Apocalyptic | Book Chatter

All the Water in the World
By Eiren Caffall
St. Martin’s Press, 9781250353528, January 7, 2025, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

Compelling and impossible to put aside. I am still thinking about these characters.

The Rest of It:

The glaciers have melted. Nonie and her family take refuge in the American Museum of Natural History. Nonie’s mother was a researcher there. Those who still had keys in their possession made a home for themselves, only taking from the exhibits when absolutely needed. Finding comfort in the memories of the past, they do their best to preserve and record what they can.

Food is grown in Central Park with the help of others, but after the Hypercane storm, which Nonie predicted, their food stores are gone and they barely make it back to the museum as the worst of it hits. Other families, snatched by the horrific winds leave only their startled faces behind as Nonie replays it over and over again in her mind.

All the world is under water. The story alternates between The World as It Was and The World as it Is. Nonie, naturally gifted with the ability to detect the big storms, becomes a crucial piece of this group as they navigate up the Hudson to what they perceive to be a safe place.

Nonie, her older sister Bix, her father and a family friend named Keller, take off in a canoe with packs on their backs and head into the hostile unknown.

I was absolutely riveted by this book. It’s a harrowing tale of survival. The love that this family has for one another, and the lengths they go to protect each other kept me glued to the pages. Their journey is not easy. They encounter danger at every turn, food scarcity, illness and injury.

As they push through, Nonie can’t help but think of the “before”. These memories are sweet and heartbreaking. Her resilience is admirable as she rallies this family of hers with hope for the future.

The writing is amazing and relentless. Caffall takes you by the hand and doesn’t let go. YOU are in that canoe, feeling those hunger pains, terrified of what tomorrow brings. If the glaciers melted tomorrow this story would be our reality. Terrifying and brutal.

Who do they encounter? Who do they lose along the way? How does one survive when everything is covered in water?

Apocalyptic stories can be too heavy but this one has hope written all over it. It comes out January 7th! Highly recommend. It will be on my fave list at the end of the year.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Burn
By Peter Heller
Knopf, 9780593801628, August 2024, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

A stark warning to a divided country.

The Rest of It:

I’ve read a few books by Heller and all of them have left me a little speechless. All powerful, all a bit unsettling but this one, wow, I gotta take a moment.

In Burn, Storey and Jess start their annual hunting trip as they always do, except as they hike through Maine, they come across some alarming things. Maine is in the throes of secession and as they come across each town, they see the horrible devastation of what’s left behind. Evidence of a burn, evidence of attack. None of it good. As they make their way across the country, they begin to wonder what has happened back at home. Are their families safe? Surely, help would have been sent.

They quickly realize that their goal is simply survival, and getting back home but the enemy is not clear cut. They can’t tell secessionists from the military and everyone is fighting for supplies. As the journey continues, food is scarce, and mechanisms for getting home are scarce too. Boats? Not in the greatest shape and too obvious on the water. By foot? Long. Too long. They witness horrible things. No one can be trusted. They are on their own.

Enter a lost little girl.

Still unsure if there is even anything to go back to, home seems like such an elusive thing but then here is this girl, only six years old, desperately wanting to be with her parents. Are they even alive? How has she survived so far? Worried about their own survival but unable to leave a child to fend for herself in this bombed-out world, they take her on and their mission changes.

This story is bleak. There is little hope and honestly, it felt a little exhausting to be on this journey with Storey and Jess. All of the “what ifs” kept going through my mind . What would happen today if something like this happened? Could it? I feel as if it absolutely can which made it even more difficult to read.

Heller’s writing here is a warning. A warning that a divided country cannot win. How do you feel about that? I read this alongside my 1984 (read-along) and man, it put me in a dark place. And I kid you not, as I was typing this out, I received a phone call from the UNITED STATES. Probably spam but chilling. Like, hello, your country is calling you!

Ahem, If you love Heller, you will also appreciate this book but it’s bleak. You should know that going in. Lots to consider here. Would make a good discussion book.

Source: Borrowed
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