Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free review copy of the audiobook, read by Eunice Wong.

Continuing my "drowned cities after climate change" series, this one is set in and around NYC. Unlike the other books I've read recently in this theme, society is NOT carrying on as usual and making small changes due to the water. In this book, the world we know today has been erased and replaced by water and disease and death. Do not get attached to any of the characters, because so many of them will die.

The writing is often lyrical. The POV is from a child who has been raised with a small community sheltering within the American Museum of Natural History, aka "amen." Yes, I got sick of hearing "amen," it was an annoying affectation. (Since I listened to the audiobook, I don't know how this is spelled in the book - perhaps it's just "AMNH" and Wong chose to pronounce it "amen.") Caffall often takes her time with tangents to describe quiet, simple moments: picking blackberries, drinking fresh well water, a child lying on the floor pretending to swim with trilobites. I <i>almost</i> loved that, but it never quite worked for me, they always felt artificially injected into the story. The rest of the writing is straightforward, workmanlike, this happened and this happened and this is what it looked like and this is the straightforward dialogue and this is what they did next, etc. The blunt writing and the lyrical writing bump up against each other uncomfortably, like boats tethered in a harbor during a storm.

There is the faintest whiff of a suggestion of magical realism, with Nonie's implied ability to sense water. The book opens with this ability of hers, and a few times she senses a bad storm coming and is able to warn others, but other than that, it doesn't really play into plot.

Aside from the occasional lyricism and the implied magical realism that does not really happen, this is mostly just a survival story. Nonie and her sister, Bix, battle to survive the diseased flood waters of a post-apocalyptic society. At times, other humans are the antagonists, but most people they meet are helpful, and the most deadly antagonist is nature itself, both in the form of flood waters and waves as well as bacterial and viral infections. I expected this to try to say something bigger about society, but I never felt it.

For an adventure story, this is hella slow. I did become highly motivated to keep reading to find out where this story is headed, so although it was mostly meh, it was slightly riveting towards the end.

The very last chapter serves as an epilogue and it gets a little preachy. I thought the book would have been stronger without it, if the last line of the book had been the last line of chapter 79: "let's get inside ... it's going to rain."

I did not care for Wong's reading style at all. I've never listened to an audiobook read by her before, and this will likely be the last book I ever listen to read by her.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me a copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

I don't even know where to start with this book. The writing style itself is so unique but yet perfectly curated to the story itself and the way that the world is ending. The flashes back into simpler times before the bigger storm hits. It beautifully paints the picture of the humanity that was trying to save itself, sometimes in vain.

I loved the way that Nonie developed in this book, from someone who was letting the tide take her wherever, sometimes literally. To a young woman fighting for her world, also sometimes literally. She has so much passion in her in so many ways, and watching her navigate this world was beautiful.

This is a story that truly captures humanity and both our worst and best qualities. It will leave you thinking far beyond its pages and the tide you ride on through them.

This was a beautifully written dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel. I was left with a lot of questions and there were times it was tough to understand what was happening. But I appreciate that more and more dystopian novels are being written that focus on climate change.

This was a harrowing book. It reminded me in ways of Station 11, but also the tv show Revolution. Definitely a warning about the effects of climate change and how important community is. A timely read for sure.

After the glaciers melt, people are forced to take refuge in shelters that are not underwater, leading Noni and her family to settle at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. Because her parents worked there, the family has access to the space and sets up a refuge on the roof for themselves and other workers. They work to catalog safeguard the exhibits, protecting them from looters and preserving them for future generations. When a hypercane hits, the remaining family and their friend Keller are forced to make their way to safe ground. They are faced with innumerable hardships and scary circumstances on their journey on the water but are determined to find safety in this new, water filled reality.

While I mostly enjoyed the story, I must admit it was hampered by the incredibly slow narration of Eunice Wong. The story was interesting but seemed plodding and unnecessary in points. For a dystopian fantasy it was a little too boring for me. Three stars.

I received this advance audio copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

I enjoyed this audio. This was an interesting listen and story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted arc.

Thank you to Macmillain Audio for my review copy. My opinions are my own.

I knew very little going into this book and was immediately hooked into the story and the characters. I loved the fact that the chapters were titled and helped me keep track if it was a present day chapter or a flashback chapter.

Eunice's narration was amazing, I felt like I was right there with Nonie as she navigates from the roof of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to a farm up north out of the flooded city. I was so caught up into the story, I may have completely ignored my family while occasionally arguing with the characters as I listened.

Highly recommend listening to the story.

I was really excited for this book. I love apocalyptic fiction, and the premise of this one is different from most in the genre. I have only read one other like this (with a world consumed by water), and I loved that one, so I thought I would give this a try. The storytelling is definitely in the same vein as Station Eleven and After the Flood. The descriptions definitely made me feel like I was there, which is important in this kind of story. However, there was a lack of character development and none of them stood out to me as strikingly different from the others. Because of that, I had a hard time connecting and therefore caring about what happened to them. This story is also a slow burn, which isn't in itself a bad thing, but combined with the lackluster characters, I almost didn't finish. Because I love the genre and I enjoyed the premise, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and continued. I did like the ending and found that interesting.

Just when I thought I was done with post-apocalyptic fiction...

Eiren Caffall beautifully intertwines climate fiction with a compelling coming-of-age narrative. The story's deliberately measured pace serves a crucial purpose, allowing readers to fully absorb and contemplate the horrifying reality of the world Caffall has created.

While the book doesn't shy away from bleakness, the main characters provide a (much-needed) source of hope - survivors making their home on the roof of New York's Natural History Museum, becoming guardians of humanity's collected knowledge.

3.5 stars
Thanks to Net Galley for the early preview of this audiobook.

This book started off really interesting and I liked the premise of this dystopian, water-world future where people were living in the ‘fortress’ of the American Museum of Natural History (or AMNH pronounced Amen) as their place of refuge. I also liked learning little bits of history regarding people protecting museums in “Leningrad” (St. Petersburg) and somewhere else (maybe it was Paris?). While we started to learn old lessons of these true and historic places, that story line completely shifts away to the family trying to escape the aftermath of the “hypercane” and basically survival mode.

Overall, I mostly enjoyed this book and the character building of this little family. It paints a pretty dire picture of what life may be like when climate change gets completely out of control and massive floods and hypercanes are common. I feel like this book introduced way too many characters to where I got confused at times on who was who. I did like the back and forth setting of the timeline, but it was not consistent to where it was also confusing. We also didn’t experience something that was brought up early in the book – Nonie may have special needs or a speech difficulty, but then that seems to get forgotten.

I wish I could give this book three and a half stars, but I can only go to the nearest whole number. This kind of felt like a debut-author kind of book. One question I have is, do you think people who really get into these post-apocalyptic books do any stock piling of antibiotics? Those seem to be the most valuable things in these worlds.

Audiobook narrator Eunice Wong rating: 3.9 stars
She was pretty good at reading this book and voicing the characters of Nonie and Bix. I feel like she could have done a little better with changing her voice for other characters.

I just listened to one of my most anticipated books for 2025, All the Water in the World, and I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed. This book is heartbreakingly pertinent. The story was reminiscent of Station Eleven (as the marketing suggests) or The Road. The premise: a handful of desperate characters, on a journey to find a haven, in a destroyed world. Through their journey, we catch snapshots of what ‘civilization’ might look like after disaster. While devastating, the story ultimately felt like a call for hope and togetherness, which one can feel distanced from in times like these. The characters were well drawn and I found it easy to connect with them emotionally. The audiobook narrator was excellent. I felt immediately at home with her narration style. Some readers have felt that the story was not fast paced enough; perhaps this is because the book has been marketed as a ‘literary thriller’. This book is certainly more literary than it is thriller, and the most heart-racing moments were really more horrifying than they were thrilling. Since I had expected the book to be more literary going in, I wasn’t thrown off by the pace. Overall, a solid 4 stars.

