Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick

by Rumaan Alam

Book Overview

Now a Netflix film starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans and Kevin Bacon. Written for the Screen and Directed by Sam Esmail. Executive Producers Barack and Michelle Obama, Tonia Davis, Daniel M. Stillman, Nick Krishnamurthy, Rumaan Alam

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award in Fiction

One...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062667645
• ISBN13: 9780062667649
• Release Date: November 2021
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Scared me.

This book ended up making me very afraid. Like someone else said, the excruciating long winded details made for a hard read. But it lead to a frightening end.

Fairly Disappointing, Fake Horror, Fake Thriller

So, first it's not a bad book. It's not really a good book either. The writing style leaves a little something to be desired, and while there are events in the book, it also feels like very little happens at all. It's also very clearly written by a man in the way you cannot ignore. For some reason, during just the first 6 chapters (and these are short chapters) he makes sure to mention nipples at least 3 or 4 times as just a focus. The mother feels a little vilified in some instances, bodies are constantly being described in one way or another. Including the two underage childen. Nothing explicit there but it's certainly not the most comfortable. The 16 year old son has a few paragraphs where he goes into a bit of detail of a special folder in his phone, and the 13 year old girl is body shamed some. The end also leaves much to be desired and you don't really get a lot of answers about what's going on outside of a few details the characters will never know. If you want to read it, definitely either get it on sale or through your library.

Tried too hard and not enough at the same time.

Described things in unnecessary, excruciating detail. Tried too hard to use a large vocabulary. I usually know within the first 20 pages if I'll like a book or not. I couldn’t do it. It just reads in such an irritating way. I don't understand the hype.

Enjoyed

I really enjoyed this book, however one word to describe it would be STRANGE! It moved at a bit of a slower pace and did leave a lot of unanswered questions, but it was so intriguing in a weird way- I couldn't put it down!

Synopsis sounds much more interesting that it is

Pretty boring book. It left me confused and annoyed that I'd bothered reading it. Nothing really happens, nothing is answered, and nothing is learned. Don't waste your time.

An ok book.

Not a lot happens and I was left wanting more.