Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC.

It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I did, I liked it a lot. Not much happened, but it was a very realistic portrayal of three people trying to make the best of a horrible time in history, and trying to be good to other humans, even the most difficult ones, while carving out some room and boundaries for their own happiness and preservation of their own sanity.

A bit slow at times, but so life-like. 4/5 stars. Would definitely read more by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

This was a beautifully written book with characters who had a lot of depth and backstory. It is definitely a character driven book, but it still has plot. I'm not usually a big fan of character driven books but the premise sounded promising so I thought I'd give it a chance. The pacing was slow and I found myself bored quite a bit. It brings up lots of thoughts on how people change while dealing with adversity. I would recommend this if you enjoy character driven books.

3.5 ⭐️

All the World Can Hold stood out for its elegant, understated prose and the way Jung Yun crafted such nuanced, fully realized characters. I appreciated how the 9/11 backdrop was handled with sensitivity, keeping the focus on the personal rather than the sensational. The cruise ship setting worked beautifully as both a literal and symbolic space for exploring regret, resilience, and second chances. On top of that, I really connected with the themes in this story—how it explored regret, resilience, and the possibility of second chances against the backdrop of personal and collective change. That said, the pacing felt slow at times, and the low-stakes plot didn’t always hold my attention. The shifting perspectives occasionally disrupted the flow, and I found myself wishing for a stronger emotional payoff by the end.

Thank you Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my review.

Giving All the World Can Hold a firm 3.75 stars.

The book starts out five days after 9/11, the world is still in shock. Bodies are still missing from the rubble. The news is swirling around Osama Bin Laden, an upcoming war, industries are collapsing, most notably the travel industry.

Three completely unrelated characters are about to embark from Boston to Bermuda on the Sonata, a cruise ship that should have disembarked from New York, but is being rerouted to Boston for obvious reasons. What is being called a White Lotus (which I love) meets Let the Great World Spin (haven't reead it), I wanted to read this because I was hoping for a dramatic end to characters who are all dealing with something, whether big or small.

We meet:
Franny - a married Korean woman who brings her husband, brother, his girlfriend, and her mother to celebrate her chilsun. A chilsun is a Korean person's milestone 70th birthday. We learn along the way family secrets and regrets.

Lucy - a young black woman who is brilliant, interviewing for a company called Google, which is still in its pre-IPO stage. She is joined by her obnoxious roommate who offers her the trip for free.

Doug - former 70s star, who once lived on the boat after starring in a Love Boat type show. He is paid along with a few of the other stars of the show as a reunion of sorts for the show, singing autographs, joining in classes, show appearances, all of which annoy him.

While this could have had all the makings of a White Lotus type show, instead I didn’t care about any of these characters. Doug probably caught my attention the most, especially since I lived during the Love Boat era. However, the plot lines didn’t truly stick. We didn’t need 15 pages on Lucy trying to use the boat phone (yes, we are aware it costs $15 a minute) for a job interview.

While the overall writing wasn’t bad, I was invested as this is very much a character driven book, there was no real connection between the three story lines. I wasn’t connected to any of the stories, and the ending was lackluster to say the least. I wanted more oomph!!

So, nothing bad with it, but nothing that stands out.

This was a very good book. The characters were well developed and the story was different than anything I have previously read. Very different but very good!

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review **
Set in the week after 9/11, the novel follows three passengers on a faded cruise ship bound for Bermuda—Franny, hosting her mother’s chilsun birthday; Doug, a washed-up TV star confronting old misdeeds; and Lucy, an MIT grad student wavering over her future—as their separate regrets begin to collide on board. I loved how Yun braids these perspectives to ask what we owe the people we love and the lives we didn’t choose. The shipboard setting feels contained but teeming with human noise—nostalgia, guilt, flirtation, and the uneasy quiet of grief. The 9/11 backdrop is handled with restraint, keeping the focus on intimate choices rather than spectacle. Prose is crisp and observant; scenes land with a quiet snap instead of a drumroll. A few moments are a touch on-the-nose, but the tenderness and sly humor win out. Overall, it reads like a strong four-to-five-star literary novel—empathetic, entertaining, and quietly wise.

