What do you think?
Rate this book
Awake in the Floating City
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK FROM
PEOPLE
MAGAZINE An utterly transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for—two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready to leave.
"An astonishing work of art...This is the kind of book that changes you, that leaves you seeing more vividly, and living more fully, in its wake."—Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans
Bo knows she should go. Years of rain have drowned the city and almost everyone else has fled. Her mother was carried away in a storm surge and ever since, Bo has been alone. She is an artist unable to make art, a daughter unable to give up the hope that her mother may still be alive. Half-heartedly, she allows her cousin to plan for her escape—but as the departure day approaches, she finds a note slipped under her door from Mia, an elderly woman who lives in her building and wants to hire Bo to be her caregiver. Suddenly, Bo has a reason to stay.
Mia can be prickly, and yet still she and Bo forge a connection deeper than any Bo has had with a client. Mia shares stories of her life that pull Bo back toward art, toward the practice she thought she’d abandoned. Listening to Mia, allowing her memories to become entangled with Bo’s own, she’s struck by how much history will be lost as the city gives way to water. Then Mia’s health turns, and Bo determines to honor their disappearing world and this woman who’s brought her back to it, a project that teaches her the lessons that matter how to care, how to be present, how to commemorate a life and a place, soon to be lost forever.
"An astonishing work of art...This is the kind of book that changes you, that leaves you seeing more vividly, and living more fully, in its wake."—Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans
Bo knows she should go. Years of rain have drowned the city and almost everyone else has fled. Her mother was carried away in a storm surge and ever since, Bo has been alone. She is an artist unable to make art, a daughter unable to give up the hope that her mother may still be alive. Half-heartedly, she allows her cousin to plan for her escape—but as the departure day approaches, she finds a note slipped under her door from Mia, an elderly woman who lives in her building and wants to hire Bo to be her caregiver. Suddenly, Bo has a reason to stay.
Mia can be prickly, and yet still she and Bo forge a connection deeper than any Bo has had with a client. Mia shares stories of her life that pull Bo back toward art, toward the practice she thought she’d abandoned. Listening to Mia, allowing her memories to become entangled with Bo’s own, she’s struck by how much history will be lost as the city gives way to water. Then Mia’s health turns, and Bo determines to honor their disappearing world and this woman who’s brought her back to it, a project that teaches her the lessons that matter how to care, how to be present, how to commemorate a life and a place, soon to be lost forever.
Audible Audio
First published May 13, 2025
246 people are currently reading
26897 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews
May 4, 2025
Quiet, slow book celebrating the beauty of life
Set in approximately 2050, San Francisco is under water. Bo, whose mother went missing two years ago, is planning to move elsewhere when she receives a note from Mia, a 130-year-old woman needing some help around the house.
There isn’t one perfect character in this book or rather all of the characters are perfectly imperfect.
Also, this book begs for a book club. Because while Bo seemed to judge Beverly (Mia’s daughter) at times, Bo herself didn’t always get along with her own mother. Family relationships are often complex, and Awake in the Floating City did a spectacular job conveying that.
For those of you who read the book, what do you think is next for Bo?
*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Electronic Text – Free/Nada/Zilch through publisher
Hardcover Text – Pre-ordered through Flyleaf in Grosse Pointe Farms for $28
Connect With Me!
Blog Threads BookTube Facebook Insta My Bookstore at Pango
Set in approximately 2050, San Francisco is under water. Bo, whose mother went missing two years ago, is planning to move elsewhere when she receives a note from Mia, a 130-year-old woman needing some help around the house.
There isn’t one perfect character in this book or rather all of the characters are perfectly imperfect.
Also, this book begs for a book club. Because while Bo seemed to judge Beverly (Mia’s daughter) at times, Bo herself didn’t always get along with her own mother. Family relationships are often complex, and Awake in the Floating City did a spectacular job conveying that.
For those of you who read the book, what do you think is next for Bo?
*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Electronic Text – Free/Nada/Zilch through publisher
Hardcover Text – Pre-ordered through Flyleaf in Grosse Pointe Farms for $28
Connect With Me!
Blog Threads BookTube Facebook Insta My Bookstore at Pango
August 19, 2025
getting a little scared at how many recent releases take place in a flooded dystopian future...what do you guys know.
besides that, this did have a touching concept: a caregiver, bo, and her final patient, mia, building a relationship as their city clears of people and fills with water.
the problem is that it's 320 pages long.
while touching initially, this book drags. bo makes the same decision and reverses it four times. her slowly progressing memorial artwork and mia's slowly regressing health take up hundreds of pages. dialogue feels redundant and so do even climactic moments, because they feel so interchangeable.
i liked a lot about this, which is why it was such a bummer to be so frustrated by the end.
bottom line: this is not a long book, but it is too long.
