A vivid and compelling story of two families converging in the face of the unknown. Mystery and humanity are skillfully woven together in a compelling and thoughtful way, while topics of race, class, prejudice and family are underlying themes throughout the tale. Some reviewers take umbrage at the author's florid language and writing style, but as an audio reader I found it flowed nicely. This was my kind of mystery tale; I loved it, and I loved the feeling it left me with.

Mystery recommended by Goodreads editors. 2021

A very quiet end of the world ... Leave the World Behind is a slow creep of a novel, playing into our fears of isolation and disaster. This book is good, not great, and the author really leans into using $10 words, just for the sake of using them - which I find annoying, mostly. The richest part of the book was the description of the food (a lot of food), which was excellently done and made me hungry. The author also excels at creating a sense of impending doom.

This is, unfortunately, a tedious and overwritten book that I should have put down when it described the way "the swimsuit outlined the gentle mound of her pudenda" but for some reason (?) kept reading. The white yuppie family at the heart of this story is predictably awful and boring and the black homeowners that arrive halfway through flat and two-dimensional, this is a meaningless allegory and a boring book. Boo!

Globe 100 2020. Finalist National book award. Two white renters surprised by black owners, escaping NYC.

There's nothing I like better than that minor miracle -- a serious, literary, layered page-turner. Something really bad happens and two families (mom, dad, two teens and an older couple) are thrown together by circumstance to bear up through the claustrophobic, dread-filled, terrifying uncertainty. This book is the definition of a slow burn; there is little action and instead lots of interior ruminations and normal interacting in a decidedly un-normal time. There's some sly satirical parts, along with pointed examinations of race and class and privilege. Alam's writing style is different: wordy, overwritten, intense, metaphoric. And I loved it. This definitely hit my particular sweet spots, despite nudging a little too close to home in these COVID times. Warning: granted, I am a ridiculously and pathetically squeamish person, but I did need to lay down at a few places while reading.

Spooky! A quick escapist read with short chapters.

The question leading me eagerly through this book is "What is really going on?" Alam's descriptive style adds deeper narrative to an otherwise simple going story- family vacation, sudden blackout, visitors... sudden exploding noise, unexpected illness. I soon found Alam's cadence that made his writing so enjoyable. "How quickly they spread out: a tangle of dirty underwear, used paper napkin, magazine, glass of water, all these little signs that they existed and endured. Trees marked their lives in rings that can't be seen; people, in the garbage they left everywhere, a way of insisting on their own importance. Amanda began righting the room." It's easy to expect a cut and dry ending. I'm not so sure.

Book OK. Wish the author would have more fully explained what caused the castrophe; or maybe the author did and I just didn't get it??? If this had been clearer to me, I would have enjoyed the book much, much more.

You will think about this book. At first, I was annoyed - feeling maybe the smugness of the author setting up a moral play on our racial baggage and our so-called freedom while chained to technology . But, the imagery is well-crafted and the ending is classic.