All the World Can Hold

by Jung Yun

Three passengers from different backgrounds board a cruise ship shortly after 9/11 and discover they can’t outrun their regrets about risks not taken.

It’s Sunday, September 16, 2001. Franny and her husband have traded in their elegant Park Avenue co-op for a suite on board the Sonata, a once-glittering cruise ship with a complicated history now long past its prime. Although they’re not “cruise people,” Franny is determined to host the trip as planned because it’s her mother’s seventieth birthday, or chilsun, a major rite of passage celebrated by Korean families. But as her husband keeps pointing out, Franny and her mother aren’t close, and it’s surreal, even wrong, to be on a cruise as the death toll from the attacks on 9/11 continues to rise.

Also on board is Doug, an ageing actor and former star of Starlight Voyages, the hit Love Boat–style television series famously filmed on the Sonata.

Meanwhile, Lucy, the only Black female graduate student in her department at MIT, has uncharacteristically accepted an invitation to join her roommate on the cruise at a time when tech companies are trying to hire her.

All the World Can Hold explores how we balance our needs, our wants, and regrets. While the great world spins, interpersonal dramas don’t cease, even as more dire ones play out in the larger world.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Summer, Ebooks

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2026

About the author

Jung Yun was born in South Korea, raised in North Dakota, and has lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and most recently, Baltimore, Maryland, where she currently resides. Her short fiction has appeared in Tin House, The Best of Tin House: Stories, The Indiana Review, and The Massachusetts Review.

Her latest novel is All the World Can Hold, which will be published by 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster in March 2026. Her other novels are O Beautiful, a The New York Times and Amazon Editor’s Choice, and Shelter, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, an Amazon Best Book of the Month selection in two categories (Literature/Fiction and Mysteries/Thrillers/Suspense), an Indie Next selection, an Apple iBooks' Best Books of the Month selection, and a Goodreads Best Books of the Month selection. It was also long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, a semi-finalist for Good Reads' Best Fiction Book of 2016, and a finalist for the 2016 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program.

Reviews

[Liana Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 4.25 ⭐️ Shortly after 9/11, three wildly different passengers board a cruise ship heading to Bermuda. Each passenger was preoccupied with their own interpersonal drama while simultaneously processing the events and the aftermath of 9/11. While this is not a 9/11 novel it had all the undertones of 9/11 just like I remember—the horrors, the smoke, the fear and the screams of that unforgettable day. I appreciated the gentle writing, the dedication and time that the author took to underline grief and remembrance. The book promised to explore the topic of balancing our needs and wants and I want to praise Jung Yun on her delicate approach on regrets and chances and what they mean to us when something larger is going on in the world.

Franny and her husband board the Sonata to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday. While they are not “cruise people”, Franny tries really hard to please her mother and honor her through Korean traditions. As we learn about their strained mother-daughter relationship, we learn that Franny’s marriage is not as strong as it may appear from the outside. Franny carries a sense of emptiness and longing that keeps putting her at odds with her closest family members. It doesn’t help when her husband keeps pointing out to her how wrong it was for them to take a cruise so shortly after 9/11. This triggers Franny even more, allowing for more secrets and “things left unsaid” to come to the surface.

Doug is our second passenger who brings his nephew along with him so he can keep tabs on him and his addiction. He is an aging actor and a former star of a hit show that was filmed on the Sonata in the 70s. He is a heavy drinker with uncontrolled anxiety and a secret that’s so heavy, it weighted him down all his life preventing him from making amends and moving forward. He carries the grief of “the lost years” and keeps reflecting on unresolved acts of the past for which he blames himself deeply.

Meanwhile, Lucy is our young Black American female computer scientist with a doctorate from MIT looking for a job. Her desire to be a different person than who she is allowing herself to become is loud and clear. The cruise is a disaster for her- lost luggage, sunburn and seasickness and a roommate who keeps prodding and poking about her love life. She’s lonely and overwhelmed from grappling with never ending expectations of her parents. She has a hard time connecting with anyone because she prefers to keep everything and everyone at a distance. Her struggles are evident with how she thinks and speaks to others.