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
besides that, this did have a touching concept: a caregiver, bo, and her final patient, mia, building a relationship as their city clears of people and fills with water.
the problem is that it's 320 pages long.
while touching initially, this book drags. bo makes the same decision and reverses it four times. her slowly progressing memorial artwork and mia's slowly regressing health take up hundreds of pages. dialogue feels redundant and so do even climactic moments, because they feel so interchangeable.
i liked a lot about this, which is why it was such a bummer to be so frustrated by the end.
bottom line: this is not a long book, but it is too long.
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
April 14, 2025
I won't lie. This was a 2 star read for me, but I'm bumping it to 3 stars because it was well-written and I really liked the ending.
This wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought it'd be more about survival in a climate ravaged dystopian San Francisco, but it was mostly about human relationships and the importance of family history.
This story would've worked on its own without the cli-fi setting. While it was cool to read about people surviving on the top floors of buildings and skyscrapers, I didn't think it was all that necessary to the story.
I admired the caregiver relationship between the FMC, Bo, and Mia. It's a found family type of story with a younger character and an elderly character. I really thought it was well done and showed the strength of human connection, even in the face of a climate apocalypse.
And if you're a lover of modern art, the ending with its very detailed descriptions of Bo's very moving artwork was perfection. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the novel, but it is what it is.
I'd recommend if you're into lit fic about human relationships. Not so much if you're more of a SFF reader like I am.
Thank you to Pantheon and NetGalley for this arc.
This wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought it'd be more about survival in a climate ravaged dystopian San Francisco, but it was mostly about human relationships and the importance of family history.
This story would've worked on its own without the cli-fi setting. While it was cool to read about people surviving on the top floors of buildings and skyscrapers, I didn't think it was all that necessary to the story.
I admired the caregiver relationship between the FMC, Bo, and Mia. It's a found family type of story with a younger character and an elderly character. I really thought it was well done and showed the strength of human connection, even in the face of a climate apocalypse.
And if you're a lover of modern art, the ending with its very detailed descriptions of Bo's very moving artwork was perfection. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the novel, but it is what it is.
I'd recommend if you're into lit fic about human relationships. Not so much if you're more of a SFF reader like I am.
Thank you to Pantheon and NetGalley for this arc.
June 21, 2025
3.5, rounded up. This is the second literary novel about a near-future drowning American city I've read this year, after Tea Obreht's magic-realist The Morningside. Susanna Kwan takes an entirely different tack, submerging the mid-20th-century Chinese-American immigrant experience beneath the climate apocalypse of the mid-21st century.
Bo, a blocked visual artist, mourning the recent unresolved loss of her mother, takes a job as a home healthcare aide for Mia, a 130-year-old woman whose narcissistic daughter has abandoned her. No surprises here that the two of them form a temporary family, as Mia shares her recollections of her deep and rich life experiences, which take her from a village in wartime Guangdong to Hong Kong to postwar Chinatown and the Outer Sunset. Meanwhile, Bo rekindles her passion for art-making by using drones and holograms to project a memorial to Mia, using skyscrapers as screens.
Oddly, it's the futuristic narrative of submerged high-rises in a depopulated San Francisco that seems more lived-in and realistically-rendered than the well-researched archival historical reconstructions (perhaps that was Kwan's point all along). The main characters are complex and thorny, and their moving moments of connection felt earned, but the secondary characters (mostly male) were flatly-drawn. Kwan's prose is elegant and poetic, but that didn't fully compensate for narrative problems with pacing and longueurs, and mechanical plot complications.
Thanks to Netgalley and Pantheon for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Bo, a blocked visual artist, mourning the recent unresolved loss of her mother, takes a job as a home healthcare aide for Mia, a 130-year-old woman whose narcissistic daughter has abandoned her. No surprises here that the two of them form a temporary family, as Mia shares her recollections of her deep and rich life experiences, which take her from a village in wartime Guangdong to Hong Kong to postwar Chinatown and the Outer Sunset. Meanwhile, Bo rekindles her passion for art-making by using drones and holograms to project a memorial to Mia, using skyscrapers as screens.
Oddly, it's the futuristic narrative of submerged high-rises in a depopulated San Francisco that seems more lived-in and realistically-rendered than the well-researched archival historical reconstructions (perhaps that was Kwan's point all along). The main characters are complex and thorny, and their moving moments of connection felt earned, but the secondary characters (mostly male) were flatly-drawn. Kwan's prose is elegant and poetic, but that didn't fully compensate for narrative problems with pacing and longueurs, and mechanical plot complications.
Thanks to Netgalley and Pantheon for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
September 1, 2025
This story was just ok for me unfortunately. It didn’t hit any of those “pull me in” moments.
This setting takes place in a near‑future San Francisco that is perpetually submerged by rain and rising seas where the residents cling to high‑rise rooftops amid the decay. At the heart of the novel is Bo, an artist paralyzed by grief after her mother's disappearance, who finds purpose again when she becomes the reluctant caregiver to Mia, a feisty 130‑year‑old neighbor.
