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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.”
Rumaan Alam, Leave The World Behind

🦩🦩🦩🦩(four stars as rated in flamingos because…. um… flamingos?)
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.
Buy Leave The World Behind:
| Bookshop | Libro.fm |

🔍 Mystery/ Thriller
🐢 Relaxed Pace
💀 Dark Content
📖 Couldn’t Put It Down
✨ 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


Rumaan Alam
I’m the author of three novels: Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and Leave the World Behind. Other writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Bookforum, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and the New Republic, where I am a contributing editor. I also co-host two podcasts for Slate. I studied writing at Oberlin College. Now I live in New York with my family. (Copied from the author’s personal website)

Marin Ireland
Marin Ireland is an American actress, who is known for her work in theatre, and was described by The New York Times as “one of the great drama queens of the New York stage.” In 2009, she won the Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Reasons to be Pretty. Outside of her stage work, Ireland has frequently worked in film and television; she starred as Julia Bowman in the Amazon Studios series Sneaky Pete (2015–2019), and currently stars as Sissy in The Umbrella Academy (2020–present). (Copied from Wikipedia).
Other books narrated by Marin Ireland: Anxious People, Bear Town, We Run The Tides, Three Women, The Push, When The Stars Go Dark, Sleeping Beauties
Audio-book rating for Leave The World Behind: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Sarah

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