Even though the characters don’t intertwine or interact with each others, their stories are loosely entangled in the web of 9/11 madness. Each affected in their own way, their regrets and guilts are evident as they reflect on the events of 9/11 and the mourning that is followed. I was only a teen when I saw black smoke and panic in everyone’s eyes, especially my grandmothers who was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge when she saw the first plane hit the tower. My homeroom teacher lost her brother that day. I will never forget the emptiness and sadness that I saw in her eyes for many years afterwards. The day, its horror and fear will always stay with me. Yun boldly highlights these emotions and memorably explores how a big story changes something in the lives of small people.

I also want to point out that as an avid cruiser, this book was a breathtaking piece of accurate observations and details. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the story because when people ask me why is it that I love to cruise so much, my response is always the same “because you can see all that the world can hold”.


Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and the author, Jung Yun for an early ARC.

Publication date: March 10, 2026

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published March 10, 2026.

4 stars

It is September 16, 2001, and a cruise to Bermuda (hey, I’m on a cruise as I type this, but not to Bermuda) that was supposed to leave from NYC is headed out from Boston instead. Onboard are: Franny, a daughter who is determined to properly host her mother’s chitsan, her seventieth birthday, a milestone in Korean families. She and her husband are fronting the celebration for her down at the heels brother and his girlfriend. Franny isn’t close to her mother and everything seems to go wrong.

Doug is an older, has-been actor, whose last major role was on a nighttime soap set on the very boating which they are sailing (think “Love Boat”/Pacific Princess, and how amazing/sad is it that the name of that ship is still etched in my mind after all of these years? Charo would be proud!) The eternal bachelor Doug has brought his nephew, Ethan as his plus one as he performs (constantly. He really needs to have his agent review his contracts more carefully) on a reunion/nostalgia tour for the series alongside two of his former costars.

Lucy is the only black, female graduate in her major at MIT, and she’s as solid as they come, so it’s a shock to all when she takes off on a cruise with her roommate whom she does not know well. It’s interview season and she’s nervous about all these tech companies that are hiring, especially one her mentor is excited about that has a funny name.

The book is interesting. Its blurb says it isn’t a 9/11 book but I beg to differ, and I think it was well done. The three primary characters and the main supporting ones are presented very well and the drama is all solid and quite believable. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Recommended.

[Tini · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the world can hold, and all we carry within it.

On September 16, 2001, three very different passengers board a cruise originally scheduled to depart from New York City but - after the attacks on the World Trade Center five days earlier - now leaving from Boston. Each has their own reasons for embarking on this unlikely voyage at such a fraught moment in time, with the country still reeling from unimaginable tragedy. What unites them is not only a shared wariness of the cruise experience, but also the regrets they carry aboard, each of their lives on the cusp of change as they search for meaning in the face of grief and uncertainty.

In All the World Can Hold, Jung Yun crafts a quiet, deeply reflective novel about the ways our private struggles continue even as history unfolds around us, about the quiet weight of regret in a world forever changed. Both the setting - a ship once featured in a television series reminiscent of The Love Boat - and the timing of the voyage on September 16, 2001, are autobiographical, according to the author's note. Yun's personal connection to the premise shines through in this tender exploration of collective grief, personal guilt, and the regrets we try, often unsuccessfully, to outrun.

This is not strictly a 9/11 novel, but the events form an essential backdrop, especially for one passenger who witnessed the fall of the first tower. The historical details are handled with remarkable care and restraint, grounding the story without overwhelming it. Instead, Yun focuses on the interior lives of her three protagonists.

