What an absolutely beautiful story. Yes, dystopian but this book is all about the relationships and the memories. I could easily picture so many of the places that are mentioned. I fell in love with Mia and how she is portrayed by Kwan. I had a very hard time putting this book down - Kwan's storytelling and character development really pulled me in. I would look forward to any other books from Kwan as well.

Bo and Mia. An artist and a 130-year-old woman. The last two people living in San Francisco. A futuristic San Francisco, one that flooded and should be abandon. However, both women cannot find it in themselves to leave just yet. There is something still calling to both women to stay where they are. So both stay and form a deep bond. Both women are similar more then they know and it gives Bo a second look at the world around her and how to embrace life.
Susanna Kwan has outdone herself with her debut novel in bringing these two beautiful characters to life. This is a definite must read for all!

Awake In the Floating City by Susanna Kwan is a poignant story about loss, death, belonging and legacy. Kwan focuses in on a woman in the midst of a climate crisis in her hometown of LA, exploring the choices we make and how they branch out to those around us. This book tackles themes of what it means to be lonely, companionship and caring for others, and the importance of being remembered. Connection to our past and our ancestry is an important topic in this beautiful tribute to life, death and remembrance.

What didn't work for me, personally:
This book was SLOW.
Over and over, the protagonist, Bo, rehashes the same conflicts one (or several) too many times without the story actually going anywhere. I know this is intentional to a certain extent, but, for about 85 percent of the book, Bo just lets things happen to her. She hardly plays an active role in her own story, which I found to be a bit frustrating.
Hardly anything happens for almost the entire story, which isn't always a bad thing. It's a lot of reflection and self-discovery. You can tell a slow story without telling a boring one, but the repetition, paired with the random info-dumpy sections that often had no bearing on the story, just resulted in the book being not quite as interesting as the synopsis made it sound.

That said, though this book may not have been for me, I do think certain types of readers are going to love it. It's written well, and the ending was exceptionally beautiful. I found that it had a strong emotional impact on me, and I kept thinking about it long after I'd finished the book.

If you enjoy slow, contemplative, generational stories, I think this book will be for you.

Awake in the Floating City is the quietly heart wrenching tale of an unlikely friendship between a centenarian and the woman tasked to care for her, in a near-future San Francisco ravaged by constant rain. The book is presented as cli-fi, but the dramatic change in weather, and its consequences, stand more as a metaphor for changing times and isolation than an important premise of the story.

Don’t expect a fast-paced plot either. The writing is deep and contemplative, focused on description and the inner life of the narrator, a woman named Bo who used to be a painter but now works as a social worker and caregiver to pay her bills. Her friendship with Mia, the old woman she’s hired to care for, takes a whole year to develop. It gives you time to get to know them, their environment, and the people that come and go in their lives.

I really appreciated the representation of very old age via Mia’s character. In our modern Western cultures where very old people tend to be erased, or old age treated as an uncomfortable inconvenience, it felt powerful and unique to read a story centered around a hundred year old woman. Mia’s age and all the ailments that come with it were addressed with respect and profound love for the character.

A recommended read if you enjoy thoughtful, slow-paced stories that delve deep into the characters’ daily lives and emotions. The writing is gorgeous - Susanna Kwan is clearly in commend of her skill despite this book being a debut.

**Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!**

Absolutely compelling, even if it’s just background. Immaculate vibes, sweet and easy. Just really lovely.

This book is interesting in that it could happen in the near future with all of the weather related tragedies we have had lately and will likely see more of as time passes. That being said, this book is somewhat slow moving and was kind of boring. If you are in the mood for a slower paced book, this one should fit the bill. This book reminded me of The Light Pirate in some parts so if you enjoyed that one I think you would also like this novel

Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

gorgeous and well written character study that doesnt' focus too deeply on the apocalyptic setting but pulls it off well. 5 stars. tysm for thea rc.

Cool cool cool. Love bawling my eyes out at 7:45am on a random Tuesday. This was entirely way too close to my own current life and made me cry some tears I’ve been avoiding so there’s that. This story has lot of random elements that I wouldn’t expect to fit together but somehow they do to create a beautiful story that feels so real. The author has a very lyrical style so it seemed like some lines floated straight over my head but it felt okay, like those lines weren’t meant for me but for someone else. I won’t be forgetting this book anytime soon.

