All the Water in the World is such an interesting concept for the book! Eiren Caffall is such a great writer. If you need something to read, I'd recommend this book!

This story is based in a dystopian future where water has overtaken a large portion of the world, and there aren't many people left behind. Nonie and her family, along with their chosen-family have been hiding out at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for years until a massive storm breaks the city's water fences and the water rises to the point that those left must flee in an ancient canoe. We follow Nonie through the present and past timelines as she recounts their journey and experiences along the way, in hopes to get to their family farm up north, all the while not knowing if it is still standing, or if it is submerged as well. This story is thrilling, heartbreaking, and makes you appreciate the comfort and everyday amenities we take for granted, and how quickly everything can change. This book really touched on the pivotal roles blood-family and chosen-family play when it comes to taking care of and raising children, as well as building supportive communities. It truly embodies the adage "it takes a village".

I was pulled into this book right away. Caffall's writing is easy to follow, and her near-future climate change dystopia is clearly written by someone with a background in science and feels all too plausible.

There's nothing earth-shatteringly novel about this story, the way our protagonist navigates the post-climate apocalyptic US, or the different responses to how survivors band together, but it's a compelling, enjoyable, and ultimately hopeful read nonetheless.

In a near future world where the catastrophes expected by climate change have happened, Nonie and her family have created a settlement in a fallen New York City on top of the American Museum of Natural History. They scavenge, hunt and survive, not without losses, until a major storm breaks down the flood walls and wipes out the entire city. They're forced to take a canoe from an exhibit and escape north, headed for her mother's family farm.

Along they way they encounter the most deadly things, other humans and disease. But they also find community, partners, and, eventually, a safe place.

While the story focuses on a decimated future unlike the life we know now, it's still hopeful.

In an America where New York is flooding and coastal cities are lost by the day, a group tries to survive first in a museum of natural history, then out on the water, and finally when they find land again. While the writing can be lovely and brings up important points about survival and ethics in a disastrous situation, it didn't move me, and felt a bit like a retread of all of the other dystopian novels that have been published in the last 20 or so years. Using the museum was a nice and interesting touch, but other aspects weren't unique enough to keep me fully engaged.

I had high hopes for this book, especially since it was compared to Station Eleven, a novel I loved. Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with the characters. The disjointed timeline made it hard to follow, and the ending felt inconsistent with the rest of the story.

Water, love, loss all this in a dystopian novel of climate change at its culmination. Eiren Caffall sets so many themes up in this novel for you to ask yourself what if. Great book of characters to follow and grow with as they face challenging situations time and time again.

This is a post climate change story, that mostly avoids getting political. This is a scary book to read. Nonie is still a child, and the world is broken into The World As it Was and The World as it Is. Climate disasters have destroyed the planet, and Nonie and her family (actual and found) are living on the roof of a New York City museum. They are trying to save the museum artifacts, but at some point they need to leave to survive themselves and leave on an epic adventure. Weather is really the scariest part of the book, although some people are very scary too. There is some hope in the book, but it is generally pretty tense. It's written very well, and I got attached to the characters.

In All the Water in the World is a profound atmospheric, speculative fiction by Eiren Caffall. While its main focus is on climate change, it also highlights our own fragile human nature yet it doesn't ignore the indomitable human spirit. So, while there is a lot of sadness, it doesn't skimp on hope and love. So, join Nonie and her family as they seek to save our past and create a better future.

The glaciers have melted causing seawater to rise and unleashing catastrophic storms across the world. Young Nonnie lives with her family and fellow survivors on the roof of the New York Museum of Natural History until one day they must flee and venture to the countryside for safety. This was a beautifully written story. I especially loved the flashbacks to the early days of their life living at the Museum. Will think about this one a while. Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

All the water in the world is a climate change apocalyptic “thriller” (though this is more of a slow burn and quiet than a a thriller). It follows a family who live in a colony on a rooftop in water logged manhattan. The world is downing when the glaciers melt and nonnie and her family save artifacts from the world as it was while living off a wild Central Park. A superstorm blows in and they have to relocate to a new location hundreds of miles away, while they try to preserve their history of the past for future generations. They come into contact with our colonies along the way-some more frightening in their fight for survival than others.

The book is slow paced as I said earlier and is reminiscent of later season walking dead (minus the zombies). If you like climate change books or book about survival or the apocalypse, then this is for you!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really liked this post-apocalyptic, climate thriller! I loved the setting and the way the story was told. I thought the storytelling was crafty, and pulled the reader in directly and immediately. I wish some of the ideas/storylines had been flushed out a bit more, and been a bit longer, as I felt the ending came a little quickly, but overall it was so well done!

If you loved Station 11, I highly recommend All the Water in The World. The story follows a family who are climate change refugees, living in the watery world of Manhattan, and the challenges that they face to stay alive. It wasn't an uplifting read, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Climate fiction isn't something I read very much; the story was interesting and I thought a pretty good exploration of how apocalyptic events can effect us. There was a lot of loss in this book, which made me very sad and yet I feel like it is (unfortunately) an accurate depiction.
I liked that the book really looked at the crucial moments of having to move on and find new safety without getting bogged down in the how this happened or the daily drudge of survival once safety is found.

I'm always on the lookout for post-apocalyptic fiction to recommend to my book club. And I will definitely be recommending this book to them.

I was drawn to this book because of the climate fiction aspect as well as it taking place in part at the American Museum of Natural History. I thought it was a unique place to set a post-apocalyptic novel.