Both the plotting and the lyrical prose are exceptional, and the characters are drawn with remarkable compassion and honesty - from Doug, the washed-up former TV star haunted by his past, to Franny, the painfully people-pleasing eldest daughter hosting a fraught family celebration, to Lucy, the graduate student trying to find her place in a rapidly changing world. At times, each seems to carry the weight of the entire world on their shoulders, yet Yun never judges them. Instead, she portrays them as deeply human, each carrying the quiet proof that some regrets follow us wherever we go.

The fact that these three characters never even exchange a word - each storyline unfolding in separate chapters - quietly underscores how much people carry within themselves, often unseen by those around them.

Thought-provoking and beautifully written, unflinching yet not without hope, All the World Can Hold is a tender reckoning with the end of the age of innocence.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster | 37 Ink for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"All the World Can Hold" publishes today, March 10, 2026, and is available now.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few days after the 9/11 terrorist attack, a cruise ship sets sail for Bermuda. It’s one of those celebrity cruises, where the passengers get to rub shoulders with a bunch of has-beens. Everyone feels a little conflicted about whether they should be engaged in such frivolity, following the tragic event. The book follows three passengers: Franny, who has booked the trip for her Korean-American family to celebrate the 70th birthday of her mother; Doug, an aging actor and notorious lothario, who was one of the stars of an old TV series set on the same cruise ship; and Lucy, a Black computer science graduate student at MIT, who has impulsively accepted an invitation from her roommate to join the cruise.

I almost gave up on this book at the beginning because it wasn’t holding my interest and seemed very slow. However, I am glad that I stuck with it because the story picked up when it switched from Franny to Doug. Ultimately, I liked the way that each of the characters had to face up to the manner in which their adherence to expectations, whether imposed upon them by others or by themselves, had stifled their lives. Each of the characters was changed by the cruise. The book was well written and I would read this author again.

[*ೃnaziba ˘͈ᵕ˘͈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting ensemble style novel that surrounds our three main characters, Franny, Doug, and Lucy, each boarding a cruise ship immediately after the fallout of 9/11 for reasons that are as personal as they are complicated. Although they all come from vastly different walks of life, what binds them is the ache of regret, and the search for meaning in a life that has only become more unstable than it was before.

What struck me most is how Jung Yun resists the temptation to weave their stories into a neat intersection. Instead, the characters remain parallel lines –close enough for us to notice echoes and resonances, but never touching. This choice makes the novel feel like the literary embodiment of sonder: the realization that every person around us carries a life as vivid and intricate as our own, even if we never truly cross paths.

I really liked the cast of characters-
- Franny⌚️A Korean American woman who has organized the cruise to honor her mother’s milestone birthday, though the gesture is complicated by their strained relationship. She embodies the push and pull between duty and ambivalence, while simultaneously juggling a strained relationship with her husband, Tom.
- Doug 🎭 Once a well known actor in the 1970s, Doug now finds himself washed-up, invited back to the cruise ship where his fame took off. The adrenaline-fueled lifestyle that once defined him has given way to solitude and a desire to retreat from public view. His story carries regret and resilience, exposing the cost of reinvention and loneliness of living behind a mask.
- Lucy🩱A young Black woman whose intellect sets her apart, ends up on the cruise almost by accident, thanks to her obnoxious roommate’s spare ticket. She navigates questions of identity, belonging, and the uneasy privilege of being both underestimated and exceptional.

All the World Can Hold reminded me a lot of David Auburn’s Fifth Planet and Other Plays. (And not because I am part of the production right now) Like Auburn’s characters, Yun’s figures live in the liminal space between intimacy and distance, orbiting without ever colliding. Where Auburn sketches fleeting encounters and small scenes, Yun expands them into layered portraits, giving us the chance to dwell in their contradictions and longings. The result is a novel that feels theatrical in its attention to character and rooted in the historical moment after 9/11. This would play out wonderfully as a film.

I enjoyed this story, thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this! It will be out on March 10th, 2026!

[Rincey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think that this will be a 5 star experience for everyone but I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the way she explored the aftermath of 9/11 just so perfect (and I just learned from another review that this is partially based on her own experience of going on a cruise after 9/11 so I can see how that informed a lot of the book).

