I think my timing was off with this book. All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall is beautifully written and is about a future America ravaged by water after the glaciers melt. The protagonist, Nonie, tells the story of her family and others who live in a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. When a superstorm overcomes the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family escape to the north using the Hudson River. Their journey, reminiscent of the travels in Station Eleven, takes them through dangers and, naturally, strains each traveler.

I thought Station Eleven was a brilliant book, and since it was used as a comp for this book, I had awfully high expectations. As I said, the writing was terrific—no complaints with the author’s descriptions or with the premise, which is strong. It just didn’t propel me as I hoped. The plot was water-logged. (I know. Forgive me.)

If you love plots with slow burns, are interested in climate change, and enjoy dystopian and post-apocalyptic themes, you may love this. I give it 3.5 stars but round it up to 4 because of the “It’s me, not you” relationship I had with it.

Thank you so much St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

All the Water in the World 🌊

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fiction, Post Apocalyptic
Pub Date: January 7, 2025

Nonie is a young girl living with her family on the top of the NY Museum of Natural History following the melting of the glaciers and severe flooding throughout the world. When a superstorm breaks barriers into NYC, her family is forced to flee and attempt to bring whatever records and history they can with them to hunt for safety and preserve the past.

This was marketed as a book that fans of Station Eleven would enjoy, and I totally agree with that statement. The post apocalyptic vibes were somewhat similar, and just the overall feeling of the book was the same. I do think this one wasn’t as good, in part because the choice of narrator as a young girl. Seeing the world and events through her eyes I think led to less clear storytelling. I did enjoy all the main characters, but I think it could have benefitted from an older narrator, or even multiple perspectives throughout the story.

I thought the premise of this book was so interesting and did enjoy reading and thinking about what the world could be like when the glaciers melt. The beginning was a little slow moving, and for me had too many flashbacks to “the world as it was before”. I wanted more about how things had gotten to this point, how the world and governments fell apart, all that crazy intense stuff that would happen after a huge event like this.

Once the family has to evacuate and they face several challenges and threats along the way, the pace definitely picked up and was more enjoyable. If you liked Station Eleven, I do think you would enjoy this book and style of writing. But do know it’s not quite the same.

I will be thinking about this one for a long time. Very intriguing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

all the water in the world is like if station eleven and the road had a baby in a world destroyed by environmental damage and flooding.

the novel starts veryyyyy slow (hence my 3.25 rating) and follows main character nonie and a cast of characters fleeing from their rooftop shelter to head north in search of dry land. nonie is maybe 13 years old and, as other reviewers have guessed, is potentially neurodivergent, but i really enjoyed being in her head. she’s deeply devoted to her family (biological and chosen) and is drawn to all the water in the world.

the first 35% of this book was far too slow for me but picked up and hooked me enough to keep reading. i wish more things happened along the journey (similar vibes to the road, which some love but was NOT for me) but the ending was satisfying.

thanks to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful and interesting read.

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

I am equally fascinated by and deeply fearful of water. Aquariums and exhibits that open a window beneath the waves mesmerize me. At the same time, the mere thought of the depths and weight of so much water impenetrable by the naked eye makes my stomach drop and pulse race. Eiren Caffall's debut work of dystopian fiction is a captivating look at a possible world to come.

The narrator is Nonie, who lives with what remains of her natural and found families in The World As It Is. We call the setting New York City, but these residents no longer inhabit cities or towns. They seek refuge on rooftops and high ground, whatever remains out of the reach of the water. Rivers and streams have long since breached their banks, merging with lakes, seas, and oceans. Entire neighborhoods are drowned; the tallest skyscrapers resemble one- or two-story buildings.

Nonie has a special ability to feel and sense water. She can predict storms and knows how severe they will be. But even she couldn't know the power of a hypercane that destroyed the only home she remembers and forced her, her father, her sister, and the only other surviving member of their community out on the open water in a canoe.

All the Water in the World is part dystopian story, part adventure, part family drama. The level of visionary detail is staggering and awe-inspiring. This is a story worth reading--and one that will haunt my imagination for quite a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

All the Water in the World breathes new life into the post apocalyptic genre, which is one of my favorite genres. The lyrical writing, the strong plot line, the dark foreboding warnings of a world where climate change is irreversible, all combine to make this one of the best books I have read in a very long time.

I highly recommend this book to all readers. There is something in this one for everyone and it is a story that will live with you long after you finish reading it.

