Comments (89)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 89 items
Mar 16, 2024Kmum1 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Got my hands on this book after having watched the movie on Netflix. For once in my life I can honestly say this book was no where near as good as the movie (does that ever happen)? At only 240 pages long I thought this would be a quick…
Feb 05, 2024emilygoodin rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Took a long time to get "engaged" with this book but as soon as I changed my focus from the plot to the inner dialog of the characters, I loved it.
Jan 27, 2024
I finished the book but I was disappointed that there was no there there. It was like a set up, no climax just some tension and life goes on and on. I was led to a dead end expecting more from the characters and the problems they were…
Jan 10, 2024bekogeko rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
I couldn’t get past chapter 6. I tried over and over to get into this book and really wanted to but could not get past the ridiculously wordy descriptions of every little thing constantly interrupting the storyline. If you take those out…
Jan 09, 2024Crave83 rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam 246-page Kindle Ebook story ends on page 241 Genre: Thriller (according to my library) Featuring: Epigraph, Families, Long Island, New York, United States; Electric Power Failures, Social Classes,…
Dec 30, 2023beckylunatic rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Ended up rating this higher than I thought I would based on how irritated I was by the characters initially. Towards the end, Clay has a thought about Rose and the kinds of books she likes and what she's learned from them, and HIS…
Dec 21, 2023TommysGrandpa rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
a quick read. stark and spare. a page turner. stylistically reminiscent of Ishiguro. setting is an apocalyptic time unwrapping itself with bewilderment, introspection, accounting, and in the end an ached yearning for what was before the…
Dec 10, 2023bookfan_4 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Did Netflix turn this into a movie?also loved the movie talk about hackers and blackouts with CNN coverage about a cyber attack.
Dec 05, 2023Pianosmith rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I loved this book. It examines several of our contemporary issues: Racism, our relationship to nature, the dichotomy between haves and have-nots, and the sense of doom that the world seems to be mired in and how we deal with that. This…
Nov 17, 2023mjlivres rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
As others have written, this book was a big disappointment. The description sounded inviting, but I only read to page 11. Just could not go any farther. The more I read, the more the narrative became convoluted and boring (in my opinion).…
Nov 10, 2023dreamydress rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
“Everyone understood. This was what everyone wanted, to be safe. This was the thing that eluded every single one of them.” The ratings and reviews of this book seem polarizing, so I avoided it. But yesterday I was restless and decided to…
Oct 23, 2023justahunch rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A sometimes tad difficult book to read, but it is beautifully written. This might be a little slow early on for some readers as nothing of any real consequence happens, or at least lets the reader know much about what's happening, for…
Oct 21, 2023Stephotucson rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I listened to the 7 hour audiobook of Leave the World Behind and finished it the same day which was a rare and exciting experience. I immediately recommended to my friends that enjoy fiction and I recommend to you, too.
Oct 13, 2023marlenemoffitt rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
The writing style is very distinctive and, unfortunately, one that I don't like. The storyline was engaging enough that I tried to power through, but couldn't. I didn't finish the book, so I feel bad about writing a review, but I wanted…
Oct 03, 2023
Coming to Netflix starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke! When your vacation rental gets interrupted by the owners. Or...are they REALLY the owners?
Jun 14, 2023jaglowgla82 rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Read this book for book club. If you struggle with reading fiction (as I do) I would pass on this book. One of the members described it as an adult version of choose your own ending. I was not disappointed or enjoyed it. I was shocked it…
Jun 04, 2023zuct0mer rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
excited to see a movie adaptation of this story. Apocalypse looming but never revealed. Drama in affluent families seems like a mockery of the upper class rather than sympathy to the characters.
Apr 24, 2023
I love a good dystopian novel and was excited to get my hands on this one. And while it isn't so much about survival as it is about the unknown, it's so well-written and witty and suspenseful that I still came away from reading it…
Mar 15, 2023
This book was compelling, exasperating and I found myself really angry at the white mom and dad, Amanda and Clay. Maybe it was because I could see myself being a coward or a an out-of-control furious person in the same situation. This…
Nov 30, 2022jamat1981 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
Tried to get into this because the premise was cool and interestin, but then nothing seemed to happen. Pages and pages of needless descriptions about mundane things. I quit 100 pages in, waiting for something to happen. Not recommended.
Aug 20, 2022
Didn't want to read
Apr 18, 2022kmcdouall rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Alam has written perhaps the quietest apocalypse in literature. His subtle and disturbing novel throws two groups of strangers together in a situation of uncertainty and fear, inhabiting a Long Island vacation home where news of the…
Feb 12, 2022dninosores rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
This is easily one of the worst books I have ever read. Every line of dialogue was cut off by the narrator's long descriptions of seemingly random details, which made it very difficult to track any actions the characters took. The author…
Dec 05, 2021delphimo rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Very many mixed thoughts on Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. New York City experiences a blackout. Amanda and Clay with their two children: Archie and Rose leave the city for a week vacation in a rural area. Once they arrive at…
Oct 25, 2021revtortoise rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
I did not like it at all. Short, choppy sentences. Characters not appealing. Seems to be a short story author padded to pass off as a novel. Structure is one short line of dialogue followed by several short sentences about what the…