Five days after the catastrophic 9/11 attacks in New York City, the Sonata cruise ship is re-routed to deport from Boston and the passengers make their way onboard for the five day cruise to Bermuda. On board are three passengers, whose perspectives are rotated through over the course of the novel: Franny, a Korean-American lawyer in NYC who's planned a family cruise for her mother's chilsun (70th birthday) for the last several months; Doug, a washed-up actor who's been roped into the reunion cruise for the dated Starlight Voyages show he previously starred in; and Lucy, a black graduate student at MIT who joined the cruise last minute thanks to the (free) invitation her roommate offered to her.

In the days that follow, we come to learn more about each of these characters and their individual struggles. For Franny, she's borne the weight of the family's eldest child, juggling a stressful career in law, being a wife, and trying to please her mother, who seems to favor her unemployed, financially irresponsible younger brother Jae in spite of her efforts. Doug has joined the cruise with his nephew, and despite what he anticipated to be a relaxing trip, has been roped into nonstop events and reunions with former colleagues, which bring up past memories and truths he's long overlooked. And for Lucy, she's on the cusp of a number of tech interviews that will decide her future, but struggling to come to terms with her true passions and the countless microaggressions she continues to experience as a black woman in academia.

"All the World Can Hold" is very much a character-driven novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed the steady reveal for each of these characters, and how much I came to empathize with each of them - especially Franny, as someone who grew up with a similar upbringing and expectations. Yun also layers in the the looming events of 9/11, and the devastation and chaos that the ensuing days had across the world, including this group of passengers on a seemingly disconnected world. TIn the span of five days, we see how these characters come together and how the time they spend changes their lives and relationships going forward.

Very much a recommended read when this novel is published in March 2026!

All the World Can Hold is a deeply moving and beautifully crafted novel that explores themes of family, identity, and cultural heritage with profound sensitivity. Jung Yun’s storytelling is powerful and intimate, drawing readers into the complexities of parent-child relationships and the search for belonging. The emotional depth and nuanced characters made this a compelling and thought-provoking read that stayed with me long after finishing. It’s a poignant exploration of the ties that bind us and the truths we must face.

This book took me by surprise - it really hits you in the feels when you least expect it.

A group of people board a cruise ship after the events of 9/11, each POV has their own personal and family dramas going on. This book tells the story of these people and their struggles - Franny, with her mother’s upcoming birthday, Doug with his acting career, and Lucy with her upcoming career to start.

Honestly the book is very well-written and flows nicely, but it was the underlying reminder that 9/11 had just happened, and everyone on the boat was affected in some way or another. Very surreal to think about being on a cruise right after something like that (which all the characters felt as well).

The description says this book isn’t a 9/11 novel, but that ending begs to differ with me. That part stuck with me the most, forcing you to think about the events that would take place right after this cruise for these characters, and then zooming back to the time they are currently in, before even more crazy bad stuff happens.

If you are looking for a lit-fit to pull you in and take you through a dramatic character study, this book is the one for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, 37Ink (Simon and Schuster), and Jung Yun for an eARC of this book.

What an interesting premise for a book that was executed so well! I was so intrigued and grateful to have come across this book! Thank you to the publishers for providing an advanced copy. We each deal with the consequences, good or bad, of our decisions and it can be hard not to grapple with guilt and regret. This book thoughtfully explores that concept while engaging you in the lives of a diverse group of characters!

All the World Can Hold is a forthcoming literary novel set aboard a cruise ship bound for Bermuda on September 16, 2001, just days after the 9/11 attacks. On deck are three sharply distinct characters: Franny, reluctantly celebrating her mother’s seventieth birthday; Doug, a former TV star haunted by past mistakes; and Lucy, a Black MIT grad student torn between her academic future and moral unease with corporate recruiters like Google. As the ship sails through the aftermath of tragedy, each traveler wrestles with unspoken regrets, personal ambition, and the poignancy of second chances. Though not a 9/11 novel per se, it subtly captures how lives crisscross and collide in times of upheaval .

