Apocalypse, Water world, Humanity, Coming of Age. Love and Loss.

Enjoyable read for me. I enjoyed their "journey" more than I enjoyed their time on Amen. Once they started on their way the book became hard to put down. Makes you think about the "what if's" and what role you can offer to a society who has nothing.


Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this story.

This was a well written, very satisfying story. It was a page-turner. The characters are well developed. It was easy to hope for the protagonist, and despise the bad-guys. The characters grew as the story proceeded. The transition between the past and the present was done very well. The "World as it was" vs. the "World as it is" was supurbly described. I hope we never get to that stage!

I was initially pulled in by the summary of "All the Water in the World" and the parallels drawn to one of my favorite dystopian novels, Station Eleven. Told from the first-person perspective of Nonie, a young girl who lives in an altered future of New York City. Nonie and her family, including her father and sister Bix, are one of many citizens who've taken residence in the American Museum of Natural History (AMHN, or aptly called "Amen") after climate change has permanently altered the world. Their home is devastated after a "hypercane" sweeps through the city, completely destroying their home and forcing the survivors to abandon their former residence and seek shelter in the ancestral family farm in NY, carrying the Museum Logbook that has kept record of their past collections.

We follow Nonie's family and Keller, a fellow survivor, on their journey to safety and are also presented with flashbacks to Nonie's past life and the memories of her mother, including her unexpected passing. We're presented with a world that feels eerily close to our present - a shocking look at the repercussions of climate change, including widespread disease and illness on top of unpredictable natural disasters. The set up is promising, offering a chance to examine the societal and geopolitical factors that have led to our current (and likely future) path, as well as a family and community who have suffered the many repercussions of global change - but I do not think the novel delivered. The writing is barebones and felt underdeveloped; sentences are simple and there was opportunity for so much additional physical descriptions (of the setting, of the disasters) as well as character growth and development. Despite Nonie being the protagonist, there's very little about her that I found to connect with her on, and the additional characters don't get much attention or complexity either.

This was unfortunately one of the more disappointing reads of the year for me - a fascinating premise, but I did not find that the writing delivered.

All the Water in the World by is a compelling post-apocalyptic novel set in a dystopian future ravaged by climate change, where rising ocean levels and superstorms (hypercanes) have flooded New York City. The story follows Nonie’s family and a group of survivors as they abandon their haven on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History and journey up the Hudson River.

Eiren Caffall’s writing is both descriptive and poetic — occasionally veering into YA territory — with themes of community, humanity, grief and resilience. I appreciated that the survivors were anthropologists, scientists and educators with expertise in science and medicine, rather than average, everyday citizens with no survival skills.

For fans of: The Day After Tomorrow and The Last of Us (minus zombies)

Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reader copy of #AllTheWaterInTheWorld. To be published Jan. 7, 2025.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC of Eiren Caffall's All the Water in the World.

This beautifully written memoir is an emotional deep dive into grief, resilience, and the connections we hold to both people and places. Caffall’s prose is poetic yet raw, offering a deeply personal account of loss while exploring the larger environmental and societal impacts of climate change. The metaphor of water runs throughout, connecting themes of impermanence, renewal, and the inescapable flow of life.

Caffall’s ability to weave her own story with reflections on the changing world is what makes this book so compelling. Her writing feels intimate, as though she’s inviting you to sit with her memories and fears while finding glimmers of hope in the larger picture. The emotional weight of the narrative is balanced by moments of profound beauty and insight, making it both heart-wrenching and uplifting.

All the Water in the World is a must-read for those who appreciate lyrical memoirs that tackle personal and universal themes with honesty and depth. It’s a book that lingers, encouraging readers to reflect on their own connections—to loved ones, to the environment, and to the unstoppable flow of time.

This book swims like it would be a good YA read for young people interested in dystopian stories. For me, the description of the book sounded great, but it sort of fell flat for me. I found the beginning of the book to be slow, making it hard for me to want to finish. The second half was much better and I think people who really like this genre will probably enjoy this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC of Eiren Caffall's 'All the Water in the World.'

I really enjoyed this novel. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic novels that have a hint of optimism - think Neal Stephenson's 'Seveneves' or James Howard Kunstler's 'World Made By Hand' series - and although 'All the Water in the World' is very harrowing and full of brutality, I found that there is some light at the end of the tunnel and a lot of humanity remaining. It also has an element of Peter Hoeg's 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow' as one of the young women has an innate understanding of water and weather.

