I really enjoyed this book in the end but it's a book that gets better as it goes along. The first half is very heavy on symbolism and metaphors and sometimes felt that every sentence was trying to convey an important message. However, this improves as the story goes on. The most powerful moments were in the smaller, honest conversations between characters, which the book does masterfully.

A heartbreaking story of an unusually close mother and daughter. The story is told from both their points of view. They face some of the worst situations that anyone can face. It will touch your heart and make you grateful for what you have.

Poignant and beautifully written story about a girl coming of age in the grips of a devastating illness.
Maddy is a typical sixteen year old. Has a boyfriend, lots of friends, into Art etc... but she also has cancer and is trying to find her father whom she's never met. The dual narrative of the novel (told from Maddy and her mother Eve) is an interesting look into how each woman takes on life's difficulties and their introspective journey's.
I think this would be great for YA and seemed more geared towards a younger audience.

I enjoyed this dual narrative of Maddy - a 16 year old girl dealing with cancer, and her mother - Eve- dealing with the pain and helplessness created by her daughter.'s illness. It's a very sad story but not a  maudlin one and there is a realism too - there is tragedy, but life continues. 


Maddy's a vibrant and sympathetic character but i actually think the character of Eve is more interesting in the narrative. Her love/ anger/ confusion and self blame are beautifully explored and very moving. There is some powerful writing here.

The recurring theme of water alongside the title of the book really intrigued me.. What does it mean? At one point in the story Maddy's boyfriend Jack explains to her that all the water that will ever be in the world is already here, in some form. Does Karen Raney therefore want to say that all human life, in some form, continues? Or that all human experience can be located in one person, or our love for one person? I found the water theme running alongside the story to be so thought provoking. . I recommend this novel.

This is quite different from my usual sort of read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. A tender story about first love and family dynamics; I've already recommended it to several of my friends who I know love this sort of thing!

This was a really difficult book to get into - not sure if it was the format of the book but a few people who received it via NetGalley said similar. I wasn't able to finish it unfortunately.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me. The premise sounded incredible, but the reality seemed like an odd halfway point between traditional YA and an adult knockoff of the fault in our stars. I wanted to love it, but it was just too flat for me, and without that spark of connection it was just sad.

An emotional story about a sixteen old girl dying of cancer and how her mother deals with her last months and the coming to terms of her death.
It is written with such empathy and demonstrates how strong people can be in extraordinary circumstances.
The bravery of Maddie facing death surpasses her mother who cannot imagine life without her.
A sole searching book

What an incredibly poignant story. I found the characters to be extremely likeable and the story very easy to follow - although the subject matter was quite difficult. An emotional rollercoaster, but a beautifully written debit novel from Karen Raney - I would absolutely love to hear more from her.

Like The Fault in Our Stars, this is about a teen with cancer. Sixteen-year-old Maddy is eager to grab everything life has to offer (“My philosophy is do everything all at once. And find everything out all at once”), so we see her having her first relationship – with Jack, her co-conspirator on an animation project to be used as part of an environmental protest – and contacting the father she never met, Antonio, a Spanish neuroscientist who lives in London. Sections alternate narration between her and her mother, Eve, who works in a gallery and has always tried to provide Maddy with a balance between protection and freedom.

I loved the suburban D.C. setting (my own stomping grounds) and the e-mails that pass between Maddy and Antonio. Maddy’s voice feels bright and fresh, and given that the main story is set in 2011, the environmentalism theme seems to anticipate last year’s flowering of youth participation. However, about halfway through there’s what’s meant to be a ‘big reveal’ that fell flat for me because I’d intuited it from the beginning.

Also, the other night I started reading Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon and, retrospectively, this felt awfully similar: sick bicultural teen named Maddy raised by cautious single mother falls in love. The inclusion of Eve’s voice seems to be enough to separate this from YA, though. Raney was inspired by the experience of a friend whose teenage daughter was very ill.

All the Water in The World is about a family trying to come to terms with tragedy, and the bond between a mother and her daughter. Maddy, only sixteen, has been diagnosed with cancer. The story is told in alternating chapters between Maddy and her mother Eve, creating an interesting dynamic and drawing out the layers in their relationship. What jumps out of the pages of this book most of all is the character of Maddy. At this young age, she has to face the toughest of circumstances, and does so with such maturity, defiance and honesty. She is full of curiosity and is very emotionally intelligent - I think lots of readers will fall in love with Maddy and the way that she sees the world.

