Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Leave the World Behind

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

29 reviews

_fallinglight_'s review

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Rumaan Alam did entirely too much with the writing style for this book. It felt like this was a play but switched to literary social/apocalyptic horror novel last minute. In the first 30-ish percent the writing is jarring, almost insulting (maybe part of the point?) with the weird metaphors and descriptors and detached ironic word play but once we get a few lines of what's happening to the world and even tiny glimpses of the future, it was very evocative and finally pulled me into the situation even if the characters were absolutely grating. (Also reading this right now while WWIII was trending on twitter and Putin is talking sh%t added to the scary scale.) This book is spooky, not stomach clenching scary, but unnerving just the same. In spite of the kinda atrocious writing I liked the experience of reading this. I did leave my world behind lol

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deanchaudhri's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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doodeedoda's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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biblio_reckah's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I flew through this one at break neck speed. A fascinating character study on the human condition as it pertains to unknown events. Fans of Jeff Vandermeer will love this one.

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bluejupiter1818's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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emory's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A horrifyingly amazing read, with a terribly inaccurate summary on the back! I was expecting a run of the mill thriller but was beyond satisfied with the shockingly relevant horror of two families facing what might be the end of the world.

The writing, while seeming unnecessarily ornate at the beginning of the novel (before the narrative reaches its point), is gorgeously poignant and haunting. My only complaint is the writing sometimes tilted into purple, with words clearly added only to show off the vocabulary of the author ("alee" to describe the inside of a Starbucks?), and the strange fixation and return to sex and what sex could metaphorically represent for these characters. Annoying, but not damning, and worth slogging through for the story itself.

The use of dramatic irony of knowing what is really happening while the vividly human portagonists stumble through figuring out what is going on, their dynamics with and what they owe to one another, and what course of action they have to take carries the novel to it's gut wrenching relevance and takeaway. A story couldn't be more frightening in the current climate of knowing how bad it is, knowing society's place perched on the edge of disaster, that something's about to give. Alam's masterful prose wanders through the particular scenario of a family finding out you can never really look away.

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corirarrick2's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

The son becomes very ill and vomits bright pink (never explains why), he loses several teeth and he’s taken to the hospital. No explanation is offered, was anything happening at all or just a sick kid. I will give credit where it’s due, the mother’s frantic behavior and fear of her child being sick was spot on. There’s an omniscient narrator, it states that other people killed themselves, fallen ill, but not an explanation for the apocalypse that is taking place or is anything happening at all? I have so many questions. What was the loud sound? Why caused the dad to become disoriented while driving to town? What knocked out the cell service, will it ever be restored? The couple that owns a house and mentions no other people live nearby, but the kids found another nearby property and turn back before exploring it. Did the couple lie? Who lives there? Why did the children turn back?

Underwhelming and overwritten, this novel is all loose ends and feels incomplete, but not in the way that would lead to a sequel. The big mystery is not resolved, and it’s confusing and frustrating to endure. I would not recommend this to someone I actually like.

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