Solid 3.5 stars
I was totally sold on the premise of this book. It starts off strong and does great job building suspense. But, I feel like it ended so abruptly and didn't resolve much of anything. I'm usually okay with some ambiguity at the end of stories, but I feel like we get pretty invested in these characters and then are left hanging. My imagination could fill in the missing horrifying conclusion, but I'd like to know what the author imagined for his characters.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Author conveys realistically scary gut responses to layered and highly probable situations as well as in main characters reactions and interactions with each other. Chilling.

***Spoiler***
The book is essentially the first hundred pages of The Stand if the apocalypse event was less clear than a plague, and focused on one house full of people. The writing is evocative, and illustrates how simultaneously mundane and horrifying the beginning of the end of the world might be. Not recommended for people who are having a hard time coping with the changes to daily life wrought by the pandemic. Recommended for people who get a sense of comfort leaning into worst-case-scenarios.

Disturbingly real and elegantly written. The omniscient point-of-view is expertly executed and the novel is a nice companion to another new novel, DeLillo's "The Silence."

I listened to this audiobook over a few nights in early September while I was sewing masks for my daughters for their return to school during a pandemic. I was immediately and completely immersed in this story, which felt so parallel to some of our current experiences and yet also an escape. The book begins with a vacation...all of the elements of the vacation are so poignant, especially right now when we are the most fortunate when we have a place we stay all of the time rather than the means to leave our homes. The vacation is upset by the arrival of the owners of the vacation rental and the news they bring of something momentous and increasingly frightening happening in the non-vacation world. The unsettling storyline is somehow balanced by the relationships that are made and the bonds that are formed. I’m not sure what to make of this but I had to keep reminding myself that the children in the family were 13 & 16 years old. As it becomes clear that something unusual is happening, their parents try to shield them, not realising that they are already aware, perhaps more aware and less afraid than their parents. The teens in this novel do not lead the drama, as they might in some other storyline, but they cannot escape what is happening either. On top of the compelling plot, the writing is piercing and somehow soft at the same time. Some readers may find this story sad and hopeless but I actually found it sad and hopeful. You have to drag the kernels of hope from the story but that’s kind of the nature of hope anyway; here the hope is in the hints of a future and the clues as to what that future looks like.

I would be remiss if I didn’t address the format I read this in, which was the audiobook version. Marin Ireland is a flawless narrator and brings the story to life in an almost cinematic way. I recommend this book for people who love literary science fiction but also for people who have started to wonder what our own future might look like.

I received this as advance copy through NetGalley. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the situation. Unfortunately
, this was not a good read for me.

Equal parts compelling and terrifying this book will have you thinking about it for a long time to come. Amanda and Clay have rented a house out in the country for a family vacation. When G.H. and Ruth, the owners of the house knock on the door of the house one night the world as they know it begins to change. Amanda and Clay are worried and have many questions: is this older black couple really the owners of the house? why are they there? why is there no internet? or cell service? or tv? what is going on with the world? Once something indescribable happens the families need to work together but will they survive?

The narrator is pleasant to listen to.

Intriguing read. Most interesting was how the author shows the reaction of each individual and the interaction between the characters in the group. The characters and the scenario feel so real.

I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGallery for an honest review. I would like to thank the publisher for providing the opportunity.

Fantastic, edge of your seat literary fiction! I don't listen to audio books on a regular basis but in an effort to get more out of my TBR pile, I am trying to incorporate audio books into my reading habits.

Rumaan Alam is a favorite of many booksellers and customers at our store and now I understand why!

Leave the World Behind was a book that will stay with me long after completing it and I look forward to putting it in the hands of readers!

Vacations are supposed to take you away from everyday life, worries, and fear. Unfortunately for Amanda and Clay's family, vacation will leave longer-lasting scars than memories. Leave the World Behind is an abstract and cerebral read that will leave readers wondering what they just experienced. Alam consumes all five senses of the reader to make this book truly visceral and long-lasting in the heads of readers. Even now I am still trying to decipher what I read. Even with the impact, the writing has, the plot and characters fall short. The plot is rather slow and overabundant with narrators (one for each character in the story) trying to fight their own perspective as true. The plot is also semi-linear, giving the reader the present timeline but also jumps to the past and future which can make comprehension a little tasking. The writing style is also lyrical to the point of academic in away. The overuse of higher-level vernacular and unusual words can make the story too much. The characters are 2 dimensional, never reaching under the surface. I was left with wondering what tit all amounted to and why there was never any resolution.

Leave the World Behind
A Novel
by Rumaan Alam
Narrated by Marin Ireland
Harper Audio
You Are Auto-Approved
HarperAudio
General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers
Also available as a digital review copy
Pub Date 06 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 06 Oct 2020

Excellent audiobook. My husband and I like to listen to audiobooks on long drives. This one hit the spot for me.
Thanks to Harper Audio and Net Galley for the review copy.
4 star

“ Comfort and safety are an illusion.” If ever there was a motto for 2020, Alam has nailed it. “ Leave the World Behind” has a simple premise: upper middle class professional family with 2 teenagers leaves Brooklyn for a summer vacation in the woods on Long Island. Their AirBnB is a gorgeous home with pool and hot tub, a short drive from the ocean. But their world will be changed in an instant. Alam is probably the best author I had never heard of. I’ll be looking for his other books ASAP, because I can’t stop thinking about the effect this novel had on me. His writing is crisp and clear with descriptions that put you immediately into the minds of his characters. I understand that some readers won’t like these characters and will find them shallow, but I’ve never let that stop me from enjoying a well told story. Unputdownable doesn’t begin to describe this book. It will haunt you because it’s brilliant! Highly recommended. And that grocery list that many readers complain of is extremely revealing. It made me read my own grocery list and laugh at the comparison.
Read this book!