All the Water in the World is an excellent addition to the growing genre of climate change fiction. The premise of a group of people in NYC trying to document the collections at the Natural History Museum for future generations was fascinating, and I thought the characters were well-developed. Caffall was deft in moving among various time frames and using those shifts to build our understanding of character and relationships. The suspense and action picked up once the small group of those remaining went north after a massive rise in the water level, and it is here that comparisons to Station Eleven come into play. All in all, I found this to be a thoughtful exploration of climate crisis built around characters I could definitely care for as the story developed.

A haunting dystopian novel that brings together the best elements of literary fiction and climate change narratives, creating a world that feels both utterly alien and deeply familiar. With echoes of “Station Eleven”, “The Road”, and “Parable of the Sower”, Caffall offers a story that’s as emotionally resonant as it is thought-provoking.

What stood out most was the perspective of Nonie, a young girl navigating a world devastated by climate change. Telling the story through her eyes brings an extra layer of poignancy, offering a lens of innocence amidst the devastation. The dystopian society is shaped by the impact of hypercanes, a chilling consequence of global warming, and it’s fascinating how water—something so essential to life—becomes the force of destruction. The concept of a flooded New York City, with survivors living atop the Museum of Natural History, was both clever and beautifully symbolic. While the pacing is a bit slow at times and the plot sparse, much like The Road, it never detracts from the novel’s deeper themes of survival, memory, and the bonds that keep us connected.

Overall, “All the Water in the World” is a powerful meditation on what it means to preserve knowledge, culture, hope, and love in a world gone awry. Highly recommended for fans of literary dystopias.

The audiobook version is a real treat, thanks in no small part to Eunice Wong’s narration. Her cadence and tone perfectly match the contemplative nature of the prose, making it incredibly easy to listen to and bringing the lyrical quality of the writing to life.

What a wild ride. This story had a bit of everything. I enjoyed the characters, faults, flaws and all and the setting was thought-provoking. I would like to see other titles by this author!

This story has a similar tone to Station Eleven and Parable of the Sower, which I loved. Our narrator, Nonie, is a very engaging storyteller with a unique perspective. As a child, she has a quality of innocence and practical acceptance. The story is set in the imagined near future, when the increased extreme weather and raising sea levels have created a dystopian reality. Nonie and her family took refuge in the American Museum of Natural History in NYC after the first floods. The book goes back and forth between 2 timelines; describing their life and community at the museum (callen AMONH) and the journey of a small group of survivors after the museum is destroyed by an immense hurricane. I really enjoyed how Eiren Caffall's writing paints a picture of a desolate, waterlogged world that is terrifyingly believable. However, she injects a sense of hope through the resilience and strength of love amongst a group of chosen family.

Eunice Wong does an excellent job narrating the audiobook. She gives each character a unique voice, and truly brings the world to life. I could see the world through Nonie's eyes, and felt her emotional journey throughout the events of the story. I strongly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for providing me an eALC copy in return for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an ARC of this wonderful work.

Oh my goodness. This was an emotional, literary ride I was not expecting. Going in, I expected tense cli sci fi, and what I got was so much more. Told through the perspective of Nooni, who I felt was coded to be autistic, we are introduced to the world as it is. And the world as it is, well, it’s dangerous. Floods, disease, the Lost. We follow Nooni and her family, both biological and found, as they try to escape New York for a better, safer life.

This book was a slow burn, but a gut wrenching one at that. It felt very much like you were a traveler listening to Nooni’s tale by a campfire. I found the characters to be rich, developed, and unique. The story unfolded, flashing back and forth so we understood a little bit about how the world was as it is. Definitely recommend for my fans of LAST OF US, where character driven narrative is the name of the game.

