Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick

This book is "okay" but that's as far as I go. It had potential and the beginning is captivating but it doesn't really go anywhere. The writing is also "okay" but it tries too hard. It comes across as a pretentious and it's crude in places just for shock value.Spoiler:The one thing that drove me crazy is there were 4 supposedly intelligent adults but not once did any of them check the radio to see what was happening. They lost access to T.V. and the internet and were at a complete loss. The owner of the house, G.W., actually has emergency supplies in the basement, but no battery operated radio? They also had access to their cars and they did not try to find out information once. This did not make sense to me.I was considering teaching this book in an upcoming climate fiction class but I have decided to pass.

It’s slow to get started. Then when you think it’s going to pick up, it just ends. Characters are not very deep. Don’t know how they made a movie because most of it is thoughts of the people in it. Rather depressing really. Doesn’t make me want to buy anything else he writes.

So I had to leave this book a star to leave a review which I think you should be able to leave a review on any product you've purchased, especially a book or movie, without leaving a star or give an option for half of a star.With that out of the way, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS BOOK!Spoilers:I decided to read this book because I live "end of the world"/"apocalyptic" stories and the different scenarios that writers can think up. The premise of the book is interesting...at first. The longer this book drags on, and yes, I mean it drags on, the more bored I became and the more frustrated I became as well.A white, middle-class family of 4 (Amanda/mom, Clay/dad, Archie/16 boy, Rose/13 girl) rent a house from the Washingtons (GH & Ruth in their 60s) who are a black, successful couple who are upper, middle-class or lower-upper-class (not sure). You're probably asking me...why am I even explaining this...well...this is suppose to be a story that is about "classism" and "racism" and "stereotypes" and "the human condition".Apparently, you're meant to dislike the characters. The ONLY character I disliked for the first half of the story was Amanda. She's just a rude and cold person who's always looking at her son and thinking about his "young lithe body". Granted, I don't think it's meant to be that way but it came across as very creepy.The reviewers talking about "thrilling" and "tension" in this book must have been reading a different book because I didn't find that in this book. I read a lot of "end of the world" scenarios and near the end the author started getting into things happening to Archie/16 but that was the last 30 to 40 pages and there wasn't enough time spent with this aspect of the story.I saw a bit of the racism/classism that the author & reviewers spoke about but it wasn't...right. I mean I was literally looking for the awkward "racist" or "stereotyping" to cause a big fight but it was mostly inner dialogue and a few things that were said when they'd been drinking. I didn't see what the other reviewers saw so I think we read a different book.Now, I didn't like this book one bit. I didn't like the way the author wrote. It felt like at times he was writing "fluff" to pad out the story to hit a "word mark". Then...there was the over sexualization of the children. Let me mention first that Rose/13 doesn't act like a 13 year old. She often comes across as about 10 years old and I kept forgetting that she was in fact a teenager. The author spent a lot of time sexualizing both of the teens but he especially focused in on Archie/16 near the end of the book who was losing his teeth and pushing his tongue into the hole left by the tooth and the author made that sexual. Yep, gross.That's all I'll say but I am going to give you this direct quote from the exposition dump, pg. 236: "It took unimaginable courage to _ _ _ _ (4 letter word that starts with k) your children. Few people could manage it."This is a quote regarding some random character, a mother, who did that to her two daughters. There is ZERO reason to even have this in the book. It doesn't move the story because the story is over by this point. This "exposition dump" is due to whatever event is going on causing people to do things. None of this even needed to be in the story. The author includes this as Rose is returning to the Washington's home to see her family & the Washingtons. Rose is simply walking and the author is just randomly including things that are happening around the world or will happen or did happen. There are weird time jumps during this exposition dump too. A lot of stuff that shouldn't be placed into this story because it has nothing to do with the scene at hand. It could've/should've been it's own chapter/epilogue but it wasn't so it's the most frustrating part of the book. I nearly threw the book across the room, when I read that. The book ends at page 241 and most of the last chapter has NOTHING to do with the family or the Washingtons (who are "family" by the end of the book in my eyes).DON'T READ THIS BOOK. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR YOUR TIME.Was there a resolution to the story? Nope. There was a bit of an exposition dump from a "neighbor"/"contractor" who GH thought was a "friend" when all he did was pay the guy to do work. I thought the guy was going to shoot them or something but that didn't happen. He just told them (us) the same thing we already knew (nothing) and sent them on their way and told them that he could only conversation, implying that he wouldn't share supplies. GH was hurt that his contractor was his friend. I found this to be a very weird thing to have thought in the first place and seemed unlikely that GH would've thought that. He didn't even mention the guy until him & Clay were taking Archie to the hospital and GH decided Danny, his contractor, would know something because they were friends. It made zero sense. It didn't impact the story at all. It didn't move anything along.To be honest, this book c...

Was a different kind of book for me, part of book club pick. I think everyone thinks of these kinds for things but not openly. Enjoy life and live each day to its fullest

I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as other books. I was so disappointed to get to the end of the book when I realized it just....stopped. You don't find out what's happening, nor do you know what happens to the characters. Although there are hints and snippets of what it is or what it could be sprinkled throughout the book, you never find out exactly what is actually happening. I'm not a fan of books that end as a mystery, and the reader must guess the ending. I want the entire story. For that reason, I can't recommend it.