Nonie is the narrator of the story and she is an interesting choice. It's not until the end that we get an idea of what her age is but from clues dropped earlier in the story I figured she was around 12 or 13. But the story is not a young adult novel. Her perspective at times is like a child who sees and hears everything but doesn't necessarily have an opinion or bias to filter what she sees or hears through.

The story is more about the journey which is highlighted metaphorically by the presence of the Hudson River the characters follow when Amen is destroyed in a hypercane.

I can't say the story is all that unique but it definitely had its profound moments and beautiful prose. It would be an excellent book for discussion. Several times, I had to pause and reflect on Nonie's observations.

I enjoyed spending time with these characters and was a little sad when I came to the end as I wasn't ready to say goodbye to them.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Monday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/01/all-water-in-world-by-eiren-caffell.html

A dystopian novel told from the viewpoint of a young girl and her writing of the times in two different viewpoints The World As it Was as told to her from her mother, father and found family and their current situation that starts out with storms and flooding with the urgency to flee to safety for the few survivors left. This girl had no idea what the world once was but was recording it for future generations. Survival is not only from natural forces but viral and other people.
Enjoyable read!

This book was unexpected for me. I felt like the beginning drug on and was a little difficult to get into. I think partly because you are learning the world through the eyes of a teenager in a post apocalyptic setting, but also because of the flashbacks. I’d say about 20% through the pacing picked up substantially and I had a much easier time following along with the book. I loved that it was giving waterworld, the last of us (sans zombies), a quiet place (sans monsters), and so many other dystopian stories like that. I really enjoyed that the monsters were actually just other humans in this one. I liked the ending and I felt like it was nice that it wasn’t necessarily the “we found the farm exactly like we wanted to” and yet they still make it work for themselves. I’d be very interested in a sequel to this one.

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of All the Water in the World: A Novel by Eiren Caffall from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. The book is available now!

I wanted to read All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall when I heard that it is about a group of people surviving a major flood by living in New York's American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). I have been to the museum a few times and know that area of New York pretty well, so I could really visualize the devastation of the flooding and crazy weather. I can even imagine there would be people who would care enough to try to preserve history so that future generations could understand what the world was like before it was destroyed by extreme weather events. Not everyone in the world will have good intentions though, and survival is the name of the game when resources are scarce. It is more interesting that the story is really centered on a young girl growing up in this new world. These experiences shape her, and she has a special relationship with the water. Her descriptions of the different kinds of water are magical. While I think it is still dystopian fiction, I still felt a sense of hope.

Bonus points for including Joliet, IL. That was an unexpected and welcome surprise. My dad was from Joliet, so I always appreciate when it pops up. It also gave me a better sense of who Keller is.

"That's what you do in the darkness."
"And you never know in the darkness who is holding the light."

Survival is never pretty, it's always brutal, sad but inspiring. Nonie is young, in a world where the water rose and has eaten a lot of the land. The water is not good - it's full of bacteria, hard pieces, and disease. Nonie lives in a somewhat safe building - an old museum - that her family fled to as the waters rose. It's kept them safe, with heavy doors, small windows, and big gates. Nonie has lived here and felt a kind of safety without light or running electricity but with a great gift - the ability to sense when the weather changes and storms or rain are coming.

But the large storm that makes them lose their safety in the museum isn't one that Nonie senses with enough time to help them save needed resources. Medicine, food, even safe water - all gone in the midst of their fast flee from the home they know. Now they are outside, looking for a safe place to land - but in survival, not everywhere is safe.

This was such a compelling story. I started as an e-book and flipped to audio. The narrator did such a great job of reminding you the main character is still very young and yet, injected the perfect amount of emotion into all their harrowing moments. It's a sad, hopeful story - one that pits us against our fellow humans but also animals and nature. But what an amazing thing, to survive and live.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Eiren Caffall’s All the Water in the World is a beautifully written novel that blends literary fiction with post-apocalyptic survival. Set in a flooded New York City after the glaciers have melted, the book offers a poignant meditation on loss, resilience, and what humanity chooses to preserve in the face of collapse. While its themes are compelling and its prose often lyrical, the novel struggles with pacing and character depth, making it an uneven reading experience.

The concept of a community living on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History is fascinating, and Caffall vividly portrays this flooded world, from the wild gardens of Central Park to the precarious survival along the swollen Hudson River. The environmental and historical inspirations behind the story lend it a sense of urgency and authenticity, and the central question—what is worth saving when everything else is lost?—is both thought-provoking and timely.

Nonie’s perspective as a girl with a deep connection to water adds a layer of mysticism to the narrative, but her voice sometimes feels too detached to fully engage the reader. The relationships between Nonie, her sister, and her parents have moments of emotional resonance but often feel underdeveloped. This lack of depth makes it harder to fully invest in their journey, even as they face storms, danger, and encounters with other communities adapting to the new world in unsettling ways.

The pacing is uneven, with long stretches of introspection that, while beautifully written, slow down the story’s momentum. When the action picks up—particularly during the escape from New York and encounters along the river—the novel becomes more gripping, but these moments are sporadic.

Despite its flaws, All the Water in the World shines in its exploration of humanity’s relationship with knowledge, history, and nature. Its themes will resonate with readers who enjoy reflective, atmospheric storytelling. While it doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights of works like Station Eleven or Parable of the Sower, it offers a unique perspective on survival and the enduring power of love and community. For those drawn to literary dystopias, this book may still be worth the journey.