Jung Yun’s All the World Can Hold is a profoundly moving and elegantly written novel that explores the fragility of relationships and the endurance of hope. Yun’s prose is spare and lyrical, carrying a quiet power that resonates deeply. The emotional journey is intimate yet universal, touching on themes of grief, memory, and resilience. Each character feels achingly real, and the storytelling is layered with meaning. This is literary fiction at its finest—thoughtful, evocative, and utterly unforgettable. Yun once again proves her ability to write with both precision and heart. An essential read for fans of emotional depth.

What a marvelous book! Against the background of 9/11, three damaged, broken people, arrive on the cruise ship, Aria, the vessel a TV series was based on (think Love Boat). Each also has been impacted in some way by the tragedy. As their stories unfold, you become captivated by the telling. I was entranced by this book. Highly recommend. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC

This book sneaks up on you. You open it expecting one thing — maybe a kitschy cruise ship dramedy or a big ensemble-driven blowout — and instead, you get something more subtle, more introspective, and surprisingly moving.

Set aboard the Sonata, a cruise ship long past its prime, All the World Can Hold captures a sense of drift — not just in geography, but in life. The ship, like many of its passengers, is coasting on former glories. Former television star Doug. Franny’s emotionally distant mother. Every character is caught in a liminal space — between past and future, between success and disappointment, between who they are and who they hoped to be.

I kept questioning why the post-9/11 setting was included, but as I'm writing this review and reflecting, it did provide an interesting and relevant backdrop. It subtly amplifies the theme: that eerie, suspended moment in time when the world hadn’t yet recalibrated. A sense of the “before” being gone, and the “after” not yet defined.

Yun resists big drama, and yet it never feels slow. There’s no grand twist, no cruise disaster or sudden revelations. What she offers instead is something more nuanced: characters thinking, growing, evolving, all while inching closer to their destination — both literal and metaphorical.

This is a novel about internal transformation, and the brilliance of the setting lies in how it mirrors that journey. Don’t come looking for fireworks. But if you appreciate quiet character studies, stories that trust the reader to sit with stillness and subtlety, this one delivers beautifully.

The layering of the immediate aftermath of 911 with the lives of three struggling characters locked in a staged capsule of controlled happiness and activity was fascinating. Who could imagine what it would be like to board a cruise ship several days after the destruction of 911, when the extent of how the damage would change our world was unknown, with passengers both burdened and unburdened with what happened are locked together within the constant party of a cruise ship? Within that environment, the novel explores the lives of three passengers very different from one another, who have losses of their own they must absorb and decisions about how they want to live their lives.. Each of these characters is fully drawn.

It's several days after 911. Passengers are boarding the Sonata, the former setting of a Love Boat type TV show, Starlight Voyages, for a 5 day trip to Bermuda. Several members of the former TV show are part of the draw to this cruise.

Franny, a highly successful estate attorney, has arranged for her husband and family to take this cruise in celebration of her mother’s seventieth birthday Her intent is to mark her birthday with the Korean celebration, Chelsun, an important ritual in the culture. Franny’s husband is white and has never been accepted into the family. He tells her repeatedly, how wrong it is to be on a cruise as the 9/11 death toll rises, especially since Franny and her mother have a strained relationship. For all Franny’s success, she has been shut out in favor of her dependent brother. The dynamics are fraught with tension.

Lucy is a young black academic superstar, degrees in hand, ready to enter the work world. She is on the cruise at the invitation of her spoiled, bossy roommate and feels totally out of place. She has lived under extreme pressure by her parents to live as a symbol of American success. That has taken an extreme toll on her. As the days wear on, she grapples with what she wants her life to be.