A couple rents a house in a remote area of New York with spotty WiFi. One night the owning couple returns, talking about a blackout in the city. The animals are acting funny, peoples teeth are falling out and there’s this bang in the sky. What’s happening, what’s going to happen? I liked this book because the reader doesn’t know what is going on. It’s like a pre-dystopian novel, that just scratches the surface of what’s to come. It’s the fear of the unknown, amplified. The narrator is excellent.

This is a kind of doomsday book which is probably not the best thing to read during a pandemic. It was a good story though and well narrated (audiobook). A family rents a house in the Hamptons for a week. Mid-week the owners of the house show up because of a power outage in NYC. They're scared something weird is going on and want to be safe in their house in the Hamptons. After that a lot of strange things happen.

This book originally appealed to me because it sound suspenseful. I didn’t think this book would take such a turn.
During the first few chapters, I quickly developed a dislike for Amanda. She seemed critical, angry, and unhappy with most things in her life. She and her husband Clay were on a vacation trip with their family. They were renting a home in a rural location to get away from the stresses of the city. They would have this upscale home to themselves.

Clay seems lost and though he tries to be a good husband and dad, he fears falling short. In fact, he gets lost trying to find his way to town. Amanda’s disappointment in Clay is evident throughout the book.

Later in the day, their vacation was interrupted when the owners abruptly return to their home with the news that something terrible happens but they have no idea of the nature. The owners offer to pay them back for the inconvenience of interrupting their vacation but Amanda is very angry with the couple and refuses to leave.

From this point, the story is focused on the fears, dreams, and disappointments of the four adults as well as the children. Events happen that are frightening and their uncertainty begins to cause panic as life takes an apocalyptic turn.

If you like multilayered characters, this book is for you. It explores many sides of issues we are currently facing; love, disappointment, race issues such as white privilege and stereotypes of black families, raising children, feeling hopeless, fighting panic, and ultimately finding acceptance and letting go.

I really liked this book (I listened to the audiobook version) for the first half, but I found the second half a bit disappointing and certainly disturbing, especially during the uncertain and scary time we are living in, both in terms of the pandemic and the current administration. The descriptions of the family going on vacation and getting settled into their vacation home were well written with lots of interesting detail, and the interest factor ratcheted up greatly when the owners of the home turned up unexpectedly to flee from a blackout in the city. The underlying issues of different classes, races, and ages were handled with insight throughout as the diverse people went from being suspicious strangers to something approaching family over the course of events. I guess what I found annoying was that the narrative had a super-omniscient tone for much of it (things along the lines of "They didn't know it, but they would never see their home again") while at the same time kind of abruptly and almost smugly leaving huge questions unanswered. The narrator of the audiobook was absolutely excellent and I felt fortunate to read it in this format. I will also look forward to the upcoming movie. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the ARC of this book. 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4 because I think it will prove to have been memorable.

(I posted this review to Goodreads; could not post from here since Goodreads didn't recognize the ISBN number)

This book was slow all the way through, but in a good way. It was just so well written and thoroughly descriptive. I couldn't stop listening because I wanted to know what was going to happen so there was definitely a good amount of suspense that kept me interested. I'm really hoping for a continuation of this story. I feel like there is still more to know!

What starts off as family getaway at a luxurious rental home slowly becomes more sinister. Amanda and Clay hear a knock at the door one night only to find the homeowners there, wanting to spend the night. Was there really just a blackout or is there more to the story? With realistic detail and a suspenseful plot that takes on new meaning during a global pandemic, Alam keeps you guessing until the bitter end. And Marin Ireland's narration makes the characters' fear and uncertainty palpable to the listener.

This was a very disturbing book and I guess that was the point. A family travels to a remote house on Long Island for their annual summer vacation. All is going according to plan until the home's owners show up unannounced on their doorstep. They explain that there is a power outage in NYC and they didn't know where else to go. These two families, one white and one black, attempt to co-exist with the specter of whatever is happening in the outside world hovering over them.

I haven't read any of Rumaan Alam's previous books so I really didn't know what to expect. The way he. uses language and his descriptions bring the book to life. It isn't a long book, but the characters are well-developed and their interactions are believable. As the narrative tension mounted, so did my anxiety and I couldn't help thinking about how unprepared I am for this type of occurrence (even after all we've experienced in 2020). I suspect some people may be disappointed by the ending, but I thought it was perfect.

The audiobook narrator did a nice job with the story. I think it would have been even better with a cast, but each character's voice was distinct and the plot lends itself well to audio. I wouldn't recommend listening to it too close to bedtime, though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook ARC!

What do you do when the world is an upheaval? How will you react? I listened to the ARC audio version of this book. Amanda and Clay and their two children rent an Airbnb just outside of New York City. Hoping to enjoy their vacation from the city, all is well until one night when their doorbell rings in the late night. The story of how people react when everything they know to be true and right is thrown away during a blackout and something being "off" in the world. This is a tense, well-written story that will have the reader questioning their own ability to survive when nothing in the world remains as you have become accustomed to.....this is a difficult read during our COVID-19 pandemic, but also so appropriate for our times.