Leave the World Behind book review

Reading the book now felt different because I've lived through different experiences. You would hope people would tell you what's happening, but you would have no idea. Keep reading to find out what book I'm talking about today.

Hey, it's Kyla Denanyoh. Today, I'm reviewing the book Leave the World Behind. Rumaan Alam wrote this book. The genre of the book is fiction. The theme of the book is literature suspense. 

So first of all, I got to tell you. I listened to this audiobook a long, long time ago. It was 170-something weeks ago. I saw it, and I judge every book by its cover, and I was like, okay, that looks good. Let's read it. Fast forward, and the author visits the Columbus Metropolitan Library, my hometown library. And so I went to see him live. That made me pick up this book again. I wasn't doing book reviews when I read the book, so I don't feel bad that I didn't do the review then. But I did reread it, and I would reread it. 

I would reread this because it was exceptional and very good. Here are some things I picked up in rereading that I don't know if I paid attention to the first time I read the book. 

So, for one, it was this quote: you never know when a time will be your last because if you did, you could never go on with life. That quote is so important because this book is full of detail and what you would think is minutiae. This is what we picked up at the store. This is how much a package of crackers costs. You're like all those little things, yeah, we do that. We go to the store, and we buy this. We buy that. 

But then, later on, these people are dealing with this event. They have no idea what it is, but they know it shatters glass and shuts down sales service. And when you get extra people in the story, and they're eating the cherries and drinking the wine, you're like, I just bought that wine; why are they? You know what I mean. Then, it becomes more relevant when you share it with others. 

If you read the book right now after everything that happened in 2020, you're just like. I had a different appreciation for the lack of communication. Amanda and Clay were desperate to know what was happening and could not find anything. And honestly, had GH never shown up, they would never have known; they would have just been on vacation and not had a TV. 

So to read the book now felt different because I've lived through different experiences, and I'm like, yeah, you would hope people would tell you what's going on, but you would have no idea. I even had more appreciation for my neighbor. When they see him, he's like I empathize with you, but you must go. I'm taking care of my family.

The first time I read that, I was like, oh my god, he's such a jerk, and the second time you read it, you're like, he's just protecting his own. When there's a lack of information, you cling to what you know, and what I know is I'm sitting here, this desk is here, this book is here, you cling to the things that you know. 

So, I had a different appreciation for the book, and I even remember when I first read it. I remember the flamingo scene being so prevalent in my mind, and seeing them up close the way they do in the book would terrify me. So, I found myself smiling when I got to the flamingo part. But by far, the part about the deer took my breath away. So when Rose sees all the deer, you're just like, can you even imagine? And she's like, am I tired? No, I see that, right? And she's like, but I'm outside in the woods. Is this even a big deal to mention? And I don't know if she had mentioned if it meant anything, but that part jumped out at me this time because you don't see that, right? 

It takes me back to when I saw him live at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and he had a question-and-answer section. Somebody asked the question, and they were like, what did you want us to get when we read that? And he said, and I remember it, I can hear him saying it: it's not what I wanted you to see. Every reader has a different story, background, and experience. You are to take the words I wrote and see them in a way that makes sense. He was like, I could never write a book if the whole time I'm writing to be like, I hope they see this. I hope they think he's… I write the words, you see them, you take the story and decide they're the protagonist, the antagonist, the villain. You do that. I can't do that. And I was like, that makes a lot of sense, right? 

I was taking notes because someone had asked, "I know you said you wanted to be a writer when you were young. How did you know you were a writer?" Rumaan Alam said, "No one gives you permission to be a writer. If you write, you are a writer." 

And I thought, Kyla, don't let your typewriters collect dust and be decor. If you write, you are a writer. Seeing the author behind the books was cool and definitely made me pick up this book again. 

I enjoyed the book Leave the World Behind. I also enjoyed seeing the author live and talking to him. I was captivated when I reread the story and thought, "Okay, this is pretty cool." Now that my experiences have changed, I see the book differently. 

Until the next book review, Kyla