I think that if you are someone who enjoys character-driven books then this is one worth picking up

Watch my full review here: https://youtu.be/ZQjKvim-4fM

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars for All the World Can Hold

The story opens five days after 9/11. The world is still reeling, bodies are missing in the rubble, the news is dominated by Osama Bin Laden, there is talk of war, and industries are collapsing, especially travel.

Three unrelated characters are about to set sail from Boston to Bermuda on the Sonata, a cruise ship originally scheduled to depart from New York but rerouted for obvious reasons. Marketed as White Lotus meets Let the Great World Spin, I was expecting a high stakes, character driven drama.

We meet:
Franny – A married Korean woman traveling with her husband, brother, his girlfriend, and her mother to celebrate her mother’s chilsun which is a milestone 70th birthday in Korean culture. Family secrets and regrets surface along the way.
Lucy – A young Black woman, brilliant and ambitious, interviewing with a pre IPO Google. She is accompanied by her obnoxious roommate who offers her to travel on the cruise for free.
Doug – A former 1970s TV star who once lived on the ship during his Love Boat type show. He is reluctantly on board for a reunion event with fellow cast members, signing autographs and making appearances he would rather avoid.

While the setup promised White Lotus style tension, I struggled to connect with the characters. Doug was the most engaging for me, probably because I remember the Love Boat era. The plotlines often felt flat and Lucy’s 15 page struggle with the ship’s fifteen dollar a minute phone was excessive. The three storylines never truly intertwined.

The writing itself is not bad and I stayed with it because it is very much a character driven novel. However, there was no real connection between the narratives and the ending felt lackluster. It left me wanting more punch.

Nothing terrible, but nothing that stands out either.
Thank you Simon Books for my ARC!

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a prologue Jung Yun calls this her most personal book of all particularly since she and her family took a cruise on the Pacific Princess, best known to television viewers in the 70's as The Love Boat, during the week following the 9/11 attacks. This novel, fictionalized account of such a voyage, has three central characters each, as Yun has explained, representing a different part of her. Immersive and haunting, the one flaw is that after an emotional investment in all three characters, there are questions as to what happens to them although there is a brief bringing up to date of how the world changed after that horrific event, underlying the fact that the passengers on the cruise disembarked in a cloud of innocence unaware of what was to come.

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you 37 Ink and Simon Books for the #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review! #SimonBooksBuddy #ARC

It’s Sunday, September 16, 2001. Less than a week ago, the U.S. experienced devastating terrorist attacks that shook up the sense of normalcy, of safety. The Sonata, an aging cruise ship, departs from Boston trying to maintain some sense of normalcy when the world feels like it’s in chaos. On board are three individuals: (1) Franny, celebrating her Korean mother’s 70th birthday, a major rite of passage known as a chilsun; (2) Doug, a former actor who makes a living clinging to characters from the past and who lives now clinging to secrets from his past; and (3) Lucy, the only Black female grad student at MIT who has an interview at this little startup called Google. Their lives on the ship are a microcosm of how the chaos of everyday life still plays out even when there is greater chaos in the world.

It seems so wild that a book on 9/11 is considered historical fiction, but Jung Yun strikes such a beautiful balance in capturing the devastation of that day and its aftermath with the smaller interpersonal dramas. The intersectionality of age, race, ethnicity, orientation, and gender are all at the center of these interpersonal dramas, and although the storylines are not interconnected, there’s so much overlap in the misunderstandings of everyday life. It’s a slow pace despite being a relatively quick cruise, but I think that perfectly encapsulates how it feels when the world keeps spinning despite unimaginable tragedy.

Read this book if you like:
🕰️ historical fiction
✨ beautifully written prose
🌧️ melancholy and cathartic fiction

Follow me on Instagram for more book reviews!

[Mai H.]

