An end-of-the-ice-bergs dystopian novel that does not disappoint. Wonderful, individualistic characters you grow to care about. The setting on the roof top of the American Natural History Museum is brilliant. With the oceans rising, most of those left in New York City have adapted to living their lives atop buildings, growing what they can in the parks not yet under water, developing skills and learning to develop a new society. The setting is vividly described, and the concern the residents of the AMNH (which they now call "Amen") show for saving the antiquities in the Museum is a positive note in devastated world.
Told in the first person by a ten or eleven year old girl, the trip her family and a friend take to survive the world-destroying tsunami adds to the taut undercurrent flowing through the book. Some very nice lines emphasizing the positive.
The author says in her Acknowledgements it took her eleven years to write this book, her first. So glad she persevered.

All the Water in the World is a post-apocalyptic novel set in a New York that is being engulfed by the ocean and battered by storms, Nonie, her older sister Bix, their father, and entomologist Keller escape the destruction of the American Museum of Natural History in NYC when a fierce "hypercane" kills the rest of the members of their small settlement on the museum's roof.
Fleeing to a family farm in upstate New York that they hope will provide sanctuary, the party must survive dangerous encounters with both nature and the remainders of humanity.

As global climate change causes the world to warm and weather events to intensify, and the United States elects a President who promises to "Drill, baby, drill!" this novel feels especially timely.

Eiren Caffall’s *All the Water in the World* is a hauntingly beautiful memoir that flows like poetry, exploring themes of loss, love, and the unrelenting pull of nature. Written in the first person, Caffall invites readers into her deeply personal journey of grappling with the loss of her mother and her own struggles with illness. Her words are raw and evocative, weaving together memories and reflections with an almost lyrical quality.

The book is as much about water as it is about grief—how it sustains, erodes, and reshapes the world around us, much like sorrow does to the human spirit. Caffall’s connection to the natural world is palpable, and her ability to draw parallels between the fragility of ecosystems and human relationships is stunning. That said, the nonlinear structure can occasionally feel disorienting, and some passages may leave readers longing for more clarity. But it’s this same dreamlike quality that makes the book so poignant and unique. It’s not just a story; it’s an experience, one that lingers long after the final page.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I was invited to read and review this book and was intrigued by a comparison in the pitch to Station Eleven, one of my all-time favorites. In an unspecified time in the future, global warming has become so severe that glaciers have melted and cities on the East Coast have flooded. Thirteen-year-old Nonie, her parents, and her older sister have taken shelter in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City with a small group of others committed to protecting the museum's collections. But life is precarious, with no medicines, new insect-borne illnesses, and superstorms that threaten all remaining structures. When one of those storms breaches the museum, Nonie, her sister, her father, and a friend -- the sole survivors -- must set out on a boat to try to get to higher ground, and there are plenty of dangers other than the water and the weather to contend with. While I appreciated the warning about our failure to address the threat of climate change and a look at what might happen if we hoard resources rather than work together to help each other, much of this book felt to me like something I had already read. In particular, I kept thinking of Parable of the Sower. I also felt that the writing was a bit lacking and at times confusing, and the editor in me couldn't stop myself from thinking of ways to improve it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published January 7, 2025.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Speculative fiction is so good when it pulls at a string from reality until it is taut and fraught with incredible possibilities, frightening scenarios and precarious situations. In this story, extreme weather has finally taken its toll on the world. Floods, droughts, deadly cold and heat have decimated much of the earth. Countries are gone, cities are gone, populations have been lost. There is no government, no communication systems, no power grids, no medicine – no way of knowing who or what has survived. The World as it Was is gone. A small group of survivors have found refuge in the American History Museum in NYC. They have lived here for years until another climate demon, a hypercane rips that sanctuary apart. Now there are only four survivors who must find a way to travel north to a long-dreamed-of-and-promised farm. They have no idea what they will find in the World as it is Now.

If you loved Station Eleven, you will love this book! If you are concerned about climate change, you will love this book! If you love suspense and post apocalyptic stories, you will love this book. I could NOT put it down!

#Allthewaterintheworld #EirenCaffall #StMartinsPress #NetGalley #bookstagram

This book, which follows the lines of the Light Pirate, is un=putdownable. I was so intrigued at each turn how it was going to end, if they’d make it, what exactly was happening…and it all came together so beautifully in the end. I didn’t love the Child’s piece - no spoilers, but it seemed a bit far fetched…and yes, I said that knowing it’s a post-apocalyptic novel!

If you liked the light pirate, you’ll like this.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Cafall is a book about people surviving an environmental apocalypse.If you enjoyed The Road and Station 11 you will enjoy this book!Nonie is a 13 year old who along with her family and some friends are living on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History in New York after a climate disaster and hyper cane or super hurricane.There is another terrible storm and they are forced to escape in a canoe.The story is one of adventure and hope. This is not a fast read-you may find a few spots slow .You also must keep up with the flashbacks-but hang in there!You will enjoy it!

