ALL THE WATER IN THE WORLD

Narrator Eunice Wong's voice fills with urgency as a tiny group of survivors struggles to escape a drowned Manhattan. Nonie, 13, tells the story from some years in the future, but Wong does not let this reassure listeners one whit as Nonie, her sister, their father, and Keller, an adult friend, fight their way through what Nonie calls "the world as it is." While Wong adopts a tone of vulnerability for Nonie's dialogue, she deepens her voice for the adults, occasionally injecting a tone of forced reassurance that fools neither Nonie nor listeners. She missteps with the adoption of a differentiated yet unconvincing accent for Keller, a Black man from outside of Chicago. Listeners who muscle past that will experience a world that suggests the spirit of author Octavia Butler. V.S. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2025]