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ddclarke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Likely hurt by having watched the movie first, which was very faithful and left me little to discover in the pages.
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Classism, Racism, War, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, and Suicide
lauracollins096's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Gore and Vomit
Moderate: Blood, Death, Cancer, Racism, Classism, War, Genocide, and Body horror
Minor: Islamophobia, Addiction, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Body shaming
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Very reminiscent of Stephen King, particularly “Under the Dome”. If you liked that, you’ll love this. For people SOLELY looking for a thriller or commentary on race/social class, turn elsewhere…this book intentionally subverts the expectations of those genres.
I love how the omniscient narrator stingily portioned out information, which shamefully left me feeling the same desperate NEED for information that the book was critiquing!
There are a few times in this book where the writing could use some trimming/adjusting towards purpose—the heavy emphasis on certain carnal images felt self-righteous and cheap for the rest of the story. Honestly, this is the only thing that keeps this book from being a “perfect” book for me. This pitfall is reminiscent of Stephen King’s writing, again, which makes sense knowing that the author reread Pet Semetary while editing this book. I can only read so many descriptions of bored and worn out married couples “tumbling into the only comfort: of flesh smacking against flesh” or teenage male characters and their detailed descriptions of “spit-in-hand, spurting release”, or adult men who are dumbstruck by their unexpected “large load of vitality and youth long gone”. I felt disappointed every time the book swung back to these tropes, faithfully. Yawn.
There are many passages/chapters in this novel that blew me away and can easily stand on their own as brilliant pieces of art. I would love to sit and analyze some of the turn-of-phrase, allusions, and imagery handpicked by this intelligent author. I was giddy with annotation, and this book rewards you for paying attention to these nuances of craft. Overall, I’m so glad I was recommended this book. It itched an “am I spiraling and paranoid or is the world ending” scratch that is often not done well.
Bravo, Rumaan Alam.
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Confinement, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual content, War, Excrement, Cursing, Vomit, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Suicide, Gore, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Incest, Gun violence, Colonisation, Torture, Car accident, Child death, Misogyny, Hate crime, Genocide, Homophobia, Dementia, Cancer, Xenophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Suicide attempt
epeolatri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
On that note, the author really really likes his metaphors and similes. Without them this book could’ve been about 100 pages shorter. An entire two or three pages were just a list of what a woman bought at the grocery store. The author also seemed weirdly obsessed with sex. At least three times I was made to read through a paragraph of a character masturbating, one of which was a minor. There was a description of a thirteen year old in a bathing suit that made me very uncomfortable. I’m not sure why the characters genitals were deemed so important to the plot.
This book should have been a lot of things, but ended up just a weird, overly wordy mess that I barely managed to get through. Maybe the netflix movie will be better.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Addiction, Excrement, Classism, Vomit, Sexual content, and Racism
Minor: Violence, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, and Death
sharonus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Sexual content and Death
Minor: War, Suicide, Violence, Racism, and Vomit
whitne_ey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: War, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, and Blood
hortmar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Vomit, and Racism
Graphic descriptions of dental gore.deanchaudhri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Racism, Suicide, Violence, Child death, and Death
leahisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death and Vomit
Minor: Suicide and Violence
girlonbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
🦩🦩🦩🦩(four stars as rated in flamingos because.... um... flamingos?)
Something is happening. Something is happening. It was supposed to be relaxing a weekend away for Clay, Amanda and their two teenage children; a few days to unwind. And then, well, something happened. This other couple arrived. The power went out in the city. And that noise... What even was that? Are they safe where they are? Should they leave? Or should they wait until they know what's going on? What do you do when you have no idea what to do? You leave the world behind you.
“They had asked themselves questions when they decided to have children — do we have the money, do we have the space, do we have what it takes — but they didn’t ask what the world would be when their children grew.”
If you are into the kind of film where you don't see the monster until 2/3 of the way through, then have I got the book for you! Leave The World Behind is, in my opinion, the definition of a psychological thriller. What is most unsettling about this story isn't what it shows you but what it doesn't. There is very little action, but don't take that to mean that the book does not move. I genuinely could not put it down. The prose, the characters, the narration... it was all expertly done, in my opinion. I would highly recommend listening to this book. Rumaan Alam's words in Marin Ireland's voice was as beautiful as it was unsettling. This is the kind of story you keep thinking about for days afterward.
✨ Rep in this book: Black supporting characters, AOC
✨ Content warnings for this book: the mention of death, disease and unrest, vomit, medical stuff, cursing, racism, blood
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Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Gore, and Medical content
Minor: Racism, Death, and Violence