The story is told from the viewpoint of Nonie as a hypercane (think a hurricane beyond imagination) strikes their refuge, destroying it. The world’s oceans have raised to catastrophic levels and New York City has only partially been saved by a huge breakwater, which is destroyed by the hypercane. There is no law, no supplies, and no more civilization. Nonie, her sister Bix, her father and their friend must now head north to the farm where her mother was raised and hopefully find sanctuary there. The world has become a dangerous place with packs of pet dogs turned wild and feral humans (the Lost), but their group has spent their time trying to preserve knowledge in the Natural History Museum. Now, they must escape and the only way out is by an old birchbark canoe into the floods.
The story is told with flashbacks to The World As It Was, especially right before the oceans flooded into the cities. The story is upsetting as it shows the world we know was lost because the majority of people ignored the warning signs of climate change and thought it would all be fixed. When it wasn’t, many people died either in storms or from illness. There is hope, though, as the group heads for the farm, holding onto the belief that they will find or make a better life.
Nonie is an interesting character, unable to always read other’s emotions or to respond appropriately. She is brilliant and loves the sea, just as her mother did. Bix charges toward danger, always wanting to know more, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.
I liked this book very much, but it is a disturbing read. It is an apocalyptic story, full of danger and love, the end of a world and hope for a new world.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

While this book is not horror, I read it as a horror book! The plot is so close to happening that it's scary! Throughout the book I stayed tense, and literally could not put it down. There were many nights I stayed up too late reading, just to see what happened next!

In the new version of planet Earth, the ice caps have melted and killer storms lay waste to human attempts to shelter. There is no such thing as sheltering in place, hunkering in some bunker for Norah (Nonie), Bix (her sister), their father Allan, and their friend Keller. They have been living on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History (AMEN), where Nonie's mother and Keller worked, with small group of survivors. The building itself has become a storage cache, and the survivors have been working on preserving what they can from the collection. They have barricaded themselves to the top floors to keep out the "lost"--other survivors whose desperation often makes them crazy or vicious-- and the packs of wild dogs roaming the high places in the city that are exposed between storms. When tornadoes from a hypercane pull off the roof, their cache goes too, along with the rest of the people from their group. Only Keller, Nonie, Bix and their father make it down into the museum, where they locate a birchbark canoe and begin a treacherous journey north to the only place they know that might be safe, that might have survived: the house where their mother grew up in upstate New York.

Along the way, the narrative jumps from the past to the present, telling the story of the places and the loved ones they have lost in a world that moved too quickly from safe to scary. What I found the most haunting were descriptions of the deadliness of water and the constant storms that rocked the atmosphere between extremes of cold and hot. The weather we've been experiencing in California this week helped to set the mood! After reading the book, I pondered the use of the word "lost" to describe so much of what this book holds: loss of place, of peace, of sanity, of what it means to be a functional human being, of life.

I highly recommend and will definitely purchase for my high school library. It's an awesome survival story.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for access to the ARC. I don't receive compensation for my review.

I felt immersed in the world the author built and found all the water references beautiful and impactful. It all felt very realistic in the sense that we could possibly to be headed in that direction with the volatility and extremes of our weather, and it served as a powerful warning without being overtly trying to educate reader, which I do not appreciate. The main characters and their relationships, especially the family, were the best part of the story for me. I loved the bond between the parents and the daughters, and they way we were pulled into their circle.
I struggled a bit with the number of characters thrown into the mix toward the end and the conclusion which felt rather sudden. I preferred the parts of the book that were more sparse and focused on the relationships and the observations of the family. I do recommend this book and look forward to more from Eiren Caffall. Thank you for letting me read the ARC!

post-apocalyptic, fiction, thriller, environment, climatology, dystopian, museum, family, storms, flooding, disaster, relics, artifact, recordkeeping, unputdownable, refuges, refugees, international*****

The tidal wave/storm surge swept them all from their latest home/settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History where they had gone to survive as the waters rose and filled the buildings and the tunnels and the sewers. They gathered together to try to flee to the north even as they were felled by waterborne and mosquito borne illnesses and injuries without antibiotics and learned caregivers. They kept building an archive of what was and learning from the artifacts and lore even as humanity changed and evolved into both evil and supportive. All too plausible.
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press, via NetGalley. Thank you!
Avail Jan 07, 2025 #AllTheWaterInTheWorld by Eiren Caffall St. Martin's Press #SpecFiction #DisasterFiction #FamilyByChoice #KeepingThePast

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this novel that looks at a future flooded with climate change, fear, ignorance, and a little bit of hope.

