This is one of those weird books for me. The story idea is a 5. The writing is a 5. The content of the writing is, at most, a 2. The characters are a 1, bordering on zero. I wanted to love this, I really did. I'm feeling sorry for myself about it. I'm not sorry for "Leave the World Behind", however, as I'm sure many readers will thoroughly enjoy it and give it top marks.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

What can I say.....Loved it! The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because I was left wanting more, I need to read on! I wanted 300/400/500 more pages!

This book left me feeling weird but in a good way, a must read for the modern age of being addicted to technology. I loved how the story unfolds between all the characters thoughts and actions intermingled and little snippets of what is happening around the country without the books characters being any the wiser. I felt chilled. A fantastic claustrophobic apocalyptic read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and publishers for the chance to read and review this book!

I started this book this evening as I put my daughter to bed (I often read as I wait for her to fall asleep), well, it is now 1.15 am and I have just finished the book, sitting in a bath that went cold whilst I was reading it. Leave The World Behind is that sort of book; you simply have to keep reading.
The book is set in Long Island a typical family from Brooklyn have taken a holiday home and they are just starting to enjoy themselves and settle in when the owners return with news that the power has gone out in New York city.
This book is an examination of race and privilege set against a backdrop of a collapsing civilisation, so kind of like switching on the news...yeah, reading this book at this moment in time is pretty uncomfortable and pretty frightening - at points I could feel my heart pumping with adrenaline!
I enjoyed the prose too. It feel quite tongue in cheek, particularly as the book opens, there is something very evocative about the language, the heat, the sexiness, the freedom, how seriously these people take themselves and their little luxuries, but then, when things kick off, that continues, which feels quite odd, tonally- but I enjoyed it- it's different.
I was a little disappointed with the ending as I didn't feel as though there was much of a takeaway other than the idea we are all doomed and that we probably deserve it. That said, it was a thrilling ride of a read that provided me with a great evenings entertainment- now for a few mugs of chamomile tea to try and calm down!

This was such a good read! The intrigue and brewing distrust between the protagonists. I loved the post apocalyptic back drop and the familiarity it held to real life. Intense but a slow burn. Definitely worth a read and I cannot wait for the Netflix adaptation!

Leave The World Behind is a gentle social satire about an unnamed disaster that ends up affecting two well off New York families in the back end of the Hamptons. The satire is so gentle as to be almost non-existent in places, the book flits through the brains of its six protagonists, displaying their hopes, fears and prejudices, but never really wants to damn any of them. It is a middle class portrait perhaps of decadence, it clearly takes place int he time of Trump *he is not mentioned direct by the 45th President and Mike Pence are). Its short, snappily, very well written but felt rather inconsequential to me - which I understand is part of the point.

A classic white New York upwardly mobile nuclear family have hired an Airbnb house out in the Hamptons, We observe their quotidian day to day niggles - they aren't particularly nice to each other but it feels very much like a family with tween and teen kids. Then in the night the black middle class couple that own the Airbnb turn up out of nowhere, asking to stay due to a massive power cur in New York. There has been a disaster, but what it is and what it means is unclear. The problem is that the book isn't interested in the disaster, it isn't really interested in the dynamic once it settles down. Perhaps it wants to show that everything will be alright, or that we fall apart (mildly weird things happen which are all in the provenance of things that can happen). But often it just seems content in delving into the characters brains for petty thought, and panic, all quite realistic but ho hum. It the kind of book that sets up a racial dynamic and then deflates it by referring to Six Degrees Of Separation, rather than doing anything with it. It lives in a litfic world, whilst dipping its toes into a genre sandpit.