Would definitely recommend for fans of The Light Pirate and This Impossible Brightness. And I’ll also throw in Shark Heart for a similarly oddly beautiful structure.

I hate to rate this so low, but this just did not do anything for me. I spent about 80% of this book waiting for something, anything, interesting to happen. It's not that the writing was bad per se, I just found it so boring. I couldn't bring myself to care about what Bo was doing. I guess I thought it'd be more about living in and trying to escape the drowning city. Really this should have been a DNF for me but the fantastic reviews kept me trudging on. I wish I had more positive things to say.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

4-1/2 stars, rounded up. This book turned out to be different than I expected, but in a good way. It's still a dystopian novel, set in a future San Francisco at a time when constant rains have created massive floods, forcing residents who haven't fled the city to live on upper floors of high rise buildings, traveling from one building to the next via shaky rooftop bridges. But the primary focus of the novel is the relationships that develop among the characters.

The main character is Bo, a Chinese-American female artist, who has found her artistic vision and energy stalled since her mother disappeared in a flood some three years earlier. She supports herself by taking on caregiver positions for elderly clients in need of in-home care. Her newest patient is Mia, who finds herself alone and increasingly frail at the age of 130, and reluctantly welcomes Bo as a part-time assistant. Both Bo and Mia have been living rather isolated lives, and though they are both slow to warm up and open up to others, they gradually develop a warm relationship that benefits both of them.

Included in the narrative are vivid descriptions of the changes to the environment wrought by constant rain, as well as descriptions of a major art project on which Bo is working. I wish there were a way the author could have included some visual representations of Bo's work, which sounds both fantastical and amazing. Kwan's writing is both straightforward and lyrical, and her characters and their environs come vividly to live in her writing.

Thank you to the publisher, Pantheon, and #NetGalley for providing a complimentary eARC in exchange for an objective review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it highly. I love Kwan's final dedication: "To caregivers everywhere, tending to people, places, and planet, in generations gone, here, and to come: thank you."

4.5 stars. (i might change this to 5 stars after sitting with it for a bit.)

in the flooded san francisco of the not so far future, we meet an artist, bo, who has let her creativity fall to the wayside. bo recently lost her mother and is adrift in a lonely, hopeless world…deep in the depths of a depression that is brought on by the tremendous loss. she works as a caregiver in her high-rise apartment building that sits in the murky depths of the ocean/rain water that never recedes. the third floor is the lowest they can now visit. the rain never ceases. city dwellers have mostly abandoned the area and those who stayed behind travel from rooftop to rooftop using a highway of bridges. everything that was once on the ground has moved up - marketplace stalls with vendors, travel paths, and basic socializing (what little is left).
one day, a note appears under her door. a neighbor, one hundred and thirty year old mia, is looking for help with life tasks. after a break since her last client died, bo’s caregiving hat is put back on and she starts to build a bond with mia that will see them through her final days here on this damp, gray earth.
bo is encouraged and inspired by mia and her life and tries desperately to finish a work in mia’s honor before she dies. she wants to give mia a preview before she releases the entire project into the world. i enjoyed watching bo’s “creative block” move out and her full process move back in. even in a world where everything seems hopeless, the artists will still find a way to create.
there is a section of this book where mia and bo are open and vulnerable with each other in a way they hadn’t been before. their relationship shifts from caretaker and client to a much more intimate, familial one. “i’m glad you answered my note.” “me, too.” when i read those lines, the lump in my throat expanded and caught my breath.
this fabulous work by susanna kwan reminds readers that kindness and care in the smallest of microcosms can have a tremendous impact on our immediate worlds and the greater environment. we may not be able to fix everything around us but honoring and tending to those we coexist with can repair our hearts…and theirs.

thank you to knopf, pantheon, vintage for providing this book for review consideration via netgalley. all opinions are my own.

The premise of this book was so interesting and had so much potential. I loved the setting and how realistic the author was able to portray it. I wasn’t able to really connect with any of the characters though which made the book drag out for me

As a San Franciscan girly who worked in healthcare working with adults with dementia and Alzheimer’s. THIS BOOK HURT ME in the best way possible. I felt all the emotions reading this book. Telling everyone to read this book in 2025.

The non-stop rain is a whole mood, but as much as the rain is part of the story, it isn't. The rain is just there. The real story is with Bo and Mia. Their relationship, the act of connection, allows them both to open up and share after years of being isolated, whether by choice or circumstances. The pacing is slow, but that really allows the reader to sit with both women and be immersed in the story.

Okay, this book was actually so cool
it seems like such an underdog book
like it seems very unsuspecting but it is actually so deep.
I honestly originally requested this because of the cover...
and then the premise did sound very cool with a dystopian city that doesn't stop raining
I really liked the characters, I just think that at points, the pacing was very slow, and I don't know how memorable this will be for me.
overall really enjoyable though.

This probably would have been a good short story.

This is the most boring novel. It wanders hither and thither, in no hurry to get to a point, any point. Bo’s reasons for staying in the flooded city make no sense when she can barely find food to eat, and the option to move north with her family is right there for her. I became very angry with her for not leaving, especially the second time. Her poor cousin bent over backwards to help her, and she basically spit in his face each time.

I kept confusing "Bo" and "Mia" for some reason. This is set in the near future, and Mia spent a lot of time reminiscing about the way things used to be, and I wished she was actually from my generation so that I could recognize the world she described, but it didn't seem that way.

Because of the amount of detail given to Bo's art, I suspect that artwork was the actual impetus for writing this novel. Sadly, it was the least interesting part of the story. It's a neat idea, and if I saw an art installation like that I might be spellbound, but it's not very interesting to read about. At some point I just started skimming pages when it was describing Bo's art. I feel bad about that, because I can tell a lot of heart went into it, but it just didn't connect with me.

I couldn't help comparing this book to Private Rites, which I just finished (I didn’t like that book much either, but it was better than this one). Both are books set in the near future, with endless rain, in flooded cities. Is endless rain really scientifically possible?

My thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the gift of this free e-book for my review. I'm sorry I don't have a better review to write.

This book is one of those stories that creeps up on you and stays in your heart long after you’ve closed the book. It’s set in a future San Francisco that’s been swallowed by endless rain and rising waters. The streets are gone, the ground doesn’t exist anymore—people live on rooftops, connected by rickety bridges, surviving in this strange, drenched world.

At its core, though, this isn’t really a story about climate change or dystopia. It’s about two women: Bo, a lost artist drowning in her grief, and Mia, a fiercely independent 130-year-old who needs someone to help her in her final days. When Bo takes a job as Mia’s caregiver, at the beginning of their relationship it starts out pretty awkward and tense, but over time of Mia’s employment, they find something deeply meaningful in each other. As Mia begins to share her life story, Bo starts to find herself again.

This isn’t a fast-paced book—it’s quiet and slow, like a rainy day. But that feels intentional, almost like the story is
asking you to sit with it, to feel the weight of loss, regret, and hope. And when the moments of connection hit—when Bo and Mia’s relationship deepens—they hit hard.

The writing is simple but beautiful, and the world Kwan creates is hauntingly real. It’s not just a story about survival, but about art, memory, and how even in a sinking world, people can still find a way to hold each other up. It’s not a flashy novel, but it’s one that lingers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor.

This book delves into human nature of what happens when a person gets old. And how a relationship can develop between the client and the caregiver, in this case an elderly woman and a young woman. The young woman gives up her personal life until the elderly woman passes away. You see how much affection can truly develop between caregiver and client. And this happens almost right away. If you want a touching, emotional book, this is the one for you. I give this book 3 stars.

*Awake in the Floating City* by Susanna Kwan is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel that blends elements of fantasy, dystopia, and rich world-building. Set in a floating city where social and political hierarchies shape the lives of its inhabitants, the story follows a young protagonist navigating this complex and often oppressive world. Kwan’s writing is immersive and lyrical, drawing readers into a vividly crafted setting that feels both alien and familiar. The novel delves into themes of identity, power, and the desire for freedom, with the characters’ personal growth and struggles offering emotional depth. The plot is engaging, full of twists and turns, keeping the reader invested in the journey. With its beautifully realized setting, strong character development, and exploration of deep, timely themes, *Awake in the Floating City* is a captivating read that will resonate with fans of speculative fiction and dystopian narratives. Highly recommended for those seeking a rich, immersive story.

Gorgeous debut novel that blends together the dying of a city (future San Francisco, slowly sinking under water and climate change a la Venice) and the dying of an individual woman via her artist caretaker. The caretaker uses the woman's life to make an amazing futuristic art exhibit and memorial, as well as sits hard with the act of dying and the aftermath of it as well. Wistful and definitely a book I recommend picking up next spring.