All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
This story is set in the future with a group of people living on the roof of New York’s Museum of Natural History. Global warming has happened and everything is flooded worldwide. Millions of people are killed and the ones who survived are not always people you want to live with. There are groups of wild people and in the cities, dogs run in wild packs that kill.
The survivors must hunt and scavenge for food, water, and medicines. They are running out of everything. There is no way to communicate with anyone else, there is no electricity or fuel for vehicles, or public transit of any kind.
There are research ships in the ocean that are a beacon of hope.
The group at the museum spend their time trying to preserve the displays. They only use the items they need.
The story is told by Nonie, a young girl. She survives with her father, her sister Bix, a museum employee Keller, and a handful of other people.
As the story starts most of the other people have died. Nonie’s mother needed a new kidney so couldn’t keep going. The others die over the few years that they are struggling. Their stories are told as things Nonie remembers.
The building that they are living in is called the American Museum of Natural History. They call the place Amen. It feels appropriate because of their situation.
They keep being hit by harder and more dangerous storms. Eventually a hypercane hits and Nonie, her father, Bix, and Keller must leave. They decide to go north to her mother’s family farm. They heard from someone traveling through that there was dry land in the north. They leave in an ancient boat from the museum.
The story follows their travel north. Their struggle is real and I did root for them to succeed.
This was not an easy story. Life was difficult and the author doesn’t spare you from their danger.
The writing flows smoothly and the description lets you see and feel what they are experiencing along the way. The characters are well developed, and I grew to care for them.
I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. I am glad that I read it.
I have so many books to read that I have decided that I won’t read books that don’t grab me.
This was a book club book, and I do belong to book clubs so that I will be introduced to books I might not choose on my own. This one was good. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a little fantasy. That said, science is saying that global warming is real. Because they do, I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in saving our planet. If half of what is in this book is true, we have a problem.
First published January 7, 2025
I include links to purchase for readers who really can’t wait or find it difficult to shop in person. As an associate, I earn from qualified purchases.
Books by this author:
All the Water in the World
The Mourners Bestiary
What I am currently reading:
Dog Person by Camille Pagan
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
I think it is interesting that the two books I am reading have animal characters. Dog Person is told by a dog named Harold. In The Last House on Needless Street, we have a cat as one of the points of view.
I attended a local author event last night for Maria Semple. Her newest books is Go Gentle. I look forward to reading it eventually. She wrote for television, Where’d You Go Bernadette, Mad About You, Arrested Development, and Saturday Night Live were a few. She did convince me I need to read Go Gentle but I have so many books I need to read, I will wait until I am ready. You could always read it and let me know what you think.
I hope you are enjoying spring so far.
You can find some of the books I have reviewed in the past at my Pango book shop – Get Lost in a Book Shop – https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/virginia468417
Happy Reading!
Rate this:
#BookReview #Books #DystopianFiction #Fiction #GlobalWarming #reading
Boldly.Blue
Get Lost in a Book Reviews
Games Briefly
Kimberlee Plezia