I'm also very familiar with the current real-world geography of this story and quest so was intrigued to be able to envision just exactly how those specific locations in New York city and up the Hudson River fared after being inundated by rising oceans. It made it extremely believable for me and rooted it firmly in reality.

It does use some of the familiar tropes of post-apocalyptic and climate change speculative fiction but I (a) don't know how you avoid those anymore and (b) they're leavened with enough additional narrative that they don't feel hackneyed. Additionally, the make-up of the group and their goals and quest are sufficiently original to offset the more familiar elements.

Beautifully written, highly recommended.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall takes place in the dystopian future of climate change with the world becoming submerged under water and superstorms. Nonie, her sister Bix, and her father live on the roof of the Museum of Natural History in New York. They are forced to leave to make a horrendous journey in search of a family farm. In a world where survival is measured day by day, the family encounters dangers at every turn.

I would recommend this book for readers who can appreciate the magnitude of dystopian literature in our era of climate change. This book speaks volumes for how people may be forced to survive if ocean levels continue to rise and coastal areas are flooded. The story feels real and terrifying, I felt for the characters and the hardships they endure.

Thank you St.Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

The premise was interesting, but it failed in the execution. The story felt a bit all over the place, and the pace was quite slow for the genre, which made the storyline drag. The writing itself was solid, but it just didn't pull me in or keep me engaged.

As soon as I started this book, it read eerily close to Station 11 and the Light Pirate. With climate change novels becoming more popular, there will be inevitable overlaps and common themes but this seemed almost too evident. In addition to its excessive flowery prose at the expense of clarity, this was mostly a disappointment for me.

Wow, this book was kind of insane in that it isn’t a far fetched look into what the future could be. I really enjoyed the way this was written and the narrators perspective. It really makes you think, and that’s my favorite type of story.

“All the Water in the World” is a post-apocalyptic tale set in the near future.

Climate change has caused the oceans to rise precipitously. New York City is virtually empty and on the verge of being completely submerged. For the past several years, teenage girls Nonie (14) and Bix (16) have lived on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History with their father and other staff, working to save the museum’s exhibits for future generations. Life has been very hard and the family has suffered great loss. A monster storm hits, and the museum is destroyed. Nonie, Bix, their father, and a friend set out up the Hudson River in a restored Native American birch-bark canoe, hoping to reach a family member’s farm up north. Will they survive the various dangers along the way and what will they find when and if they reach the farm?

This is a “road novel,” somewhat reminiscent of, but different from, Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road. It’s more a literary work than it is a thriller, although there are some very tense scenes. Author Eiren Caffall is a very talented writer. She excels at literary prose and at imagining and describing what a world assaulted by super-storms and drowning under risen seas might be like.

For me, at times, the novel dragged on, especially in the beginning. There’s a lot of “back-story.” In fact, throughout much of the novel, Ms. Caffall alternates chapters about the past with chapters about the present. I found the chapters dealing with the past more depressing than compelling. Then again, this is a novel that features loss as its major theme.

Nevertheless, it is very well written and I suspect that those who prefer literary prose to the straightforward kind of writing utilized in most thrillers will find much to admire here.

My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and author Eiren Caffall for providing me with a complimentary ARC. The foregoing is my honest, independent opinion.

This is the environmental dystopia that I see us living through. Glaciers are really melting, but we didn't have a drop of rain in NY in ages. Apparently this year is the first year we passed the 1.5C threshold. So yeah, things are going "swimmingly" and no pun intended. Those who do not know how to swim should consider learning how soonish

Knowing exact locations and paths in this story makes it easier to actually imagine what it would look like when the water levels rise. I can picture over flowing Hudson rising against cliffs of Palisades where I go for hiking, or West Point looming over the water, or Storm King Mountain having a "shore". I can picture the journey the sisters, their father, and their friend took to get to safety. What I did not want to picture was the rate people turning into someone else or something else under these circumstances. In some cases it happened out of necessity, in others because of evil in people.

Every time I see the abbreviation for Natural History Museum (ANHM), I read it as AMEN (and I'm not religious for this to come to my mind as first thing). And this book make me feel validated. My brain was not the only one making that switch!