Apparently it has been optioned for a film, with stars attached. I can see why, the inner motivations of these characters are laid bare for the actors. But it will be interesting to see how a film deals with this material. People stranded in a house, with strangers turning up at night? As it stands its a horror movie but even the low levels of psychological disquiet the book plays with never feels more than sitcom level. I burnt through it in one sitting, savouring the tension for the first two thirds until I realised nothing would be done with it. That's fine for effect, but the effect here is inconsequential and the close leaves you with little more then "People - huh - they'd be a bit rubbish in a crisis"

[NetGalley ARC]

An extraordinarily timely book for these troubled times, Rumaan Alum’s Leave the World Behind is a taut, off-centre look at what might be the end of civilisation as we know it. Focusing on a family Airbnb-ing in Long Island in who experience a loss of internet and any contact with the outside world. Except, that is, for the owners of the house who turn up on the doorstep, unable to return to the city. Alum shows us how reliant we are on everything working smoothly (the supply of information, food, power, water and all the infrastructure we have come to expect), while also looking at the dynamics of family and our interaction with strangers. The tension between the holiday in the perfectly equipped house, the encroachment of nature on this not-so-wild place and the glimpses Alum gives us of terrible things happening elsewhere, is almost unbearable. Highly recommended.

I think this will be book to divide readers. Why? I’ll get to that in to that shortly but the premise of the book is good, a family go to a swanky Air BnB in a remote part of Long Island to leave NYC behind and spend some quality relaxation time. Their peaceful stay is interrupted when the owners of the property turn up late one night and reveal to them that all is not ok back in the city.

So that description definitely got my attention. Our family of four is Amanda, her husband Clay and teens Rose and Archie, they are white and I would say upper middle class. The adults have good jobs and the teens are typically addicted to the internet. The vacation is quality time, the house is something else, immaculate with a pool and a hot tub with no one around for miles. They spend their days eating, drinking, reading and swimming, its bliss until their peace is shattered.

They find an older couple on their doorstep asking to come in, the couple are black and not very well dressed, Amanda and Clay needless to say are not happy about letting them in but the couple reveal they are the owners and after some convincing are invited in. Ruth and G.W are a lovely older couple but they still have a time of it convincing the others that they aren’t going to be murdered in their beds. They have left NYC in a hurry, the city has suffered a major power outage and they wanted to come to Long Island where they hoped they would be safe. Needing proof of this event Amanda tries to go online to find out and discovers the internet is down, as is the telephone and TV, what is going on out there, if anything at all? Should they be worried?

I really wanted to love this story however there was definitely some things that just weren’t for me. It could be really over descriptive, think using fifty words instead of five, now I don’t mind that in small doses but it was all the way through. Amanda went shopping near the start of the book and a couple of pages were devoted to her many many items. Bodily functions are also very well described.

The book feels a little incomplete, the ending I felt left me with a lot of questions. Whilst I was reading I did think that it would be better as film or series instead of a book and I see that Netflix has picked it up with Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts starring in it and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it on screen. Amanda was not a very likeable character and It’ll be interesting to see Julia’s take on that.

I did love the setting, an exquisite house standing within a forest, no one around, the best kind of setting for something going down. An interesting read but didn’t quite hit the mark for me but I know others love it and you may too.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I almost gave up on this, the first 10% just did nothing for me then all of a sudden it became really compelling.

I love the concept of this book and how as the reader I knew a tiny bit more than the characters but still not enough to really understand what was happening or why.

I think the enclosed nature of the setting forces a tightness to the narrative and the language that really works to the books advantage.

Although every character was properly drawn with distinctive voices and interesting interactions, I didn't really like any of them so emotionally I felt really detached from their plight.

Overall an enjoyable read but I think the start will put people off.

A potentially interesting scenario here, though one rather overplayed and everywhere due to Covid, but the writing had me grating my teeth right from the start: 'they huddled and inspected like Caravaggio's Thomas and friends', 'his penis jerked itself towards the sun, a yoga salutation, bouncing, then stiff at the house's allure' - the prose is constantly over-written with a 'why use one word when you could use fifty?' attitude.

The narrative stance is like a third-person stream of consciousness, jumping in and out of people's heads and full of observations that are both unnecessary and articulated in try-hard style ('the phones worked on them like those bulbous flutes did on cobras', 'Rose was particularly susceptible to the tart charms of vinegar potato chips').

