What readers think of The Leftovers, plus links to write your own review.

All it took for me to fall in love with Tom Perrotta’s “The Leftovers” were these first two lines: “Laurie Garvey hadn’t been raised to believe in the Rapture. She hadn’t been raised to believe in much of anything, except the foolishness of belief itself.” Perrotta creates instantly believable characters placed in an unbelievable situation and carefully weaves a story that under the pen of any other writer might sound implausible. Last night at 1 a.m., with 30 pages left, I reluctantly headed to bed, but a half hour later, I had to get up and keep reading to find out “what happens” to people I had grown to know and love. Even when I read the last paragraph, I didn’t want it to end. That’s an amazing book!

How would you react after a Rapture-like event took place and you remained? How would you rebuild your life? Would you be filled with despair or hope? These are just a few of the questions posed in this intriguing, imaginative and intelligent new book. The story is told through one typical family in a small, suburban community. It is filled with honest human emotions. The author doesn’t make judgments or express any particular political or religious view, but lets the events unfold as the characters learn about their loved ones, and more importantly about themselves. One minor issue I had was the author jumps quite often and quickly between characters even within chapters and it does get a little confusing. But overall, I thought it was one of the best books I have read this year.

This is the kind of book you will recommend to your friends, just so you can talk about it with them. This is a perfect book for book discussion groups.

I did not realize this author's work was considered "christian fiction" yet was pleasantly surprised by the accessible and universal themes and a writing style that allowed the story to feel organic and readable. The creativity of using the extreme to highlight the everyday added value to the premise.

Perrotta's novel is an entertaining exercise of how people cope after being left behind after millions of people vanish during a "Rapture-like" phenomenon. Perrotta successfully captures how society feels compelled to try to make sense of senseless acts of terror/tragedy by both elevating and tearing down these same "victims." However, didn't buy into the fracturing of the family who comprised his 4 main characters. Dad: committed to carrying on; Mom: abandoning family to join a "cult'; Son: dropping out of college to follow a "prophet" who eases those in pain; Daughter: dropping out of high school and experimenting with alcohol, drugs and sex. Wouldn't those families who were spared try to find comfort in each other? Felt this fracturing was a bit forced. The novel raised many questions and I know I will be thinking about the book for quite a while. Just couldn't help but feel a little disappointed after finishing.

I'll read whatever this guy writes. I thought, like Little Children & Abstinence Teacher, this book was funny, interesting and sometimes insightful. Don't look for hard science fiction in this, the novel is more concerned with people's reactions and frustrations due to the world changing events.

This was a different take on the much written about topic of a rapture-like event. Unlike most books with this theme, the characters continued to live their lives. Each struggled with accepting what had happened and dealt with their losses in their own fashion. There wasn't the usual conflict between good and evil. It was a story of loss and acceptance.

The landscape in Tom Perrotta's book is very different from anything I would describe as "post-apocalyptic". In fact, he could be describing suburban America today. I actually found that to be the strength of the book. He didn't try to deal (at least not much) with the theology of the rapture (or Sudden Departure, as he called it). There is a little bit of folks dismissing what happened as not being the "actual" rapture, because they're convinced that when the time comes, of course they'll be one of the ones to disappear and not be a leftover. But, for the most part, Perrotta just takes that event--whatever it really was--as a given. He doesn't really try to explain it. And that's good, because any explanation would fall flat. It's already in the past, and his characters are grappling with the question of how do you go on when so many loved ones have just vanished but everything else is the same as it ever was.