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'Leave the World Behind' by Rumaan Alam


FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.



My Plot Introduction:

Clay and Amanda are like any normal American married couple. Clay still tries to hide the smell of his cigarettes and Amanda still tries to convince herself that she isn't racist.

They live in New York, with their two children: sixteen year old Archie and thirteen year old Rose.

It's summertime and the family head off to a large house in the countryside to unwind. After only a few days there, the owners of the house turn up as well.

Things are getting stranger and stranger, and no one can answer the million dollar question: What is happening to America?



Rating: 1.5 / 5


I'm usually not one for reading multiple books at a time, but desperate times call for desperate measures.


This novel is one of those where the whole plot unfolds in less than a week. That's never been my cup of tea. However, I am convinced that 'Leave the World Behind' would make an incredible play. The dialogue, the characters, the drama. It all seemed like it would have achieved it's purpose if it was on a stage (that purpose being to scare the reader/audience and remind us that we really have no power).


One of the cornerstones of the novel is the tension that never quite drops. For me, this was desensitising. Too much achieves the same as too little. I was sort of disturbed when I finished the novel, but that was actually due to watching 'YOU' - Season 3, Episode 8 just before.


Another thing that triggered me to no end was that we never found out what had actually happened. Asteroid? World War Three? Alien Invasion? Zombie Apocalypse? They say that your imagination is more powerful than being told something, but it was just a source of irritation for me. I was unable to ponder an allegorical message whilst wondering whether Alam even knew what had happened.


Review written on 23/12/2021






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