This book.feels very appropriate with all the hurricanes and tornados that have been happening. If you believe in climate change, this story is a must-have read about what will happen if the world floods.

This was 4 stars for me!

I really enjoyed the plot of a post-apocalyptic world due to the crisis of climate change. The story is yet in the near future after climate change has fundamentally changed the landscape, cities are completely flooded and infrastructure is lost.

The book follows a small group of survivors made up of scientists, anthropologists, and museum employees (with their families) who have made the Museum of American History in Manhattan their home. The setting of the start of this story threw me back to the movie with Jake Gyllenhaal - The Day After Tomorrow. Sadly, this group is uplifted from their sanctuary and on the move due to a storm that brings with it - chaos. Due to the world being covered in flood waters due to rising sea levels, this group embarks on a journey in boats when they encounter even more challenges and survivors.

One of the things I loved was how the characters borrowed what they learned from the museum to help them survive. It makes you question if YOU'D be able to survive if the world turned. Books in this genre always make me think about how I would respond to an apocalypse and honestly I really admired that these characters did not give up, no matter how young or old they were.

I also really loved the poetically written short chapters and the journey the reader is taken on. This was a beautifully written story taken from the POV of a 13 year old who gives us a survival story of climate change.

Truely one of the most beautifully written stories about the potential horrors of climate change. The story focuses on Nonie, the daughter of parents who were researchers at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Her older sister Bix is terrified of the water after nearly drowning in their race from their home to reach the museum where their family and other museum employees create a settlement on the roof of the museum. While living at the museum the researches catalog and store everything they can to keep it preserved for the next generation. It is during this time that Noni starts her own log book of her observations and records the atmospheric events they experience. Nonie has the unique ability to feel and predict accurately storms before they happen. When a "hypercane" (a mega hurricane) hits and breaks down the flood barriers to the city they must escape by boat to higher ground.
I wanted to read this as soon as I saw the description comparing it to Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and I was not at all disappointed. If you ever read wanted to spend the night at the museum this will definitely peak your interest. I highly recommend this novel!

I really liked this book about a post-apocalyptic world. Set in the near future after climate change has fundamentally changed the landscape, cities are completely flooded and infrastructure is lost. The book follows a small group of survivors who have made the Museum of American History in Manhattan their home -- until it, too, is breached by the storm. Then they're out on the proverbial road -- only of course they must travel by boat. They encounter other survivors and all types of challenges, but there is hope in the book too.

One of the things I loved was how the characters borrow what they've learned from the museum to help them survive -- lots of Traditional Ecological Indigenous Knowledge. Books in this genre always make me think about how I would respond to an apocalypse and honestly I really admire that these characters did not give up. Poetically written in short chapters, this book is a definite recommendation for fans of The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton and After the Flood by Kassandra Montag.

I rarely read an ecologically focused, post-industrial civilization novel I don't like, and this one is no exception. Some people think the genre is about doom, but these are the kind of visions which give me hope.

This one has a YA feel to me, with the narrator being a girl of 12 or 13, her teenage sister, and others on a journey to find a new beginning after floods and diseases have wiped out the world that was, and ended their effort to save a record of its natural history.

A fairly quick and enjoyable read.

Intriguing post-apocalyptic fiction. Two young girls are living with their parents in the Museum of Natural History (AMHN, or Amen in the book) with other refugees from floodwaters breaching Manhattan. A page-turning read with many sacrifices and dangers along the way as they struggle to reach a family farm in the Berkshires. Lots of stuff about water.

In this book there is The World As It Was and The World As It Is, and Nonie has lived through both of them alongside her sister, parents, and their found family. These people have created a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History until they are faced with a storm and they must escape to find safety. Will they be able to survive outside of their settlement, and find a new home, or will the water get the best of them?

I really wanted to love this book from the beginning, but it didn't get good for me until about half way in. I was fully invested in Nonie and Bix's story and I wanted to know what happened to them, and so I kept reading, but the first half of the book was really slow for me. However, the character development was great, and I really loved Nonie's 6th sense/relationship with water and the "Animal in Mind" game- they both brought a really neat SciFi element to this book.

This book was a very futuristic, dystopian read, and it's a little scary because this is something that could become a reality one day. If this is your vibe, give this book a read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Eiren Caffall and St. Martin's Press for a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.