The novel is a slow‑burn for sure and feels overly done as the story remained stubbornly still…aka, it had me loosing interest. Mostly about climate change and the FMC’s emotional dissection, I felt like I was walking through mud at times. Just not for me.
Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
This setting takes place in a near‑future San Francisco that is perpetually submerged by rain and rising seas where the residents cling to high‑rise rooftops amid the decay. At the heart of the novel is Bo, an artist paralyzed by grief after her mother's disappearance, who finds purpose again when she becomes the reluctant caregiver to Mia, a feisty 130‑year‑old neighbor.
The novel is a slow‑burn for sure and feels overly done as the story remained stubbornly still…aka, it had me loosing interest. Mostly about climate change and the FMC’s emotional dissection, I felt like I was walking through mud at times. Just not for me.
Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 23, 2024
The setting of this story is so unique. I knew I had to read this.
Perpetual rainfall has flooded future San Francisco. Many have fled north but the inhabitants that remain, have adapted to the torrent downpour and the elevated water levels that have deemed land a thing of the past. Habitation has been reserved for the higher levels of apartment buildings, with all commerce happening on the roof of these structures, connecting each together by series of bridges.
This novel explores the relationship between Mia and her caregiver, Bo. At times, the pacing was slow but I understand the author’s decision. It was nice to subtly see the two women grow into each other. The relationship between the two characters matures to a touching conclusion.
I understand Bo’s regret after the loss of her mother and her desire to record Mia’s history. I wish I could sit with my late father and transcribe his life from his own words. I utterly yearn for that. I understand being drained creatively and also the grief of losing a parent.
“I guess,” she began slowly, “I guess I’ve been missing my mother.” “Hmm.” Mia sounded skeptical. But then after a minute she said, “You wanted her for longer.” “Yes,” Bo said, and time crowded her. “But you get the time you get.”
Thank you, NetGalley, for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Perpetual rainfall has flooded future San Francisco. Many have fled north but the inhabitants that remain, have adapted to the torrent downpour and the elevated water levels that have deemed land a thing of the past. Habitation has been reserved for the higher levels of apartment buildings, with all commerce happening on the roof of these structures, connecting each together by series of bridges.
This novel explores the relationship between Mia and her caregiver, Bo. At times, the pacing was slow but I understand the author’s decision. It was nice to subtly see the two women grow into each other. The relationship between the two characters matures to a touching conclusion.
I understand Bo’s regret after the loss of her mother and her desire to record Mia’s history. I wish I could sit with my late father and transcribe his life from his own words. I utterly yearn for that. I understand being drained creatively and also the grief of losing a parent.
“I guess,” she began slowly, “I guess I’ve been missing my mother.” “Hmm.” Mia sounded skeptical. But then after a minute she said, “You wanted her for longer.” “Yes,” Bo said, and time crowded her. “But you get the time you get.”
Thank you, NetGalley, for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 27, 2025
"Her own searching returned to her now in surges, those hopeless, hopeful days, streets churning with water, the ocean everywhere. She'd never stop, she wouldn't; a memory couldn't be drowned."
Set in approximately 2050 in a flooded San Francisco, Bo, a caregiver for the elderly, and Mia, a supercentenarian who's without family in the area, form an unexpectedly close friendship in their city surrounded by water.
Torn between her desire to stay in the city where she was raised, where she lost her mom in a large flood, and leaving at the urgency of her family, Bo has made a living out of caring for the elderly. In a city now of rooftops rather than streets, of boats and skywalks rather than cars and bridges, there are many elderly in the city, some refusing to go and some with no where to turn. But Bo's desire to stay, outweighs her desire to do as her own family says. For many years, Bo struggled as an artist, but with the changing city around her and the loss of her mother, she's drifted away from art and is focused instead on simply surviving.
Mia, about to celebrate her 130th birthday, is a little grumbly but more than a little lonely. Having Bo suddenly in her life has made her start to cautiously open up. And Bo listens with increasing dedication as Mia shares long stretches of her personal history. What springs up between them is the kind of closeness that could only have come at the end for Mia — whose life has been long but was often difficult.
Kwan has penned a stunningly beautiful and measured debut. She weaves Mia's memories into a tapestry of what Bo knows about the city and its rich history, and has Bo stitch in her own experiences alongside. Bo finds dawning inspiration in Mia's story and begins work on an art project to honor this remarkable woman and the extraordinary life she's lived, bringing her own self back into the light of life in the process.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
Set in approximately 2050 in a flooded San Francisco, Bo, a caregiver for the elderly, and Mia, a supercentenarian who's without family in the area, form an unexpectedly close friendship in their city surrounded by water.