ANHPI TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and 37 Ink

[V ᛑᛗᛛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. The writing is good and I liked the setup: three different people on a cruise right after 9/11, dealing with their own problems. Their background is unique. Franny with the Korean chilsun tradition for her mom, Doug the aging actor dealing with his past, and Lucy the young Black female grad student questioning her path. Cool concept. But honestly, I only really connected with one of the POVs. The others were fine but I sometimes found myself skimming to get back to the one I actually cared about.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I really read this book in three days? I can't remember the last time I read a book so quickly.

I've enjoyed all of Jung's books immensely, but this may be my favorite. The pacing and compelling storylines of the wonderful cast of characters made it impossible to put down. It's a novel that's both entertaining, and deeply felt as an exploration of trauma in its many forms.

Well done, Jung!

[Kenzie | kenzienoelle.reads]

DNFing at 115 pages. The premise of this book was intriguing but ultimately, I found it extremely boring. I’m not opposed to a completely plotless character driven book, but the characters have to at least be interesting. All these characters are somewhat miserable and not an “ interesting I wonder what will happen to them” type of miserable. A story that felt like it was going absolutely nowhere.

Thank you so much Simon & Schuster for the gifted ARC!!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m done:

DNF: I bought and started to read this! I read 1/3 and I feel like it’s just ok. The writing is good. The characters are fair. I’m just like eh…. I didn’t pick it up for four days -that’s a sign! It’s not grabbing me for whatever reason. Maybe because the three characters have no connection and I don’t see the point. Good idea though.


First initial assessment:

Yes: A book I borrowed from the library to try before I buy (tired buying hundreds books and hating half)

I read first ch or more -first 10-100 pages skim around at times. I read many of my GR friend’s reviews. This is what I did and didn’t like:

Love the cover.

I’m loving everything this author has written. I love the
Way she writes and creates ch even if they are not likable. I love this plot!! Yes Amazon $23.07.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Saturday after 9/11, 3 parties embark on a long-planned cruise. Each of the stories are separate told in alternating chapters. Each story demonstrates personal conflict that isn't necessarily resolved by the ending, but that did not spoil the book. I could not read this fast enough. I was hooked. Can't wait to see Jung at Booktopia in May.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

All the World Can Hold stood out for its elegant, understated prose and the way Jung Yun crafted such nuanced, fully realized characters. I appreciated how the 9/11 backdrop was handled with sensitivity, keeping the focus on the personal rather than the sensational. The cruise ship setting worked beautifully as both a literal and symbolic space for exploring regret, resilience, and second chances. On top of that, I really connected with the themes in this story—how it explored regret, resilience, and the possibility of second chances against the backdrop of personal and collective change. That said, the pacing felt slow at times, and the low-stakes plot didn’t always hold my attention. The shifting perspectives occasionally disrupted the flow, and I found myself wishing for a stronger emotional payoff by the end.

Thank you Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for my review.

[Brandon Copley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was only 18 and just starting my first semester in college when 9/11 hit, plummeting our country and the world into a new reality and a new normal. I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I saw the towers fall.

This book takes place on a cruise ship, less than a week post 9/11, with the story jumping between three different characters. All three are still living in a sort of fugue state, not only because of the after effects of this terrible tragedy but because of the unresolved state of their lives.

There are a lot of themes to grapple with in the book- guilt, forgiveness, betrayal- but the one I came away feeling the strongest was hope. That combined with the insightful and articulate storytelling by Mrs. Yun made this a very thought provoking and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and 37Ink for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Jo-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set on a cruise ship 5 days after 9/11, it brings back all those feelings of that time.

[Dede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster | 37 Ink for an early copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. I did enjoy this book, but it just brought back memories of 9/11. It was a good read and I would definitely recommend this book. I thought it was well written. I enjoyed following the characters dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 while on the cruise.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sunday after 9/11, three different passengers with three different agendas board a cruise ship bound for Bermuda. Franny is committed to honor her mother's 70th birthday, a milestone in Korean culture. Doug, a cast member from a 'Love Boat' style television show, is there as a reluctant participant in a reunion cruise for fans of the show. And Lucy, the only black graduate student in her program at MIT, is there on an impulse, invited by her roommate, and grappling with her ambivalence about her future. In the background, the world has changed, and each character confronts secrets and challenges, Jung Yun weaves a compelling story. Loved it.

