This novel it too real for our time. A completely unsettling story from the start a white upperclass family take a vacation to the country when a black couple arrive at their doorstep in the middle of the night saying that they own the house and that a blackout has happened in NYC and they are coming home early. From there things become eerie and get stranger and stranger.

If you are expecting a thriller, this is not, but the oppressive feeling of this novel unsettled me. The apocalyptic bleakness matched with a perfect sprinkle of dark humor would hit just right if we weren't already feeling the melancholy of living through a pandemic.

People have compared this to Get Out, but I'm really annoyed by that as it seems every author of color who publishes anything horror adjacent is getting that tagline put on their book just because of Jordan Peele's current name recognition. This book is it's own thing and it is brilliant and it is getting an adaptation starring Denzel and Julia Roberts. Please don't try to drop them all in the same box.

Couldn't get along with this. I am surprised by the early buzz and fact that it has already been optioned as a TV series. Very overwritten and the style is off-putting from the first page.

Leave The World Behind is not your usual twist and turn thrilling kind of book but oh my it is suspenseful... Alam kept me on edge right until the end. The writing was so atmospheric and sharp. You could feel the tension building. It is slow burn suspense with an eery Jordan Peele vibe. It is somewhat bizarre at times and the language is complex but I liked it. I can see why it’s a polarising read! It’s so much more than suspense. Alam delves into family dynamics, race and privilege. Leave The World Behind is a great discussion book. Plus Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts are signed up to star in the Netflix movie!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC eBook in return for an honest review.

An interrupted vacation in a secluded area of Long Island, a possible national (or global) emergency, race, class, and family dynamics...obviously, Leave the World Behind is a very timely novel.

As Clay, Amanda, and their children, Archie and Rose, enjoy their time away from Brooklyn, they hear a random knock at their door late one night. Standing outside are the owners of the house, George and Ruth Washington, the elderly African-American couple who own the Airbnb home Clay and Amanda are renting. The Washington's escaped from NYC after a massive blackout caused them to feel unsafe in their high rise apartment. Obviously, neither couple was happy with the situation, and polite skepticism was the order of the day.

“It was torture, a home invasion without rape or guns,” thinks Amanda.

What unfolds over the next forty-eight hours, as the couples come to an uneasy truce, is bizarre and creepy. While I wasn't a huge fan of the flowery prose, I did appreciate the tension that built slowly throughout the novel. It's a short, quick read, and I couldn't seem to turn the pages fast enough. I was genuinely curious about what was happening.

Unfortunately, the conclusion wasn't my favorite. I understand why Rumaan Alam chose to end it the way he did, but, for me, it was a disappointment after the potent build-up.

Overall, this is an enlightening social commentary on the state of our country, and I appreciated its felicitous message.

3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my review copy.

I heard about this book a few months ago and was able to snag a DRC copy thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Wow, what a bummer. The premise of this book sounded intriguing, marketed as a suspense novel, and with the added layer of race relations, I definitely did not get what was promised. The writing was beautifully detailed and vivid, but so much so that it became cumbersome. An extremely slow burn that just kind of fizzled out without even leaving any embers. It was picked up by Netflix to star Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts so I will definitely be watching it, but hope they do more with the plot.

Chilling. Take my advice: do not read when you can’t sleep at 3 am.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the advance copy.

Rumaan Alam takes what could be a comedy of manners and domestic drama and turns it on its head, revealing how carefully we cling to what we think we know and the fallout when our social boundaries come undone. Brilliant, unsettling and unputdownable.

This novel was much different than I expected it to be. From a recommendation heard on a podcast, I assumed it was more of a straightforward thriller. And yet it was more literary, and while there is heavy layer of tension and fear running throughout the entire book, the reader doesn't get a full picture of what is actually happening in the world. This bothered me at first -- when I got to the last page, I was like "that's it?" -- but upon reflection, I see that's the point! The characters were well developed, the scenes are filled with very specific details, and it's a quick read with short chapters. Very different and very good.

This book has an interesting premise, but the story was bogged down and slow moving. I had a hard time staying engaged with it, but then it's probably just not my cup of tea.

“You never know when a time is the last time, because if you did you could never go on with life.”


Okay, what. I don’t even know how to describe this book... but I kinda loved it?? The only words I have are: apocalyptic, suspense, confusion, human nature, family dynamics, sci-fi, end of the world, madness. It was weird, it was terrifying, it revealed a lot about human nature. I will be thinking about this for awhile.

I really liked this book and will be including it in my roundup of recent releases next month for Mashable.com

One of my favorites of the year! This was so gripping and at times I had to take it outside to read because I felt claustrophobic reading it inside my house.

Alam managed to give words to all the feelings I've had since March and condense them into just a weekend's worth of dread. I've been telling everyone I know to read this. It's so amazingly unsettling.