Torn between her desire to stay in the city where she was raised, where she lost her mom in a large flood, and leaving at the urgency of her family, Bo has made a living out of caring for the elderly. In a city now of rooftops rather than streets, of boats and skywalks rather than cars and bridges, there are many elderly in the city, some refusing to go and some with no where to turn. But Bo's desire to stay, outweighs her desire to do as her own family says. For many years, Bo struggled as an artist, but with the changing city around her and the loss of her mother, she's drifted away from art and is focused instead on simply surviving.
Mia, about to celebrate her 130th birthday, is a little grumbly but more than a little lonely. Having Bo suddenly in her life has made her start to cautiously open up. And Bo listens with increasing dedication as Mia shares long stretches of her personal history. What springs up between them is the kind of closeness that could only have come at the end for Mia — whose life has been long but was often difficult.
Kwan has penned a stunningly beautiful and measured debut. She weaves Mia's memories into a tapestry of what Bo knows about the city and its rich history, and has Bo stitch in her own experiences alongside. Bo finds dawning inspiration in Mia's story and begins work on an art project to honor this remarkable woman and the extraordinary life she's lived, bringing her own self back into the light of life in the process.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
January 8, 2025
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.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
December 10, 2024
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 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.
July 20, 2025
A cli-fi story of the loss of family, friends, history and the city around you. This was emotionally moving to the point of being utterly depressing, but I couldn't help but feel that Mia was used by Bo to deal with the loss of her mother, and her stagnating abilities as an artist, and the amount of times Bo let Mia down was negligent at best.
May 20, 2025
The city under a siege of rain for seven years was mesmerizing and atmospheric, even despite the obvious “environmental” catastrophe implied. It’s also a story of life, love of family, letting go, and healing. So, it is a beautiful novel for those reasons.
Did not care for the “activism” on display in the wrap-up, however, or where things were left on the final page.
Recommended, but with caution.
Did not care for the “activism” on display in the wrap-up, however, or where things were left on the final page.
Recommended, but with caution.
September 5, 2025
This book took a while to grow on me, but it concluded beautifully.
This is an exploration of “What it might mean to honour a dying person, to honour a dying world.” We see the flooded city of San Francisco through the eyes of Bo, an artist and carer for the elderly, and Mai, the cranky old Chinese woman who is coming to the end of her life.
There was something so touching about how Bo learns to create again, and how she expresses her love for Mai.
This is an exploration of “What it might mean to honour a dying person, to honour a dying world.” We see the flooded city of San Francisco through the eyes of Bo, an artist and carer for the elderly, and Mai, the cranky old Chinese woman who is coming to the end of her life.
There was something so touching about how Bo learns to create again, and how she expresses her love for Mai.
April 3, 2025
Awake In The Floating City by Susanna Kwan, This book is about Artist bo who has lost her passion for her art, since the death of her mother, until she starts taking care of Ms. Mya. they live in the future time while medical advancement has made it possible for Miss Maya to live well over 150 IDK exactly how old but through Miss Mya’s stories bow gets inspired and says she’s going to make something about her life. At the same time we get to learn about the place they love and don’t want to leave a floating city who most are moving away from. Bo cousin pleads with her to leave but she doesn’t want to and now that she has started doing art again and through her friendship with Maya she starts to see she may have a lot of life left but will she finish her peace before Miss Maya expires and will she make it to Canada to start again? this book was not only original it was truly interesting in a book I absolutely recommend. I have found myself reading a lot of literary fiction lately and this one set in a futuristic universe is absolutely my favorite. I loved Bo’s casual attitude although I am not going to lie I could not picture the art she was creating and although I’m sure some people did, I myself did not but I’m sure it was pretty. Having said that I think this is a great book and one everyone should read. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #SusannaKwan, #AwakeInTheFloatingCity,
March 24, 2025
This is basically a story about a loaner with no real purpose in life who ends up taking care of an old woman who needs help. Throw in a little science fiction about a world slowly becoming covered with water and the fact that Bo will eventually need to evacuate. I liked the story overall, but it does ramble around a bit.
When Bo decides to use her art to create a tribute for Mia it initially seemed like a fine thing because Bo was an artist who no longer produced art after her mother went missing. The problem is that so much time is spent on this it made the book drag out so much that I was so happy to finally finish it. On the whole this probably would have been better as a very short story.
Thanks to Knopf Books for the Uncorrected Bound Proof of the novel to read and review.
When Bo decides to use her art to create a tribute for Mia it initially seemed like a fine thing because Bo was an artist who no longer produced art after her mother went missing. The problem is that so much time is spent on this it made the book drag out so much that I was so happy to finally finish it. On the whole this probably would have been better as a very short story.
Thanks to Knopf Books for the Uncorrected Bound Proof of the novel to read and review.
August 31, 2025
A very slow read and sometimes a little too slow but I think that was almost deliberate on the author’s part. Choices about survival take time. Death takes time. Life takes time.