[Of Paper & Planes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to “All the World Can Hold” because of its fresh take on the 9/11 attacks and its themes of memory, connection, and trauma processing. It promised depth and reflection, which I was excited to explore. The concept is simple. Three individuals with heavy emotional baggage—Franny, Doug, and Lucy—head out on a cruise less than a week after September 11, 2001. The prose was straightforward and lovely; Yun writes with clarity and polish. The setting was vibrant and authentic. The 9/11 attacks were handled with grace and empathy. Additionally, the themes were strong and the overall premise was ambitious and intriguing. However, I struggled with this book.

I love a good “no plot, just vibes” book. Give me all the character-driven narratives. But, the pacing of this felt stagnant, with little drive to keep me turning pages. More importantly, a character-driven story requires the characters to be likable, interesting, and/or deeply relatable. I found the three narrators to be unlikable, but not so unlikable as to be interesting. And ultimately, I couldn’t relate to any of them. They were three miserable people with no real desire to take steps to become less miserable. This made them unsympathetic; I struggled to care about their journeys. Also, as the three narrators never really cross paths, it made their tales feel very disjointed, interrupting the momentum each time the voice changed. Finally, the ending was highly unsatisfying, leaving each of the three character’s stories unresolved and undercutting the impact of the narrative as a whole. Since the focus of the book wasn’t on 9/11, it felt forced to end with such a heavy-handed diatribe on the consequences of the attacks, instead of resolving the character’s emotional journeys.

Overall, “All the World Can Hold” is a book with good ideas and strong potential, but the execution didn’t land. Sharper character development and tighter pacing would have made this a much more enjoyable read. I actually think the premise would have worked much better as a collection of short stories with even more characters’ perspectives. It would be interesting to get inside the captain’s head as he grapples with 9/11, to see Franny through her mother’s eyes or her husband’s, to learn more about Doug’s co-worker, Renee, or Dario, the Italian painter, or Siobhan from Guest Services. Ultimately, this wasn’t the book for me. While I appreciated its ambition and occasional glimmers of beauty, the lack of compelling characters and momentum made it a difficult read.

Thank you to 37 Ink via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five days after the catastrophic 9/11 attacks in New York City, the Sonata cruise ship is re-routed to deport from Boston and the passengers make their way onboard for the five day cruise to Bermuda. On board are three passengers, whose perspectives are rotated through over the course of the novel: Franny, a Korean-American lawyer in NYC who's planned a family cruise for her mother's chilsun (70th birthday) for the last several months; Doug, a washed-up actor who's been roped into the reunion cruise for the dated Starlight Voyages show he previously starred in; and Lucy, a black graduate student at MIT who joined the cruise last minute thanks to the (free) invitation her roommate offered to her.

In the days that follow, we come to learn more about each of these characters and their individual struggles. For Franny, she's borne the weight of the family's eldest child, juggling a stressful career in law, being a wife, and trying to please her mother, who seems to favor her unemployed, financially irresponsible younger brother Jae in spite of her efforts. Doug has joined the cruise with his nephew, and despite what he anticipated to be a relaxing trip, has been roped into nonstop events and reunions with former colleagues, which bring up past memories and truths he's long overlooked. And for Lucy, she's on the cusp of a number of tech interviews that will decide her future, but struggling to come to terms with her true passions and the countless microaggressions she continues to experience as a black woman in academia.