The third character is Doug, an aging, basically unemployed actor, and former star of the Starlight show. He came with his nephew, Gideon, never having read his contract requiring him to work many events with and around other former cast members. His past is riddled with secrets and bad behavior. His former coworkers remember much of what he has tried to forget.

The three stories overlay what you would expect from cruise ship life—abundance, perpetual activity, the fake happiness swirling through the air. How Yun wove all the stories together is testament to her skill. The summary at the end perfectly describes the trajectory of the world after that unimaginable tragedy.

Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley and 37 Ink (Simon &Schuster for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded down. A bit of a slow burn character study with some White Lotus vibes, without the murdery twist at the end.

It’s post 9/11, as in just a few days after, and we follow around three main characters who have just embarked on a cruise to the Bahamas, bad timing be damned, and none of them are enjoying themselves in the slightest, but not necessarily because of the tragedy they just left behind. Their personal circumstances are enough to kill the cruise vibe all on their own. Which makes me question why the dark cloud of 9/11 needed to hang over this story at all. It played a small role, but I wouldn’t say a completely necessary one, other than the fact that the author drew on her own personal experience of being on a cruise at that time.

What I did love was the depth of each character, and the empathy with which they were written, as we got to know the struggles of a Korean-American family with a complicated dynamic. A young, black college graduate with a wide range of choices and opportunities in front of her, but the pressure and weight of carrying herself in the world a certain, expected way, despite a longing for something more fulfilling. An aging, barely relevant actor struggling with the balance of what his fans have come to expect from him and who he truly is. I loved them all and was truly hopeful for them and cheering from the sidelines for them to find resolution and peace.

Oddly, the book ended when the cruise did, and that resolution didn’t really come. I guess we are left to imagine that the seeds of change have been planted, and sprout will grow in the future, off page. That could be deeply unsatisfying for some, but I am ok with it.

An intriguing drama set on a cruise that takes place a few days after 9/11. We follow three characters at a pivotal moment in their own lives and in American history. Franny is trying to show her mother she is grateful for all of her sacrifices by footing the bill for the cruise/70th birthday celebration. Doug is battling his past demons as he is trying to strengthen his relationships with his nephew. Lucy is trying to get a job after graduating from MIT while navigating her friendship (?) with her roommate. The writing is lovely and each of the three storylines was compelling with sympathetic characters.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

The concept of this story is very interesting. It follows the lives of three different people in the fresh days right after 9/11 when the US is in a daze, and the rest of the world, while shocked is still moving forward. All intertwined someway by being on this cruise. While dealing with all of their personal problems and struggles they must all navigate how everything has changed so fast and their feelings along with it. It's hard to describe the feeling of reading this book as someone who was very young when 9/11 happened. I liked the humor that was added along the story that broke up the seriousness of the situation and all of their problems as well. I would recommend this book, as it is very well written and the story and characters really pull everything together. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

This novel alternates between three points of view: Doug – a once-famous older man, Franny – a daughter, wife, and sister, and Lucy – a young professional navigating her career. Through each of their perspectives, we get intimate glimpses into their fears, regrets, and desires.

I'll admit, at first I wasn’t sure where the story was going or how these characters connected to the timeline of 9/11. But as I kept reading, I became deeply invested—and by the final chapters, I was in tears. The author masterfully brings each character's arc full circle in a way that’s both powerful and beautifully done.

What I took away from this book: there’s so much happening in the world around us, but our inner lives are just as complex, just as important. Thank you to the author and publisher for this E-ARC.

I was only 18 and just starting my first semester in college when 9/11 hit, plummeting our country and the world into a new reality and a new normal. I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I saw the towers fall.

This book takes place on a cruise ship, less than a week post 9/11, with the story jumping between three different characters. All three are still living in a sort of fugue state, not only because of the after effects of this terrible tragedy but because of the unresolved state of their lives.

There are a lot of themes to grapple with in the book- guilt, forgiveness, betrayal- but the one I came away feeling the strongest was hope. That combined with the insightful and articulate storytelling by Mrs. Yun made this a very thought provoking and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and 37Ink for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.