There was much about this novel that reminded me of ‘The Door’ which I read recently. A housekeeper/carer and their relationship with the house owner/caree. A celebration of a life long lived in turbulent times.
Stunning stunning writing.
5.5 stars. But it is not plot driven so don’t come looking for a fast read.
There was much about this novel that reminded me of ‘The Door’ which I read recently. A housekeeper/carer and their relationship with the house owner/caree. A celebration of a life long lived in turbulent times.
Stunning stunning writing.
5.5 stars. But it is not plot driven so don’t come looking for a fast read.
May 24, 2025
4.5 stars. Susanna Kwan debuts with a thought provoking tale of a woman’s search for a better life in a near-future San Francisco deluged with never-ending rain. Instead of leaving for Canada to live with relatives, our MC Bo, an artist/caregiver, stays to care for Mia, her 130-year-old neighbor. The story delves into the daily lives of these two women, the last few remaining in the city - yr 2050, with Bo finding purpose in preserving Mia’s legacy through her art, and with Mia’s age, ailments, and reminiscing of her family + youth.. also both share Chinese ancestry/cultural practices. The story is simple, non-complicated and slower-paced. I found it to be such a beautiful character-driven tale that gives much insight into human connection. Really enjoyed it. ❥ Pub. 5/13/25 📖🎧
September 9, 2025
This book is a quiet slow-burn explosion of art. First there’s the cover. So dreamy! 😍 Then there’s the gorgeous prose; descriptions of post-apocalyptic(ish) San Francisco that are so beautiful they almost make me want to see it in real life. And then the content of the story. The main character is an artist and the experience of art-making permeates these pages.
I think one of the strongest qualities of this novel is how many questions it sparks for readers. How do we survive the climate catastrophe we continue to accelerate? How do we honor our elders, those who are dying, each other in general, ourselves, and the legacy of someone’s life? How do we find ourselves in art, and create art that others can find themselves in? Why and how do we make art at the end of the world? What is art capable of?
The ending really moved me, and I read the last ten or so pages three times.
I definitely recommend this for those who enjoy stories you can sink into without too much action intruding on the heart of it.
Here’s an example of the description of the setting from page one:
“The city had transformed into a rainforest. Vines that ran from roof to ground sucked up water and sent out shoots and tendrils. The skyline brightened from gunmetal to green, softening the sharp edges… Below, streets transformed into rivers, and the rivers blew out windows, tore doors from their frames, widened into buildings through the new openings… a place the rain had claimed.”
I think one of the strongest qualities of this novel is how many questions it sparks for readers. How do we survive the climate catastrophe we continue to accelerate? How do we honor our elders, those who are dying, each other in general, ourselves, and the legacy of someone’s life? How do we find ourselves in art, and create art that others can find themselves in? Why and how do we make art at the end of the world? What is art capable of?
The ending really moved me, and I read the last ten or so pages three times.
I definitely recommend this for those who enjoy stories you can sink into without too much action intruding on the heart of it.
Here’s an example of the description of the setting from page one:
“The city had transformed into a rainforest. Vines that ran from roof to ground sucked up water and sent out shoots and tendrils. The skyline brightened from gunmetal to green, softening the sharp edges… Below, streets transformed into rivers, and the rivers blew out windows, tore doors from their frames, widened into buildings through the new openings… a place the rain had claimed.”
May 16, 2025
This was one of my most anticipated books of 2025 so believe me when I say I’m bereft this didn’t land for me.
Based on the hype and blurb, I was expecting a climate dystopia; but instead, I got an achingly slow story about a milquetoast woman doing a giant Art Attack. I’m being glib, of course, but my expectation vs. what I got were worlds apart. The primary focus of this book is Bo’s relationship with art and her building a large art installation.
The world-building was so skint. The story takes place in a flooded San Francisco. We can assume this happened as a result of climate breakdown but it’s not explored. Somehow the folks living in this flooded city are able to get money, have rental agreements, send and receive mail, require passports, participate in capitalism… It reads like this is an isolated pocket and the rest of the world has just kept on truckin’. I was distracted by the fact that the pull of the tides and water flooding the bottom three storeys of the apartment blocks wasn’t a more urgent problem than a throwaway sentence mention at 85%.
I couldn’t connect with Bo. Nothing she did made sense to me and I didn’t understand her motivations or actions. Like, she steadfastly refuses to leave when Jenson brings a boat down, but then, she takes on responsibility for the vulnerable Mia and suddenly decides she has to leave, then flakes out again after her family moved mountains to arrange it. She wasn’t a strong character, she was uncommunicative, and infuriatingly passive — I moved from not caring about her to actively disliking her by the end.