This was probably my first climate science fiction book and I am not sure this genre is for me, but I am glad I gave it a try!

All The Water In The World follows a group of people living on top of the American Museum of Natural History after a mega tsunami flooded New York City with water. The main character, Nonnie, is a 7 year old girl, living with her family, who has a strong sense for water movement. She can even sense when the next storm is coming. This story follows Nonnie and her family as they escape from another flood and find a new place to settle.

What I liked about this book:
-The premise was definitely interesting and I was intrigued right from the start
-The author was very good at building that eerie and uneasy feeling that loomed over the story
-I am a water person as well - not to the same degree as Nonnie, but I always gravitate towards water in times of stress/discomfort. This book was fun to read because of that additional sci-fi element.

What I didn't like:
-It felt very boring and slow throughout most of the book. I felt like the synopsis basically gives away so much of the book that I just wasn't excited by the story itself. It just felt like it was missing something.
-It also felt a little too sci-fi for my liking. I don't think I realized how much of a magical element this had and it was just a bit much for me.

Overall this book was okay. It was intriguing and had an interesting premise but it ultimately fell short for me.

A great dystopian novel! The action scenes blended perfectly with deep insights into climate change, family, preservation, and survival. A book that makes you think about what you would do in such dystopian tragedies.

I keep seeing excellent reviews of this book, but I would definitely have to disagree. This book was fine, but also stunningly unremarkable. As someone who reads a good amount of climate fiction, I can say with confidence that none of the concepts or storylines here are anything fresh or original. Every piece of this has been done somewhere before, and it really made this story feel rather trite and lacking.

Not only did this not grab me from the start, it didn’t really ever. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and the flashbacks made the plot feel a bit disjointed. I felt like the characters’ depths weren’t really explored, which really made them all seem one-dimensional. I was never invested in their plight or their struggle, and didn’t find myself routing for their success or survival. The further in I got, the more disappointed I became that nothing about this story ever hit me emotionally, which I really hoped it would, and thought it should have considering the subject matter.

I think the main problem was that this book faithfully (and unfortunately) follows a very overdone formula for stories of its kind. I was never interested, or surprised, or invested in this, and it didn’t resonate with me the way other cli-fi books have in the past. Sure, it was written beautifully, and props to the author for that, but it didn’t make me feel anything... like, AT ALL.

With climate change and environmental crises occurring daily it seems, "All the Water in the World" is extremely topical, depicting potential future circumstances for our world. We are our own worst enemy, not only in terms of how we treat our planet but also in how we treat each other. At the core of this novel, is a story about humanity, community, and the perseverance of the human spirit.

Although the main antagonist is the weather and storms, the real issue is other people- oftentimes, isolation being the safer option. This novel depicts the water and people as the most dangerous factors to deal with and overcome. Water because it not only required for survival but is also a predator. The water can become poison, it can attract and fester disease, and it can destroy things in its path. Water is a force to be respected. When it comes to people, it's all about hoarding and protecting resources, prioritizing self-preservation over the wellness of others.

This novel is a slow-burn, highlighting the need to preserve our history and continue documenting and chronicling our world. And at the heart of the book, it's a story about keeping our humanity alive, creating and thriving within a community, creating relationships and safety within each other, and never letting go of hope. Hope is key to our survival.

This novel lagged in places and jumped around in others but overall is a robust and comprehensive tale of survival in a future state of Earth. The main character, Nonie, is the perfect lead for this story as she is relatable, curious, and strong-willed. She's a vessel for the story and is a highlight as well. I found her sister to be slightly irritating and some of the adult characters to be mildly grating but that's likely what we would face in this type of journey. We take what we get and we don't get upset. It doesn't matter if we like each other immediately, it's about banding together to stay alive and create a new way of life based on our current circumstances.

I really enjoyed the message and the themes presented throughout the narrative.