I was really looking forward to this book after seeing some great reviews for it. I decided to go with the audiobook. The narrator was good, but I really wasn't too impressed with this story in general! A white couple with their 2 children leave the big city to stay in a vacation home in the Hamptons. During their vacation they hear sounds and voices outside, turns out to be the homes owners, an older black couple. They tell them there has been a blackout in the city, and that they need to all stay there. They have no way to get information on what is happening. This leads to much suspense about who can trust who and what is actually happening with the blackout. How they go about their days with strangers and whether they actually feel safe.

This book instills a sense of fear and claustrophobia. You get the point of view from both families, and what is going on in their minds. It handles the subjects of family, race and privilege. I felt some of the language and story was very intricate, and maybe a little confusing at times. In the end, I really wanted to know more about what was going on in the outside world. What was this blackout about? I can definitely see people enjoying this one as it builds with suspense as you read, but it wasn't a fav of mine!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher, and librofm for the review copy. All opinions are my own!

The premise is unbelievably good, and I couldn't put it down at all. I read the whole thing in less than 24 hours. But I think the thing I admired most is the prose. So compact and economical. I find myself studying his sentences, wondering how he managed to convey so much in so few words!

In a previous review of this book, I wrote that this is one of those books that makes you want to go "hmmmm". I am definitely stretching the theme of coming of age for this book, but I think once you finish reading, you will also see the growth, actually of more than one character. This book moves along very innocently and then it takes a very sharp turn and you are on a downhill rollercoaster you might not find stopping any time soon. I felt like I was watching (or listening to) an M. Night Shymalan movie. The characters are well developed and the plot very intriguing. Clay, Amanda, and their children experience the same isolation of those who are facing quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet they are far outside of the city with no contact with the outside world.

This was such a remarkable and chilling read.
Clay and Amanda, along with their teenage children Archie and Rose, go on vacation, from New York City to an isolated area of Long Island.
They rent a beautiful, expensive house in a quiet and secluded community.
Late one evening, their idyllic time is abruptly interrupted by a knock at the door.
Ruth and G.H., the homeowners, an elderly black couple, are back from the city with disturbing news of a blackout. They came home, wanting to feel safe.
Clay and Amanda aren't sure if they trust them. The cell phone and internet coverage they have is spotty, it's difficult to get any information.
Strange things begin to happen, turning their world upside down.
This one started out a little too wordy, but I began to immerse into this creepy, unsettling story and it was full of suspense. I was anxious to know what was really going on.
A dark, atmospheric mix of family drama/horror /mystery.
The sudden ending lowered my rating a bit, I prefer more closure.
Thank you Ecco for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

A family of four tries to get away from the bustle of New York City by vacationing in a semi-secluded, but luxurious rental. However, their reprieve is short-lived. A series of unexplained events shuts down the cell towers and satellite systems, rendering modern technology useless. In a twist, the owners of the rental show up with the news that most of East Coast has lost power. Dramatic events unfold as the two families grapple with the unknown and a new reality in a world ostensibly destroyed.

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
#thrillerbooks #horrorbooks
#bookstagram #bookstagrammers #lovetoread #lovebooks #bibliophile

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

I honestly don't know how I felt about this book. I finished it this AM, and sat on this review all day. I just don't think I can quite put into words what I just read. The book was extremely tense throughout. You are on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens. But the plot has an extremely slow build (and letdown) I found myself interested in what happened, but at the same time wished the author didn't continue to drag the story out. This book was also told in different view points which I normally love. However, the author's writing style was hard to follow. (It's probably just me, I work nights and read with a toddler at home.) The view points were told on the same page, one paragraph apart. I need breaks in a page or a whole new chapter to easily follow what is going on. I found myself constantly re-reading pages.

I also thought this book was going to be COMPLETELY spooky and a thriller, (it is not). When the owners show up, I was completely spooked and had goosebumps. (I was looking for this, it is October after all) The book is not spooky, but their is a HUGE mystery to its entirety.

Plot Summary:
Amanda, Clay and their two kids have rented a home, outside of the city, for a week to get out of their busy life in Brooklyn. Their are no neighbors nearby, the roads have very little traffic, and there is very little cell phone service. Even their GPS doesn't know where they are. After arriving and settling into this home, the owner's, G.H and Ruth Washington, show up in the middle of the night, unannounced, asking for a place to stay.
Amanda is uncomfortable, and wishes they would just leave. Clary on the other hand, wants to be a good samaritan, and offers them to stay overnight. The Washington's only explanation is that a blackout has occurred in the city. However, there's no proof of this, no one's cellphone is working, the TV has only a blank screen, and their is no one nearby that may help.