The writing style didn’t work for me either. The pace was super slow with info dumps about history, tangential characters, and backstory that it didn’t flow as a cohesive narrative for this reader. The storytelling was heavy on exposition (told largely in Bo’s thoughts) and I struggled to be invested in Bo and Mia’s family histories because I couldn’t connect with them as characters.
If you’re looking for rich dystopian world-building, climate thrills, or sci-fi elements, this might not be the read for you. If you like slow-paced, kinda claustrophobic stories with art as its focus, you might have a better time than I did.
⚠️ Content advisories for this story: detailed description of dying and death of an elderly person.
I had my request to review this approved by Simon & Schuster UK via NetGalley.
Based on the hype and blurb, I was expecting a climate dystopia; but instead, I got an achingly slow story about a milquetoast woman doing a giant Art Attack. I’m being glib, of course, but my expectation vs. what I got were worlds apart. The primary focus of this book is Bo’s relationship with art and her building a large art installation.
The world-building was so skint. The story takes place in a flooded San Francisco. We can assume this happened as a result of climate breakdown but it’s not explored. Somehow the folks living in this flooded city are able to get money, have rental agreements, send and receive mail, require passports, participate in capitalism… It reads like this is an isolated pocket and the rest of the world has just kept on truckin’. I was distracted by the fact that the pull of the tides and water flooding the bottom three storeys of the apartment blocks wasn’t a more urgent problem than a throwaway sentence mention at 85%.
I couldn’t connect with Bo. Nothing she did made sense to me and I didn’t understand her motivations or actions. Like, she steadfastly refuses to leave when Jenson brings a boat down, but then, she takes on responsibility for the vulnerable Mia and suddenly decides she has to leave, then flakes out again after her family moved mountains to arrange it. She wasn’t a strong character, she was uncommunicative, and infuriatingly passive — I moved from not caring about her to actively disliking her by the end.
The writing style didn’t work for me either. The pace was super slow with info dumps about history, tangential characters, and backstory that it didn’t flow as a cohesive narrative for this reader. The storytelling was heavy on exposition (told largely in Bo’s thoughts) and I struggled to be invested in Bo and Mia’s family histories because I couldn’t connect with them as characters.
If you’re looking for rich dystopian world-building, climate thrills, or sci-fi elements, this might not be the read for you. If you like slow-paced, kinda claustrophobic stories with art as its focus, you might have a better time than I did.
⚠️ Content advisories for this story: detailed description of dying and death of an elderly person.
I had my request to review this approved by Simon & Schuster UK via NetGalley.
December 5, 2024
This debut book scheduled to publish in May 2025 was such a delight to read. People are living to be 100+ while the city is quickly becoming harder to live in. Bo’s family wants her to leave, but she chooses to stay and care for Mia. They form a bond as they get to know one another, and it’s bittersweet to learn about each of their regrets if you will. Bo missing her art and Mia missing her youth, and possibly her daughter. Recommend!
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy
April 24, 2025
One of the most beautiful endings I’ve read in a long, long time
August 15, 2025
It’s okay. Writing was beautiful in places and some lovely passages about human connection.
May 29, 2025
Awake in the Floating City is a book of speculative climate-related fiction set in the mid-twenty-first century. Bo is a Chinese American artist living in San Francisco after it has been flooded by rising seas and constant rain. Many people have left the city, but Bo decides to stay, hoping against hope that mother (who disappeared in a storm) will return. The people who have stayed mostly live on upper floors of high-rise buildings, businesses have moved to rooftops, and life goes on. Bo receives a request to look after her 130-year-old neighbor, Mia, and is hired to care for her. Bo and Mia form a bond and share stories, decreasing their loneliness and isolation. Mia’s stories of the “old days” inspire Bo to renew her interest in art and to create a tribute to both Mia and what has been lost. This is a quiet book about human connection. Even though it is a dystopian novel, it includes elements of hope. It is an impressive debut that emphasizes the importance of community and connections in getting through the troubling times.
Read
June 25, 2025DNF @ 46%
I decided to put this one aside, but it is a case of it being me and not the book, so no rating. It is a nicely written character based story, more litfic than specfic, set in a near-future climate damaged San Francisco. I just wasn’t feeling this right now.
I decided to put this one aside, but it is a case of it being me and not the book, so no rating. It is a nicely written character based story, more litfic than specfic, set in a near-future climate damaged San Francisco. I just wasn’t feeling this right now.
April 24, 2025
I rarely start a review marveling about the cover art and chapter separators, but in this debut book, it sets the stage for what to expect on your reader journey: a muted and hushed story that nonetheless couches subtle beauty.
The first chapter orients the reader into time and place: the San Francisco of the future, where the rain has been pouring down for seven years and the streets have been transformed to rivers. The residents – including our narrator, Bo – have had to seek higher ground. Read that as a metaphor.