I knew from an early age that I never wanted children. Even in the time that everyone considers the good old days, I could see the problems that were starting, and even more the problems that the supposed adults and smart people in the room were ignoring. However I am the Uncle of two awesome nephews, one of which told me once at the age of seven, "You adults really messed things up." I could only think to myself, yes we did. Many say that climate change is just a lie, that weather always has acted this way. My answer usually is name three types of clouds and what are micro climates if one is such an expert. I remember seasons, not once in a century storms that seem to happen every year. I don't remember tornados being a thing in New England, nor record droughts. Or winter's without snow. Though this year we got snow early. After again a drought. At this point, and considering the people in power I only assume things will get worse. And a book like this that is science fiction, might one day be considered a nonfiction memoir. All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall is a story about family, a love of knowledge, an epic journey, and unfortunately water, water everywhere, with everything at risk.

The glaciers have melted and the major cities after trying and spending billions in locks, dams and more are mostly underwater or deserted. Nonie is a young girl who lives with her family on the rook of the American Museum of Natural History, a place they call Amen. Nonie has a feel for water growing up surrounded by it. Nonie's parents worked at the museum and have created a small colony of the roof with some of their colleagues, gathering knowledge to survive from the museum, while trying to keep things safe so that things will not be lost or forgotten. A hypercane a beyond super hurricane has come and blasted through what has left of the City's defenses, and Nonie and her family have to leave the museum, using bark canoes in an attempt to find land. To do so they must enter the heart of darkness that is the outside going north. Along the way they find that humanity does go on, but not in the best of ways.

A book that seems to be more accurate the more that time passes. Caffall describes a future so real and so possible that it is quite disturbing. The world is well laid out, and I like the way Caffall sets up things. There are a few spots where the story drags, and it might take a bit for readers to get used to the way that Nonie acts, but the plot makes up for this. Caffall has done a lot of research, on weather, water, building, primitive skills, geography, and geology, that one really gets a strong sense of the world, and what might be.

Fans of the author Kim Stanley Robinson will have another author to read. I look forward to more books by this author, for I really the intensity the author brings to the story. One can feel the anger and almost desperation coming off the pages, a warning that it might be getting late, but maybe just maybe we can do something. Or watch everything we have just wash away.

I loved the premise of All the Water in the World. Survival in a post apocalyptic world after all the polar ice caps melt, flooding all the world’s coastlines. The world becomes savage and violent while people face new plagues and fight for limited resources. The story is a “log book” of a 13-year-old girl, told in first person, detailing her family’s fight for survival and journey to find lasting safety.

The book is clearly written and easy to follow. I loved the short chapters! The characters were diverse and likable.

I would classify this book as young adult, literary fiction. I could really see this book being assigned reading in high school. It deals with many relevant issues: found family, social structures, government, global climate change, racism, coming-of-age, grief, death, etc.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It really made me think about and appreciate my own safety and wellbeing; and the simple things we take for granted: water, food, shelter.

Oh, how I hate this part!

I think the worst part about reviewing books is being so excited for something new and just.. not being able to get into it. Unfortunately, I have to dnf All the Water in the World for this reason. Something about this book just isn't doing it for me, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I don't want to give an unfair review, and I genuinely hope that others really enjoy this book- but I'm going to have to pass on it for now. I will be giving this a one-star rating simply because I *have* to submit a star rating, but in my heart that feels unfair, and I wish I could just not give it a rating so as not to skew anything. I'm sending this book all the best vibes to reach the right audience, and hopefully others will be able to enjoy what I'm sure is a really wonderful book, even if it wasn't necessarily for me :)

I liked this book! It dragged at parts, but it was nice reading from a child’s perspective. I really enjoyed learning about the storms and AMEN!

I really wanted to love this story based on the description but ended up only finding it so-so. The pacing of the story is inconsistent and drags a lot in the beginning but then speeds up very quickly near the end. The ideas presented in the book - found family, preservation of knowledge, extreme climate change - would make for some excellent book club discussions, if everyone is willing to push through the first 30% of the novel.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC of this novel through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Gorgeous, yearning, hopeful

All the Water in the World is one of those books I needed to savor. I read the last chapter slowly, soaking it all in and wishing to stay in that moment for as long as possible.

The writing was complex in its simplicity and I loved every single word. Eiren Caffall is truly a talent!

-Station Eleven meets The Walking Dead (no zombies, but similar eerie vibes!)
-Environmental apocalypse
-Survival tale
-Young narrator

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This wasn't necessarily the best book to read immediately after seeing a bunch of articles in the news about how scientists are warning the world is on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. That said, it was fascinating to read about this family that had been living at the American Museum of Natural History, trying to preserve what they could in the aftermath of climate catastrophe - and ultimately how they needed to face great danger to find/create their own long-term community further away from the rising ocean and its storms.

I will recommend it widely to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction and who ultimately enjoy a reminder of the importance of both humanity and hope.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in advance of publication.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was clearly written with so much attention to detail and research, done so in one of the best ways I’ve ever read.

It was raw, emotional, and at times terrifying to think of this reality.

Where it fell short for me was the pacing and character development. Despite the length, in some ways this read like a short story to me.