The tone of the writing feels like a jaunty comedy but possibly scary things happen (we don't quite know what has happened - or even whether something has) so the style and content feel like a surreal mismatch - where other reviewers have seen tension, I saw a screenplay with a sort of 'other people are hell' vibe. Everything about this book failed to work for me - and that yoga-practicing penis is my main takeaway!

“Comfort and safety were just an illusion. Money meant nothing. All that meant anything was this—people, in the same place, together. This was what was left to them.”

Wow. This quote is entirely appropriate for the time in which we now live. And so are the questions you will ask yourself after reading this novel. It’s suspensive, beautiful and creepy at the same time. I really loved it and will definitely look up other books of Alam.

The premise of this book is a family vacationing in a remote house booked via Airbnb. It’s a fabulous house, in a beautiful woodland setting and the family settle in for a happy vacation.
Then, the owners turn up, claiming that there has been a complete black out across the city. However, in the rural area, with no internet or tv service available, how do they know the truth of the situation? Whom can they trust?

I found the entire book hard work. The language and writing style was sluggish and overworked and there was nothing to maintain my interest. I did persevere, but, having finished it, I’m just left bewildered and frustrated.

I was interested in the idea and I think I read that there is a future Netflix programme planned, based upon the story. If so, I shall likely watch with interest as I’m open to the fact I’ve missed something.

For fans of the author, or, those who like this writing style, I wish you every enjoyment. Definitely not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley And the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

This is truly a genre bending book that feels other-worldly, yet entirely close to home. This book is a sharp insight of the world we live in, now more than ever, and the everyday habits that gets us through it. It panics you, for good reason. This book is really incredible and i raced through it in one sitting.

I have never encountered Rumaan Alum before- what a writer!I

'Leave the World Behind' begins serenely, a family of 4 making the trip out to Long Island to have a much welcome break. They spend a little too much on groceries, indulge more than usual on smoking and alcohol, but all in all we are given a realistic and quiet welcome to their world.

A slight sense of foreboding lurks though - I found myself waiting to something to tip their world upside down. A pool accident, a murderer taking them hostage in the house we had been repeatedly shown was off the beaten track. What came was much more mundane, but sinister, though: a knock at the door. And the news awaiting them on the other side is the start of a chain which will forever change their future.

"They both were and were not alone. Fate was collective but the rest of it was always individual, a thing impossible to escape. They lay that way for a long time. They didn’t talk because there was nothing to discuss . The sounds of their sleeping children were relentless as the ocean."

Two couples fight to come to terms with major changes occurring: known power outages, satellites failing and disruptions that only hint at what is going on 'out there'. The power of this tale is all in the unknown. There is a running tension, a string of events which lead to 2 sets of strangers having to make decisions which could potentially change their lives. But what is the right choice when no one knows the enemy?

This is an eerie apocalyptic tale. It is uncomfortable - a little too believable. I found myself engrossed.

It raises questions of our reliance on modern comforts and media; of what humanity means and it how much we really ever know what we can expect.

I'd give this book 4.5 stars. It is a little unsatisfying, but in a totally fitting way. After all, with the subject matter of how much human knowledge can really extend and the lurking dark, we are right there with the characters when it concludes.

The writing style is quite raw in places- not for everyone, but Alum is clearly a talented wordsmith who can capture the vastness of human experience. It is absorbing and full of atmosphere. A great read.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this advanced copy.

Its taken me days to get myself together enough to try and review this book, it blew my mind. I found it terrifying, claustrophobic, suffocating, anxiety inducing and simply brilliant.

Amanda, Clay and their 2 teenage kids have rented a home in in The Hamptons for a week of rest and relaxation and to escape busy NYC life. The house is idyllic and they happily settle into their holiday when 2 strangers claiming to be the owners of the house turn up in the middle of the night asking to come in, as New York is experiencing a blackout and its not safe for them to have stayed there. That's all you really need to know before going into this, but i have added the synopsis if you want to know more.

