I got half way through and just didn’t want to continue. I think Bo’s apathy and indecision got to me. It became too slow and it was pretty slow to begin with. This is well written and arty, the author has talent. I just like more story and less reflection to keep me interested. The two stars are for the writing but I’m afraid I just didn’t care about the characters or what was (or rather wasn’t) happening.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman lives in Calufirnia as it's sinking under water. She acts as a caretaker to an elderly woman while she works on her art.

This is a very original novel that combines the, hopefully, far-reaching effects of climate change along with personal loss, grief, and situational depression. The protagonist is "stuck" in her grief for her mother, and she is also having great difficulty deciding upon her next steps in dealing with her circumstances. She is living in a high rise in a flooded and literally floating San Francisco where everyone must walk roof to roof to get out of their apartments. It is very surreal and yet relatable in many ways. I thought the author's use of temporary relationships as they relate to long-term relationships was intriguing, and it is very satisfying to follow her on her journey to resolving her lack of internal direction and her unresolved grief. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys dystopian plots that with also rely heavily on relationships and personal struggles. Many thanks to Penguin Random House for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Bo is a blocked artist living in a drowned San Francisco in an unnamed time in the near future. She is one of few residents left and even though her remaining family begs her to leave, she just cannot seem to do so. She soon takes a job as a caretaker for a "super senior" living in her building and forms an unlikely bond with the woman. This is a beautifully written, quiet and meditative book. It illuminates the transitory nature of all things, including ourselves, our families, our cities, our art, and even memory. How do we fully live and thrive in the face of this impermanence? And not just live, but create art and remember into the future for those who come after us. Highly recommended. It will make a nice book club pick, and the cover art is a bonus.

I know there are a lot of dystopian books out there right now, and I know that may make for some eye rolls, but Susanna Kwan’s novel Awake in the Floating City is not your typical dystopian novel, and I think it’s better because of that.
   Years of rain have made for a submerged city, but one that still has residents that decided to stay and are living life as best as they can. (This isn't one of those books that focuses on how that's possible or how it's done.) Bo is one of those residents. An artist whose mother had been carried away in a storm, leaving her alone and unaware if her mother is still alive.  Bo is planning an escape, has the date picked out, and is getting ready to go. Things change when a note is slid under her door by Mia, an elderly woman who lives in her building and wants to hire Bo to be her caretaker.
   I can best describe the relationship between the two as rough to begin with. Stories are shared, lives mix and in some ways, Mia fills in as the mother that Bo no longer has, and Bo is often treated as a daughter.  There’s a particular scene involving the cleaning of a pan that just felt SO very real to me in how it plays out. You’ll have to read it and see..
   As the two share their memories, Bo comes to a realization about the lost history that will occur once the city is gone, and is inspired to create art again and makes one epic piece, which I can’t give away here, but it is detailed so wonderfully in Kwans writing.
   This book is beautifully written and feels like a love letter to home healthcare provider, especially family taking care of family. Created family, our histories, and our legacies. It really hit home with me on many pages.

I was absolutely sold by the "for fans of Emily St. John Mandel and Celeste Ng" marketing, and I'm not 100% sure that's how I would pitch this book. I can see why the comparisons were made, but I feel like that might be setting readers up for disappointment.

This is climate fiction, technically, and a dystopian, technically, but those aspects take a back seat to the character study of Bo, a thirty-something artist and in-home caregiver who has chosen to stay in this climate change-ravaged future San Francisco far longer than most anyone else her age, it seems. The pacing is slow and meandering and never really builds, but the relationship between Bo and the the elderly neighbor she cares for captured my interest more than anything.

I could definitely see this working as a book club pick for readers who enjoy slow paced literary fiction. The plot is straightforward, and there aren't very make characters to keep track of.

Interesting book looking at the effect of place on peoples lives. Deep character study but little plot. Interesting look at a climate change future.

Bo is an artist who makes a living as a care worker. Living in the flooded city of San Francisco where the continuing
rain is destroying the infrastructure. Apartments are located on the top floors of buildings and the rooftops are
where vendors set up shop. Most people have fled the city, but Bo can't seem to make herself leave despite the
entreaties of her cousin and uncle. She takes a job looking after 130 year old Mia, another resident in the
building. As Mia shares her story, Bo is moved to make Mia's birthday a celebration of her life, reawakening Bo's
love of art.
A reminder to treasure the time one has with loved ones.
#AwakeintheFloatingCity #Pantheon #NetGalley

Susanna Kwan is the rare author that has written a debut work that is both highly anticipated, and one that lives up to the expectations. It's set in the near-future where coastal areas are flooded after years of rain and most lives take place on rooftops. This is Bo's world, a world where most other people have fled to escape the floods, but Bo can't bring herself to leave. She is an artist, but who is she making art for? Bo eventually becomes a caregiver to Mia, a 130 year old woman who also refuses to leave her home and this is where the artistry begins. Their relationship is beyond beauty and is to be treasured.
For readers of All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I read an advance copy and was not compensated

This debut novel is the type of story I normally really enjoy: nearish future, sort of dystopic, climate fiction, focus on people who are adapting to how to live on a changed planet. In this book, protagonist Bo lives in San Francisco, the titular "floating city" whose streets are now rivers thanks to climate change. Most residents have left for places with more stable climates, but Bo is plagued by inertia and stays. She lost her mother to a flood and that pulls her to stay in her home city. She is also an artist who has been blocked for years and can't produce. She is "stuck" on many levels.

When Bo intermittently needs to earn money to survive, she works as a "support worker" - what today we might call a personal health care worker. She works with a placement agency and provides in-home care to aging people. And "aging" means life spans of 150 years or so, thanks to advances in health care.

Near the start of the novel, Bo sabotages yet another arrangement her cousin (settled in safer Canada) has made to get her out of San Francisco. She takes an assignment with an elderly women who lives in the same high-rise building as Bo. Mia and Bo share Chinese ancestry and some cultural practices. Bo forms an attachment to Mia.

The "awake" in the title refers to Bo's slow awakening to her reality and how it compares to life in the city in different time periods. The climax of the book comes when Bo realizes an ambitious art project that combines source material from her and Mia's personal pasts, as well as the history of San Francisco, with modern technology that allows her to create a temporary piece viewable from throughout the city. It's sort of like performance art in that it's time-bound. For me, this was the strongest part of the book (and I especially loved the part with the Antonia the librarian who is preserving physical and digital history against all odds!).

In the end, I gave 3 stars for "liked it." There were things I didn't like so much, though. Early in the book, I had a hard time distinguishing the dialogue between Bo and Mia - their written voices are much too similar and could have been better differentiated. I also did not enjoy reading much of this book, but I think that's because the atmospheric ennui and climate doom are hitting too close to home (context: USA, early 2025).

In the end, this is a passage that resonates for me: "Everyone wanted Bo to believe that there were better places out there, places that weren't under relentless threat. They called this city a death trap. But she knew the truth: it was terrible, sometimes, everywhere" (89% ebook). And that is the terrible truth of this world. It is terrible, sometimes, everywhere. And it's coming for all of us, and quickly.

This is well written book about a city in the future and not wanting to leave as there is attachment there.
But it is a very slow moving book. I had a hard time staying engaged at times.
But I think many will like it and find the characters intriguing.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

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.