Well-developed characters shape this book as two couples try to navigate what has become a very unstable world. One wealthy, black, older couple and one middle-class, white with a family find themselves thrown together in a secluded Long Island house as they search for answers for why New York City has been thrown into a blackout. There’s so many strange things going on in what could be the new normal. There’s lots of suspense and no easy answers. This could be a problem for those readers who like a satisfying conclusion, but it is a book for the times. There are no easy answers.

Holy moly this book is incredible! The writing is top notch and the story is gripping. I love the detailed inner dialogue of the characters. It is terrifying without revealing what exactly was going on. I cannot give this book enough praise. It will end up being on many best of lists for the year. Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for granting access to this book in exchange for an honest review. I will post this review tomorrow to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page @thatreadingrealtor.

I am just not sure how I feel about LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam; I enjoy and occasional dystopian novel but this one was bizarre at times. I found some of the descriptions of bodily functions difficult to read but that is a testament to the descriptiveness of Alam’s writing. Descriptive but at times too wordy and too many words that could have easily been replaced by a simpler word bringing more clarity to the situation.

Clay, Amanda and their two teenaged children rent a well-appointed Airbnb in a remote area of Long Island to escape city life for a week, to recharge and unwind. It all starts out well and they are relaxing and enjoying being together without all the distractions home offers when there is a late-night knock on the door. It is the owners of the Airbnb, claiming to have fled the sudden blackout that has swept the city. Clay and Amanda cannot assess their claims as there is no internet service, phone service or tv available to them. Are they what they seem to be?

The book sounds intriguing, perhaps a thriller but it is mostly dystopian. The book does a great job of addressing age, class and race. Just not sure about the writing style; it almost seemed condescending at times. That said, the author made me feel terrified, uneasy and apprehensive. Can’t deny the powerfulness of Alam’s words. This book will surely appeal to readers of dystopian novels.

Hi. Be prepared to be creeped the fuck out. Did you watch Jordan Peele’s “Us” and enjoy it? Then, boy howdy do I have a book you need to pick up ASAP.

Honestly, this review took a lot longer than I planned because I had to sit there and think, “WTF did I just read?” I was not expecting this book to turn into what it did, but the more I think about it, the more I am.

The descriptions are extremely vivid. I get annoyed when authors are too descriptive because my ADD can only hold on for so long. Alam does a great job of painting the picture beautifully, but uses just enough imagery to keep my attention. Sometimes I thought, well, okay that was a 16 word sentence when that could be shortened into 2, but, overall, it wasn’t too extensive.

I found it to be a wonderful parallel to today’s society. Here they were, Amanda, trying overly hard to show she’s not racist because she’s with a Black family, but still has her underlying suspicions. Is it the end of the world? Are we really attached to our phones so much that we really could not survive without them? Simple things like directions or the weather are relied on from them. This book made me feel claustrophobic from the helplessness I felt for the characters. It’s very vivid.

There’s an ominous tone the entire time that you just help but turn furiously to figure out what is going to happen next. At first, I hated the ending. But, now I appreciate it for what it is.

This is for those who like realistic apocalyptic reads, those that enjoy books that have a deeper social issue inside the plot, and those who enjoy beautifully descriptive sentences. Thank you Ecco & Net Galley for the gifted copy. This is out Oct. 8th.

Reading this book during a pandemic reminded me of some of the fear and uncertainty that I felt early on and I am reminded that I can’t take a normal day for granted. I love how the author never fully reveals exactly what the mystery is and we the readers do not know how it all ends, as the story is all about the not-knowing for the characters themselves. I loved this unique story!

Going to have to mark this as a DNF for now, but I'm hoping that it will work well for me at a later date, as I've heard the conversations around race and privilege are thought provoking and timely. At the moment, I just can't slog through the over-written prose, but I'm hoping that the right reader will snatch this up at publication, as I believe in supporting this author and what Alam is trying to tell with this story. Basically, it's me and not the book. :(

“It was like some tacit agreement; everyone has ceded to things just falling apart. That it was common knowledge that things were bad surely meant they were actually worse.”
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I expected a simple story about a family vacation gone wrong in LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, so I was totally unprepared for what this book actually is! it reminded me of STATION ELEVEN but with strong themes of parenting, class, and race explored throughout the novel. it was strange and even eerie at times, and I could not put it down! this book affected me so much I had to do a thorough plot summary and analysis at dinner with my family. you will want to talk about this one as soon as you finish it, and it’s really worth your time! 4/5⭐️—I liked it!

This is my third book by Rumaan Alam and I love everything that man writes. This book! The creepy, the ominous, and those minute details. Should you read a book about isolation during a pandemic? You absolutely should if it's this one!

This is a brilliantly atmospheric book; I was so tense when reading it. The book relies more on your imagination than gory descriptions. There are several high tension events to remember long after finishing the book. For a new twist on an old idea, Alam has done an excellent job and I think the short length of the book helps with the suspense.

A great story well told and I understand that the film rights have been sold, and it's easy to see why - captivating, unusual and thrilling. Three great features of any story.