite for everyone, it’s a book that asks you a very personal question. What do you become when you’re ability to obtain knowledge disappears???

If I read this book in any other year, I would have given it a lower rating. When Rumaan Alam wrote this, he had no idea all the things that would happen in 2020. Particularly, COVID. This book is much more impactful now that we've been living with this virus for 8 months. It's no longer something that sounds awful or allows you the hubris to think, "Man, I'm sure glad I never have to worry about that happening." This is now. This is real life. The disbelief, the feeling of being caught off guard, the need for knowledge, the longing for normalcy - those are all things we are experiencing. Right now! So before 2020, I wouldn't have understood, I wouldn't have "gotten it". But I get it now. I get what this does to people. I get what this does to society. I get what this has done to me.

Thank you so much to Ecco Books and Rumaan Alam for my free review copy and to Netgalley for digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review Date: 10/06/2020
Publication Date: 10/06/2020

One summer day, a normal family goes on a normal beach vacation. They spend their time relaxing by the pool, relishing the escape from their everyday lives in New York City. Then, in the middle of the night, a knock on the door changes everything. In Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam imagines a world not too far removed from our own where the life you once knew can shift in subtle ways with enormous repercussions. The quiet dread that slowly builds throughout the novel kept me turning the pages, breathless to find out what was going to happen.

This book is a journey - and like most journeys, some parts were exhilarating, some nerve-wracking, and some straight up unenjoyable. It was an exceptionally odd reading experience given the current 2020 atmosphere - where so many things feel utterly unbelievable, and yet are actually occurring. This story begs the questions - what the actual F is going on? Is this just how life will be now? Will anything feel normal ever again? I totally totally get why this book gets all the gold stars, as it does so many things right. However, the writing style annoyed me at times and the flow felt choppy - both of which had a distracting result that pulled me out of the story. If you’re looking for a philosophical exploration into the imaginings of the beginning of the end... this will certainly provide plenty to consider.

This book is advertised as a futuristic thriller but it is actually a wordy, confusing, what-if story. A white family of 4 (Mom, Dad, teen girl and teen boy) rent a house on Long Island for a week. The evening of their second day, the owners of the home, an older black couple, abruptly show up and ask to stay. It seems there was a blackout in Manhattan and they live on the 14th floor, plus he has a "bad feeling." When weird things begin to happen, they all try to adjust and get along. The truth is kept vague, but the point is more how the characters act and react to the unknown. It is an interesting premise that is not fully realized in the execution. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for providing an ARC.

This book was not what I expected; it was actually better. Clay, Amanda and their two teenage kids are on vacation in the Hamptons at a gorgeous vacation home that they've rented. Their vacation is going well until there's a knock at the door late at night. That is the beginning of one of the most suspenseful stories I've read in a long time.

The knock on the door is from the black owners of the home they're staying in, who have come back from NYC in a panic because of a blackout. They provide little details and suddenly there's no wifi or tv or cell service, so there's no way for Clay and Amanda to find out what's really going on. The tension starts when the homeowners are carefully trying to convince Clay and Amanda that they really are the homeowners, and the tension doesn't end there.

This isn't horror, just full blown suspense and even more nerve wracking in this time of the pandemic. The ending isn't perfect, but it works for this book.

I sadly did not enjoy this one. The writing was too choppy to be enjoyable and each paragraph was so jarring that I felt I was taken out of the story with every word. I often find that books I have trouble reading physically would make a great audio book so I hope that will be an option for me to try out later.

I loved this book -the prose was elegant and the story was nuanced, with a lot of layers. Alam's characters, particularly Amanda and Clay were well-developed, as were G.H. and Ruth. No one in this book from parents, to Airbnb owners, to children was particularly likeable, but they weren't unlikeable either. Maybe it's the pandemic times, but this book felt very immediate and hit closer to home than I would've liked. Anyway, it kept me riveted all the way to the last page, and I highly recommend it!