"All the World Can Hold" is very much a character-driven novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed the steady reveal for each of these characters, and how much I came to empathize with each of them - especially Franny, as someone who grew up with a similar upbringing and expectations. Yun also layers in the the looming events of 9/11, and the devastation and chaos that the ensuing days had across the world, including this group of passengers on a seemingly disconnected world. TIn the span of five days, we see how these characters come together and how the time they spend changes their lives and relationships going forward.

Very much a recommended read when this novel is published in March 2026!

[Rosey Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

All The World Can Hold by Jung Yun follows three individuals as they embark on a cruise shortly after the 9/11 attacks on NYC. Franny, Lucy and Doug are on the ship for different reasons and are each grappling with their own issues.

Franny takes the cruise with her husband, Brother, his girlfriend and her mother who is turning 70. Franny wants to give her Mom the perfect birthday but soon realizes on this cruise just how distant and different her and her family are and also how far her marriage has crumbled.

Lucy is a Black woman in tech who doesn’t feel like she belongs and is invited on this cruise by her roommate. Lucy is interviewing for a new company, called Google, and has some ambivalence towards many things in her life, including her career choice.

Doug is a has-been actor who used to be a star on a show that filmed on the Cruise Ship. Being on the cruise has brought up old memories and secrets that he doesn’t want to deal with.

I was emotionally invested in EVERY character and their storylines and I also enjoyed how the author showed that even though they were technically on “vacation” their problems and troubles didn’t take a vacation and traveled right with them.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the way that all three narrators embodied their characters. This was a 5 star read for me!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up! This book was an emotional journey for me. Although 9/11 happened over 20 years ago—this year marks 25 years! Wow!—it brought me right back to that day. All those feelings of uncertainty, grief, and the realization that the world kept moving struck me deeply. The story focuses on three people who set sail on a cruise just days after 9/11, each with their own story and life amid the backdrop of this tragic event.

Franny, a lawyer who takes her family on a cruise to celebrate her mother’s seventieth birthday amid their strained relationship and her uncertain marriage.

Doug, an aging actor who reluctantly joins former castmates on the cruise for a reunion of the Love Boat-style show he used to star in. He’s now sober and still haunted by his past behavior.

Lucy, the only Black female graduate student in her department at MIT, joins her roommate on the cruise when she should be prepping for an interview with the funny-named new tech company, Google.

The author’s writing is exceptional, and I was completely drawn into the lives of these three characters. Each character, so distinct from the others, has their own problems, and this cruise forces them to face these underlying issues directly; their stories are complex and messy.

This is ultimately a story about how ordinary lives persist despite devastating events. It’s a reflective narrative on human connection in the face of a world-changing tragedy.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely!

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This character-driven novel follows 3 different people who board a cruise to Bermuda right after 9/11. The first, Franny, has brought her family to celebrate her mother's 70th birthday, complete with a traditional Korean chilsun. Next is Doug, the washed up former star of the TV show that filmed on this very ship, who's on board for a reunion of the show's cast. Finally, Lucy is a grad student who has been invited on the cruise by her roommate at the last minute.

As a millennial of a certain age, 9/11 is one of those generation-defining events that will always grab me. For this reason, I was intrigued to pick this up and see how the tragedy served as a backdrop for a story that takes place on a cruise ship. While it seems like an odd pairing, the idea stemmed from the author's own family trip on the ship featured on The Love Boat right after 9/11.

Each of the characters followed in the story were complex and had their own issues, including complicated family and friendship dynamics, addiction, and marriage troubles. Despite the development, I found all of the characters so unlikable. The pacing of the story felt slow, and it took me awhile to get through because I didn't really care what happened to the characters. There were a few touching moments where the characters had breakthroughs with one another, but overall this missed the mark for me and the ending felt abrupt.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Lisa Eckstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

September 16, 2001, is a strange time to board a cruise ship, but with travel plans made long in advance, the passengers in this novel embark on a trip to Bermuda. The story follows three characters who all start out feeling conflicted about trying to enjoy themselves during such a terrible time, and who all have personal dramas that keep them from enjoying themselves anyway. Franny is determined to follow through on celebrating her mother's seventieth birthday, with all the traditional trappings of a Korean chilsun, whether or not the rest of the family agrees. Doug, once an actor in a show filmed on this very ship, is appearing as a celebrity because he needs the money, but he has no desire to be back at the site of his drunken past. Lucy was invited on the cruise as a last-minute replacement, but she's afraid she made a mistake in accepting for so many reasons, including that she's supposed to be interviewing for jobs this week. As the cruise's regular schedule of festivities proceeds, the characters grapple with their own concerns, aware of how cut off they are from news of much larger misfortunes.