This story does NOT go the way you are expecting it to. The writing style is unusual, almost whimsical and some of the language used is bizarre (I don't mind admitting that i had to use the kindles built in dictionary function on many occasions!), but it all helped heighten the tension. There was a section of the story that affected me so deeply I had to put it aside and take myself to my bedroom so I could lie down and do some deep breathing to stop myself going into a total panic! No book has ever brought on a physical reaction like this.

This is definitely a marmite read, you will either love it or hate it. Its about family, race, class, and a discussion on how we as humans would cope if the very worst happend. Do we stay inside and hide, or brave the unknown? The scariest book i have ever read

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a free ARC of this book.

I've never read this author before but took a chance when the book description pulled me in.

Right off the bat, I'll say that this is likely to be one of those Marmite books--you either love it or hate it with no middle ground.

The style of the prose annoyed me immensely and I had to persevere. However, I soon grew used to it. A few statements irked me: for example, 'He wore [...] those brown pants every man over thirty-five wears.' Nope, actually, I rarely see a man of any age wearing brown pants as a matter of course.

Add to that the whole page given over to what the wife bought. Yes, you read that correctly ... a WHOLE PAGE.

.... 'She bought yogurt and blueberries. She bought sliced turkey, whole-grain bread, that pebbly mud-colored mustard, and mayonnaise. She bought potato chips and tortilla chips and jarred salsa full of ... ' yada yada yada.

But then, in complete juxtaposition, I loved some lines: for example, 'filed away in cyberspace, a shelf they could not reach.' (Of course, we'll need to ignore the comma splice there.)
And another line: It was a whisky old enough to vote.'

At about the halfway point, and certainly in the latter 25%, the tension picked up and had me gripped. Sadly, though, we never do find out what's happened. No clue what the actual catastrophe is, aside from the odd hint buried here and there in the vastly flowery prose.

A final point is that the narrative is told from omniscient point of view, which leads to chronic head hopping. However, the author did this well enough that I could get along with it for the most part. Only a couple of times did I have to stop and re-read to ascertain who's head I was in at a particular point. What didn't work was that the voices of the kids read exactly like the voices of the adults.

All in all, it's an okay read but not my cup of tea. I'd classify this as descriptive literary fiction.

It gets 2 stars from me.

***
NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

This was one of those books I knew I was going to love.

I knew from the description it would be right up my street but as soon as I started reading it I was immediately hooked. So much so that I set aside an afternoon for it, which was good because I devoured it all in a few hours.

The whole book has a tantilising undercurrent of dread which I absolutely loved. It’s so unclear what is happening and everything feels inevitable. I absolutely love the third person narration which changes perspective constantly.

I don’t want to give too much away because this is a book which is best going into in the dark (pun intended!). I started out thinking, oh I’ll just read 50% then I’ll nip to the shops. Then it was 70%, then 80%, then suddenly I was racing to finish.

This book is dark and fun and incredibly tense and amazingly well-written. It reminded me of Cabin at the End of the World at times and also The End We Start From, but it also felt incredibly modern and realistic and relatable yet thrilling in a completely gripping way.

This is the perfect page-turner for a quiet afternoon. I couldn’t put it down!

The frequent reference to bodily secretions is distinctly unpleasant. Sweat, sebum and snot all occur on page one and this sets the tone for the book.

Something apocalyptic has happened and I found myself wanting to reach the end, not in the expectation of finding out what had happened in the world (this was not revealed), but to get away from a cast of unlikeable people, especially the parents whose inadequacies and priorities were, frankly, irritating.

“The shadow of a young girl in flower; a bloodhound might find the metal beneath the whiff of entry-level cosmetics, the pubescent predilection for fake apples and cherries.”

The author's writing style (see above) and the tone of his story (“Clay opened all of the windows, banishing the stink of his farting children”) are just not my thing, in fact, they are the anthesis of 'my thing'.

I couldn't put this down - I raced through it in a desperate bid to find out what happened. The tension was so well built throughout, what a book! (As much as I loved the all the unknowns and dropped hints at what had happened, and what would happen, I REALLY wanted to know what was actually going on, and whether any of them survive!) Brilliant book, cannot wait for it to hit the shops.