All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Nonie Mayo can sense, throughout her body, when a storm is coming. This is very fortunate because the world as she and her family know it is now at the mercy of hypercanes, irreversible climate changes, food shortages, lawlessness and looting.
As I read this story, I was reminded of the apocalyptic TV series: The Walking Dead: there was so much violence and destruction, both by Nature and by the people who had survived the first wave of catastrophic storms and flooding.
Nonie, Bix, their father and their friend Keller were forced to leave their rooftop sanctuary on the AMNH building in New York by a vicious “hypercane” – a hurricane so powerful and far reaching that entire cities were wiped out.
That harrowing journey by birch bark canoe to the girls’ family farm in Massachusetts held me spellbound. Needless to say, it was very difficult to put this book down.
The author kept the atmosphere of dread and fear at fever pitch during the post-flood sections of the story. This intrepid group of survivors overcame one horrifying obstacle after another.
The flashbacks in this story to a quieter, gentler time were a welcome respite from all that high emotion and devastating action.
One GR reviewer suggested that Nonie is probably autistic. I agree that Nonie appears to have some form of emotional or developmental issues: she has been known to be non-responsive in certain difficult situations, to the point that she stopped communicating altogether. Nonie also confesses at one point that she often does not know how to react to certain catastrophic or stressful situations (despite her obvious intelligence.)
I highly recommend this fast-paced apocalyptic novel, but take note: there are no Zombies or Alien Invaders to overcome. The disasters that befall these characters are the result of climate changes brought on by humanity’s wanton abuse of the earth’s bounty. A very timely message indeed!
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This was a definite page turner, and I am rating it 5 out of 5 well-deserved stars.
View all my reviews
Crossing the Pond Reviews 