Despite the widespread exodus, Bo hasn’t left (“If I leave, she asks, “how can I be found?” She belongs to the city. And just when she needs it most, she finds her purpose to stay: a woman named Mia, who is 130 years old and in desperate need of home care. She is Bo’s anchor in a watery world and her way back to the specifics, not only of the future, but also of her familial legacy.
Bo’s purpose becomes the art of creation: taking what exists before her time and before the floods and superimposing it on the city’s history – the records and archives, the landmarks and buildings, the challenging history of Asian immigrants (which included the Chinese Exclusion Act, Angel Island, and more), and the disappearing stories of those who moved on.
At its core, this is a novel about the importance of connection: to family and ancestry, to friends (old and new), to our creative muses, and to our need for meaning. I am grateful to BookBrowse and to Pantheon Books for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
The first chapter orients the reader into time and place: the San Francisco of the future, where the rain has been pouring down for seven years and the streets have been transformed to rivers. The residents – including our narrator, Bo – have had to seek higher ground. Read that as a metaphor.
Despite the widespread exodus, Bo hasn’t left (“If I leave, she asks, “how can I be found?” She belongs to the city. And just when she needs it most, she finds her purpose to stay: a woman named Mia, who is 130 years old and in desperate need of home care. She is Bo’s anchor in a watery world and her way back to the specifics, not only of the future, but also of her familial legacy.
Bo’s purpose becomes the art of creation: taking what exists before her time and before the floods and superimposing it on the city’s history – the records and archives, the landmarks and buildings, the challenging history of Asian immigrants (which included the Chinese Exclusion Act, Angel Island, and more), and the disappearing stories of those who moved on.
At its core, this is a novel about the importance of connection: to family and ancestry, to friends (old and new), to our creative muses, and to our need for meaning. I am grateful to BookBrowse and to Pantheon Books for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
Read
May 19, 2025This is a tough book to rate because expectations will deeply impact perception.
Awake in the Floating City is not a sci fi / dystopian novel, though its setting is dystopian. I was really drawn to the premise as a life long san franciscan given it is set in a future’s flooded San Francisco deeply impacted by climate change. But very quickly the story shifts from a future under climate catastrophe to an intergenerational friendship exploring memory, time and adaptability as the world becomes more an more uninhabitable.
Which is all to say: as a work of speculative fiction, it felt somewhat unsatisfying. But as literary fiction, it's a beautifully written story of friendship and survival. Adjust expectations accordingly.
Awake in the Floating City is not a sci fi / dystopian novel, though its setting is dystopian. I was really drawn to the premise as a life long san franciscan given it is set in a future’s flooded San Francisco deeply impacted by climate change. But very quickly the story shifts from a future under climate catastrophe to an intergenerational friendship exploring memory, time and adaptability as the world becomes more an more uninhabitable.
Which is all to say: as a work of speculative fiction, it felt somewhat unsatisfying. But as literary fiction, it's a beautifully written story of friendship and survival. Adjust expectations accordingly.
September 5, 2024
This is a beautiful novel that is deeply thematic.
It’s very much in the literary fiction genre, which I don’t normally read. The story is simple yet moving.
I would’ve loved to see a bit more dialogue. There would be pages upon pages of writing with no dialogue and I found my mind wandering.
Overall, this is a fantastic debut novel, and I would recommend it to people who frequently read the literary fiction genre.
Thank you to the publishers and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It’s very much in the literary fiction genre, which I don’t normally read. The story is simple yet moving.
I would’ve loved to see a bit more dialogue. There would be pages upon pages of writing with no dialogue and I found my mind wandering.
Overall, this is a fantastic debut novel, and I would recommend it to people who frequently read the literary fiction genre.
Thank you to the publishers and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
2025
October 2, 2025ANHPI TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon
September 10, 2025
This is one of the rare gems, a book that has moved me to tears.
Awake in the Floating City is set in the flooded city of San Francisco, where people walk on roofs instead of streets and those who are able leave the city for healthier places. Those who stay seem to do it because they cannot leave, physically or financially, or because they feel a responsibility to stay.
Our main character is Bo, an artist in her thirties who has been working as a caregiver. She could leave the city, but she feels unwilling to as it's the last place her mother was alive before she disappeared in a flooding. Bo starts caring for Mia, a hundred-and-thirty-years old woman living in the same building as her, as Mia's condition worsens and she needs more and more assistance.
This is a slow novel, lingering on the moments and descriptions and the familiarity of the pain of loss. It does it beautifully. The past is explored through the individual memories of the characters, of their home streets and grocery stores and childhood friends now dead. There is no wider memory of recollection of how we got to this point, no societal history (it only peeks through in the memories of the characters) and I loved that. This is a book about the personal and about remembering.
I've had an awful year personally. The sudden loss of a loved one left a vast emptiness, and another loved one needs more care and attention and I worry about her constantly. On the surface, nothing about Awake in the Floating City – the setting, the characters, the choices – is similar to my life. Yet the feeling is there, so raw, unflinching, honest, tender, painful like a wound that is not healing correctly.
