A review by heathercottledillon
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

4.0

I usually don’t like books that leave a lot of questions unanswered, but it didn’t bother me with this one. It’s pretty clear from the beginning that you’re not going to figure everything out and that’s not the point of the story. It’s sort of a character study in how people deal with tragedy, made even more interesting by the fear and uncertainty thrown in as well. Though I am myself a Christian, I like that this book puts quite a spin on the traditional view of the Rapture. Without too much preaching, it makes the point that no one can rightly judge other people because now matter how much someone thinks they know about God, or whatever divine being they believe in, no one can truly know what is going to happen. It’s also interesting that science offers no plausible explanations either. I walked away from the book with the feeling that no matter what we believe, we don’t have all the answers and probably never will. That’s a scary thought, but it’s worth thinking about. I found other aspects of the story pleasing as well. The characters are multidimensional and they feel real. Their reactions to the disappearances are fascinating and made me think about what I would do. There’s not a lot of action, but I got sucked in just the same. The whole thing is going to stick with me for quite a while, for sure.