Sad, depressing and beautifully written, All the Water in the World is a blueprint for a dystopian future in a world horribly altered by climate change. The seas have risen and Nonie, her sister, parents and some coworkers have taken refuge on the roof of The Museum of Natural History. Rising water, hurricanes, disease and starvation have ravaged New York. Nonie and the survivors of her family use a Native American canoe from a museum exhibit to begin a perilous journey out of the city and up the Hudson River, hoping to find a family farm in the Berkshires. What they find are the remnants of society. There are the Lost who ravage the land using violence to take what they need, and a sprinkling of organized small gatherings echoing the behaviors of The World As It Was.

This atmospheric, apocalyptic climate change thriller, told through the eyes of an adolescent, is frightening. Could it be true? If horrific weather changes tear us apart, what is left? Nonie and her family believe in “…hope thrown hard at the darkness.” Thank you for that hope in the darkness, Eiren Caffall. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Eiren Caffall for this ARC.

This book was a bit slow to start, with so much back story information and switching timeframes it dragged and became a bit tedious to read. About a third of the way in, it picked up considerably and was much more interesting and easier. The characters were well developed and the story held my attention after that tedious jaunt, but it was a very good read after that point. I'd actually give it 3.5 stars overall and would likely read another book from this author. Her words flowed well and the book held my interest fairly well. It was obvious the author had devoted a lot of time in the writing and I hope to see Nonie's story continue. Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This was an excellent debut novel from Eiren Caffall. It is very well written and I liked the main character of young Nonie a lot. If you are a fan of end of the world and dystopian stories, you will definitely enjoy this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

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

This was a post-apocalyptic story that felt very possible. It was definitely a commentary on global warming and the state of the world right now, which made it feel ominous and very timely. I had some difficulty following along with the story sometimes, but I appreciate how much the author put into the book.

Thank you again for the ARC!

3.5 stars
There's a lot to like about this book, especially if you're super into dystopian novels. In this novel's world, there's water and a lot of it. NYC is flooded, there are no more computers so no one knows what's going on, and we assume there's no government. Everyone is left to fend for themselves and Nonie and her family travel north on the Hudson to safety. It's a pretty standard plot but the character of Nonie is well-crafted and I became invested in her journey. I thought the last chapter was unnecessary and I wish that the author had let the reader's imagination fill in the blanks for the After.
I would recommend this to others, particularly if you enjoyed Station Eleven.

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

A dystopian tale of the “World as It Was” before the oceans flooded the land. At times this read was absolutely frightening. So glad that the “farm” was reachable. I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own.

A wonderfully atmospheric speculative novel set in a world in which the icecaps have melted and extreme storms and heatwaves rage unpredictably across New York City. Into this devastation, the focus is on a small group of survivors and their quest to find a home.

13 year-old Nonie and her family are part of a community living on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History, Amen to the residents. Climate catastrophe has raised the water level across the city, drowning many residents, driving many more out. There’s no power and no communication so nobody knows what’s going on in the rest of the country. A mosquito borne disease has wiped out most of the population remaining. When a hypercane strikes, Nonie, her older sister Bix, their father, and a friend, Keller, take a birchbark canoe from the collection and head up the river towards their Aunt’s farm.

The novel switches between this odyssey and flashbacks to the family’s time in Amen, with just a few scant memories of The Time As It Was before the first great flood. The focus is always on Nonie and the Amen community and the ruinous happenings outside are only lightly sketched in: what Amen doesn’t know, we don’t know. The description of the community is exquisite: it was close-knit and collaborative but also closed, and was not without its tragedies. The voyage up the Hudson is filled with tension, as the foursome face some dangers, both natural and, more chillingly, man-made. The few settlements they come across are ruled by fear and selfishness but they also meet with kindness and assistance.

Nonie’s matter of fact perspective gives the view of a child of this catastrophic era. Though her father and Keller can remember times like ours, Nonie and, to a lesser extent, Bix have known nothing but scraping by and low level persistent dread. Though Nonie can feel shifts in the weather and has a sense for other dangers, she is also a bit of a Cassandra, leading to a casually explosive and disastrous encounter which shapes the remainder of the journey.