In some ways, this one made me scared. Scared for the loss I know is coming soon, and also scared for the loss of my mum which will come, one day, and I will never be ready for it. Yet there is comfort to be found on these pages too, in the familiar, in the shared feeling, in the hope. In remembering.
Awake in the Floating City is set in the flooded city of San Francisco, where people walk on roofs instead of streets and those who are able leave the city for healthier places. Those who stay seem to do it because they cannot leave, physically or financially, or because they feel a responsibility to stay.
Our main character is Bo, an artist in her thirties who has been working as a caregiver. She could leave the city, but she feels unwilling to as it's the last place her mother was alive before she disappeared in a flooding. Bo starts caring for Mia, a hundred-and-thirty-years old woman living in the same building as her, as Mia's condition worsens and she needs more and more assistance.
This is a slow novel, lingering on the moments and descriptions and the familiarity of the pain of loss. It does it beautifully. The past is explored through the individual memories of the characters, of their home streets and grocery stores and childhood friends now dead. There is no wider memory of recollection of how we got to this point, no societal history (it only peeks through in the memories of the characters) and I loved that. This is a book about the personal and about remembering.
I've had an awful year personally. The sudden loss of a loved one left a vast emptiness, and another loved one needs more care and attention and I worry about her constantly. On the surface, nothing about Awake in the Floating City – the setting, the characters, the choices – is similar to my life. Yet the feeling is there, so raw, unflinching, honest, tender, painful like a wound that is not healing correctly.
In some ways, this one made me scared. Scared for the loss I know is coming soon, and also scared for the loss of my mum which will come, one day, and I will never be ready for it. Yet there is comfort to be found on these pages too, in the familiar, in the shared feeling, in the hope. In remembering.
July 20, 2025
In a submerged San Francisco, Bo drifts through a life that feels both physically and emotionally waterlogged. Years after her mother was swept away in a storm, she still holds out hope for her return, despite the city’s fading future. The world around her has shifted: droughts gave way to endless rain, forcing many to relocate to northern, drier lands. Once an artist, Bo has lost her creative drive and resists pressure from relatives urging her to leave.
Her routine changes when she begins caring for Mia, a 130-year-old woman who lives in her building. The unlikely companionship brings Bo a renewed sense of purpose. Around the same time, she reconnects with Eddie, a married scientist who visits the city intermittently. As Mia’s health declines, Bo starts a tribute project, piecing together the woman's life through photos and using drones Eddie provides.
The story conjures a haunting vision of a future lived in the upper floors of skyscrapers, their rooftops transformed into gardens, with the lower levels swallowed by water. I appreciated the atmosphere and emotional undercurrents throughout, though at times the pacing felt drawn out.
Her routine changes when she begins caring for Mia, a 130-year-old woman who lives in her building. The unlikely companionship brings Bo a renewed sense of purpose. Around the same time, she reconnects with Eddie, a married scientist who visits the city intermittently. As Mia’s health declines, Bo starts a tribute project, piecing together the woman's life through photos and using drones Eddie provides.
The story conjures a haunting vision of a future lived in the upper floors of skyscrapers, their rooftops transformed into gardens, with the lower levels swallowed by water. I appreciated the atmosphere and emotional undercurrents throughout, though at times the pacing felt drawn out.
August 9, 2025
Of the books I’ve read this year, this is the one that keeps drifting in and out of mind.
San Francisco and other coastal areas are slowly returning to the sea. The flooding is not the aftermath of cataclysm, but of processes set in motion that ultimately became inexorable. Some people remain in the city, possible only because the water has not yet reclaimed the higher floors of tall buildings. Trade is maintained by boat, with small shops on the rooftops.
Bo provides hospice care for Mia, whose family has long since left. Bo creates a temporary memorial, drone-projected onto the city itself, of images from the history of San Francisco and its people, and from Mia’s life and her own. This gift of art is celebratory, elegiac, and evanescent.
The dying city is beautifully limned, lushly detailed. The choices people make — to stay or to go — feel very real to me. We all mourn in different ways.
San Francisco and other coastal areas are slowly returning to the sea. The flooding is not the aftermath of cataclysm, but of processes set in motion that ultimately became inexorable. Some people remain in the city, possible only because the water has not yet reclaimed the higher floors of tall buildings. Trade is maintained by boat, with small shops on the rooftops.
Bo provides hospice care for Mia, whose family has long since left. Bo creates a temporary memorial, drone-projected onto the city itself, of images from the history of San Francisco and its people, and from Mia’s life and her own. This gift of art is celebratory, elegiac, and evanescent.
The dying city is beautifully limned, lushly detailed. The choices people make — to stay or to go — feel very real to me. We all mourn in different ways.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 435 reviews