All the Water in the World

I had only read a few pages of All the Water In the World when I realized it was going to be an emotional read for me. It’s a devastating, inspiring, and all too realistic depiction of the effects of climate change on our world. Nonie’s story shows us that there’s always reason to hope, even after the world has ended.

The pacing is slow, which added to the tension and stress I felt as 13-year-old Nonie and her family struggled through the dangers of the world to make their way to a safe place. While there wasn’t a ton of action, there were a couple scenes that had my heart pounding out of my chest and though I could have torn through the book in a couple sittings, it took me longer than usual because I had to take breaks to sit with my thoughts (or distract myself from them).

As for the writing: fantastic. Because I have aphantasia, I always rely on authors to provide excellent descriptions and Eiren Caffall did a beautiful job painting a picture of a world ravaged by climate change. And I think the choice to tell the story through the eyes of a child was an excellent one.

I love that some chapters were flashbacks to Nonie’s time living at the museum with all the other survivors. Nonie was the only one among them who was too young to remember much about the time before the city was flooded and it was interesting to see how her experience differed from theirs. Honestly, everything was interesting. Even with the slow pacing, I was never bored.

Eiren Caffall doesn’t sugarcoat a possible disastrous future that awaits us and I can’t recommend All the Water In the World enough to anyone looking for a serious, thought-provoking read.

I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley.