It's impossible not to compare this to the superb television show it was based on. While a lot of the shape of the first season of The Leftovers is here, including several of the characters, it's so lacking when held up against it. There's nothing really propelling the book forward and no one is as interesting or lovable. The connections between the characters aren't as strong. It just doesn't fulfill the promise of the premise the way that the adaptation does. I'm glad it exists because that's how we got the show, but it's wild to me that such a rich text sprung out of somethign so shallow.