I was intrigued by the setup of this novel (inspired by the author's real experience) though unsure what to expect. But it didn't take me long to get invested in all three characters and their problems. There's complexity and surprise to how the storylines develop. At times, the story could have been about any cruise, but that felt realistic to the circumstances. Whenever the context of 9/11 returned to the forefront, I found it thoughtfully handled. I liked the writing and the character portrayals, and I may check out Yun's previous novels.

[leslie collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel focuses on three travelers set on a cruise to Bermuda immediately after the events of 9/11. All the characters are dealing with their own guilt, struggles and relationships. Lucy is trying to land her dream job while on the ship and may wonder why she even went on the cruise. Doug joins a reunion cruise that used to be filmed on the ship. Franny is trying to please her mother by going on a 70th birthday cruise.

Each character is in emotional turmoil which the cruise seems to enhance. The story shows that vacations only postpone dealing with feelings and the past. It does not fix those things in one's life. The stories stay separate and one feels depressed reading their stories. One must imagine that escaping reality for a few days to return to the aftermath of 9/11 is a reminder to us all that we were affected by this event. The book shows that some of us were already in partial crisis before the planes hit.

While the reader may not get all the answers we seek it is thought provoking to step into another's shoes for a brief time.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this novel.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the World Can Hold (thank you #gifted @simonbooks @37inkbooks ) tells the story of three very different passengers on cruise in the week following 9/11 with aching tenderness.

All three passengers are unhappy in some way, yearning for something more. Franny is a Korean woman, on the cruise with her family to celebrate her (reluctant) mother's 70th birthday. Doug, a recovering alcoholic and aging actor, agrees to the reunion tour on the cruise despite his reservations because he needs the money. And Lucy, a young Black woman, is searching for a high powered job in tech even as she misses her days of painting.

Yun captures the surreal feeling of being on a cruise after such a tragedy in elegant prose, the contrast between the vacation that encourages everyone to forget their worries and the horror in the real world.

So many themes: the sacrifices we make out of a misplaced sense of obligation, the barriers we create between ourselves and others, the powerful impact of an unexpected kindness.

A thought-provoking read about the search for hope and connection.

[Katie Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting novel. I really enjoyed some parts but others kind of bugged me.

This novel takes place just after 9/11 and although it’s not a book about 9/11 it does come into play with how different people reacted and dealt with it. I thought the author did a great job of showing how different people coped with this extreme tragedy right after it happened while also showing how life still went on in other parts of the country.

Unfortunately for most of the novel I found the three main characters all pretty unlikeable. While I love a complicated character I found at times they kind of drove me nuts.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this book…I did. And I will say the growth/self-actualization was nice to see at times some of the characters felt almost too stereotypical. I have conflicting feelings but I still recommend checking this book out.

3.5/5 rounded down to 3 for this review.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of All the World Can Hold from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Set in the post-9/11 era,All the World Can Hold follows three diverse sets of passengers who proceed with their travel plans. While the focus of the book is not 9/11, there is some discussion of the appropriateness of travel during this time. Mostly, though, the author focuses on the characters as she shares their stories. Told in alternating narratives, it took some time for me to connect with the book. The characters never interact, and it felt as if I was reading three different character studies. I've never been on a cruise, but how the author laid out the story in this observational manner made me feel as if I was there, watching these people. Kind of an interesting perspective!