There is a sort of raw and painful truth ringing through Eve's chapters. She is consumed by what has happened to Maddy, and is forced to confront everything about and within herself to come to terms with it. While I also enjoyed Eve's chapters, it was in a completely different way to Maddy's chapters. In some ways that I suppose is the whole point, but it felt in a lot of ways like I was reading two different books. I wonder whether the mother and daughter perspectives would have complimented each other more if they had been presented from the same time frame - I found myself wanting to see events that Maddy had described through Eve's eyes too, and vice versa. Their relationship is still beautifully presented, nonetheless. We see that beautiful tension between their closeness and love for each other, and their individual, distinct existences at the same time. 

There were some interesting themes weaving their way through the book. Water appears frequently throughout and the family are drawn to it: they own a house by a lake, and love to visit Fallingwater (a house built over a waterfall by architect Frank Lloyd Wright - do a quick Google, it is very interesting!). Raney's descriptions of water are very poetic; it takes on chameleon-like qualities, sometime serene and inviting, lonely and ultimately extremely powerful and all consuming. I found the significance of climate change, and Maddy's involvement in climate action protesting very thought provoking - even when facing her own mortality in a more direct way, Maddy wants to join the fight to protect the planet. It's a poignant commentary on enacting change where we can, as there is so much that is instead completely out of our control.

This is a tender exploration of the relationship between a mother and daughter in the most difficult of circumstances. The narration switches between Eve and Maddy's perspectives and doesn't always fall in chronological order.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the music which Maddy enjoys so much and the setting of the lake.  This book also contains some of the most detailed descriptions of chemotherapy and its effects that I've read in any novel.

The story and the relationships between the characters were very moving and I enjoyed the story, although towards the end Eve's actions seemed perhaps a little out of character. I'd give this 3 out of 5 and would be interested to read future novels by Karen Raney.

I so wanted to like this book. The concept sounded like something I would really enjoy but I just couldn't connect with any of the characters they just felt very flat to me. This one was not for me unfortunately

A dual perspective tale of a girl with cancer and her mother. 
Some lovely bits but some that were a bit weird like the Pizza Express scene. 
An incident about halfway through needed more fleshing out as some of the characters felt a bit 2D.

This is a heartbreaking story but never maudling. I am usually the first to blub over a sad tale but this one managed to be also heartwarming and so the tissues were unnecessary.

The narrative is two fold, that of Maddy, a teenager with cancer, and also her mother Eve  and I think it's this juxtaposition which thankfully stops the story becoming over emotional.

A very well written , true to life book which as someone who has lost both a son and a niece, I think I am qualified to judge .

I really enjoyed this book.  The character of Maddy was great and the relationships she has with her friends and parents are believable - especially her grandparents.  I didn't quite buy in to the character of her mother as much as the others but this did not detract overall.

An absolutely lovely written book with all the ups and downs of a teenager and her mother, with the added heartache of cancer !!

Maddy is a sixteen year old girl with all the normal worries of a teenager plus the added worry of having cancer. We see how she deals with family, friends, a boyfriend, school work and her illness. She has to be one of the strongest young women I have read about and I absolutely loved her.

Eve is Maddy‘s mother who has plenty of worries of her own. We find out that Maddy’s father left Eve when she discovered she was pregnant and she raised Maddy on her own with the help of her parents and partner, Robin. As well as living her own live she is constantly trying to keep on a brave face for Maddy. 

This truly is a lovely written book with a heartbreaking storyline. The characters are great, especially Maddy and her boyfriend Jack. I also love the alternate chapters between Maddy and Eve, so we see the story from the daughter and mother’s perspective. 

Thank you to John Murray Press and NetGalley  for a digital copy of this book.

Told from the point of view of a teenager & a mum.  At first I didn't know if this should have been a YA book esp when the story was told from the point of view of Maddy but nonetheless I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it.

All the water in the world-Karen Raney 
Aww what can I say this book really got me. Maddy is a terminally ill 16 year old between her and mum Eve we are told the story of her journey battling a childhood cancer. A really bittersweet story dealing with a most sensitive subject cancer yet done with great deal of care and honesty. It really is a thought provoking book. I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea as the subject matter is close to home for many of us. I thought it was lovely book. Many thanks to both the author and net galley for the opportunity to read this book.

I was sent a copy of All the Water in the World by Karen Raney to read and review by NetGalley.
This is a poignant, heartfelt, insightful read.  Full of tender moments and harsh realities this novel is really in a class of its own.  While I wouldn’t say that it is one of my absolute favourites it is a well written exploration of family love and loss, drawing you into the most intimate heart of the family concerned and treating a difficult and heart-rending situation with compassion and understanding.  Well worth the 5 stars in my opinion.