As with Station Eleven, which this novel has been compared to, I found the writing immersive and mood- changing. While maybe not as wholly realized as that novel, this is still one of the best novels I’ve read this year and, if you like your spec fic to be all too frighteningly realistic and minutely person-focused, then I highly recommend it and hope you don’t get a tsunami warning in the middle of it.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

In a time where natural disasters have amplified, the ocean level has risen almost 60 meters and storms called hypercanes plague the earth, two sisters flee their flooded apartment in NYC to the museum where their Mom had worked. Their goal had been a farm up north owned by her grandparents their Mom’s health has prevented it. They build a community there with other families without power and internet and threats are not just the weather - they are disease and other people too. Nonie has a sixth sense to the water and can forecast the storms and how serious they will be and longs to be out on the sea as a scientist. Every day is all about survival and learning to be adaptive and flexible to the changing world. The story was completely intriguing to me with their fight to survive but also the bond between those that we make family.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC! #netgalley #allthewaterintheworld

Nonie can feel when a storm is coming, but she doesn’t feel the storm coming that rips the roof off of the American Museim of Natural History - where her family has been living since the city was submerged in water. With the roof gone, her family leaves the museum to find a new home.

This book was written very stream of consciousness- like we were experiencing every thought Nonie thought. At times, I found it hard to follow. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

The description calls this book a literary thriller. It felt less thriller and more dystopian.

This did not work for me at all. I kept losing the thread and the pacing went from slow to incredibly slow.
I have been enjoying the cli-fi genre and various interpretations of what the world will be like in the near future. This possible future reminded me of Light Pirate, and I so wanted to enjoy this book as much. Somehow the characters and story arc feel very forced and don’t develop throughout the book. The dialogue is bit stilted and there is no real plot to move the story along. When a story is as doomsday as this one is, I really need a reason to keep turning pages to see if something good / interesting / different will happen. In this case, it never comes.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall is a first person-POV speculative climate fiction that asks what could happen if all the ice caps melted and the entire world started drowning. Nonie, her father, mother, and older sister, Bix, and family friend Keller are trying to survive at the American Museum of Natural History aka Amen, but the water is still rising and they need to move on. As they make their way out, they encounter other survivors, some of whom do not believe in the same principles Nonie’s family does.

The structure of this book is more of a mix of genres that makes it feel like it belongs on a lot of different shelves. The chapter length and pacing are akin to a lot of thrillers but it’s so deeply introspective and the main villain is the world around them, The World As It Is. Because of the climate fiction elements, it feels like it would be right at home on the speculative fiction or sci-fi shelf even if it’s honed in on one specific element. We also jump back a lot between what is happening in the present day in the story and Nonie’s childhood and all of the people she’s lost over the years and how it impacts her and her relationship with Bix.

I love stories about the end of the world, especially when it’s more of a natural element instead of something like war or nuclear fallout. I am not the most knowledgeable about the hard science of what could happen if we don’t start caring more about the Earth and how our actions are harming it, but this felt realistic to me with the knowledge I do have. The idea of the water levels rising to the point that people keep having to get to higher and higher ground and are taking refuge in museums and skyscrapers is not a stretch for me given the rising water levels now.

My favorite chapters were the ones from Nonie’s POV when she was a child rather than the ones when she is a teen or adult. The teen/adult chapters present the more-thriller moments and the more fast-paced scenes, but it’s really the character work of a child who was born after the world ended who has a sister who was born before and has no choice but to live in this reality that was the most interesting to me. Nonie is the only person she knows who never experienced the World As It Was and she asks the people around her about the world before, she plays animal games, she keeps a logbook to document what she experiences, and she’s very innocent to so much of what her family would be aware of but in a different way than we might expect.

I would recommend this to fans of climate fiction that feels realistic and those who love speculative fiction that has strong character work

This climate-themed post-apocalyptic story is a deep and thought-provoking tale of loss, preservation, and resilience. I am conflicted about this book because there are such beautiful and touching moments, with language and concepts that really hit home. [One of my favorites: “Thinking that the world has picked only you for tragedy is looking for mustard seeds. There is the weather and there is death. You can’t control them, and you can’t fool yourself that your name is the only one they know. They have everyone’s names in their mouths.”]

But there are times where the choices confuse and disrupt the flow of the story. The plot is fairly simple and unfurls slowly, allowing time for contemplation and reflection, but also making it all too easy to set the book down. Overall it did not really resonate with me [aside from a few moments like the one noted above].

I hope this novel finds its audience, because it truly is a beautiful, meditative story that deserves exposure and acclaim. I think many people will love it – it just wasn’t for me at this time. Still, a heart-felt thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book [set for publication on January 7, 2025].

I saw a review that said, "this is probably for people who prefer a slow reflective read", and it's me. Hi. I'm that reader it's me. I see why this is getting Station Eleven comps because while that was a dystopian novel about the value of art, this is one about the value of preservation. What do you keep when the world ends. What do you want people to remember of the world before? Beautiful and yes, slow paced, but in a way that just felt so right for the prose

4.5 stars