Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. Real Americans is a multi-generational family story, which poses probing questions about what it means to navigate and balance your individual identity/sense of self with class, racism, cultural identity, and inheritance. The book is told in three parts and we experience three perspectives from this family as we consider these deep concepts and questions.

I enjoyed this book and thought the writing was absolutely spectacular. Khong’s prose painted a very vivid picture and gave us a very clear glimpse into the characters thoughts. I did find the switch between perspectives throughout the story to be a bit jarring but, that might have just been me— I was very invested in each story and it took me a while to sink back into the story, as we switched time/place as well. I think this also made the book a bit difficult for me to get through at times because it took some time for me to reinvest myself in the new primary character of the section.

Aside from these thoughts on the pace of the book, I thought the themes represented in the story, specifically in regard to inheritance and carving a new path for yourself, were thought provoking and posed some interesting questions to consider. It was clear that this topic was very well understood by the author and the feelings described by the characters were very defined. One element I did struggle with was the magical realism element in the story; there was something about this that didn’t seem fully fleshed out but, it didn’t significantly detract from my reading experience.

Overall, I think this book was worth reading and would be excellent for group discussion, as there’s a lot to unpack here. I would recommend this book to any literary fiction fans or fans of family stories!

Interesting read on epigenetic therapies, longevity, etc. I liked Matthew (wish he had a story from his perspective!) and Mei.

Notable lines:

“As people we interrupted one another’s lives-that was what we did. If you sought to live your life without interruption you wound up like me: living life without interruption, totally alone.”

“All this while, instead of seeking more time, I could have been paying attention. I notice it now, my present . . . “

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Real Americans and Rachel Khong's writing style; specifically, her ability to weave the life paths of different generations together. At times, the jumps between storytellers were confusing and left me with many questions; however, I appreciated that most of my questions were resolved by the book's end.

I enjoyed that this was a multi-generational family story. It worked with everything that I was hoping for. The characters felt like real people and did exactly what I was looking for in this type of book. Rachel Khong has a great writing style and I’m glad I got to read this.

4.5/5 stars.
I genuinely enjoyed this book! It is written from three perspectives Lily, Nick, and May. Each character describes their own difficulties growing up as a Chinese American. This story also brings light to common issues within families such as regret, selfishness, and stubbornness, I felt empathy for the characters because of this. I liked how each of their stories had one another intertwined within them. Lily and May’s parts were my personal favorites because of the romantic aspect of their stories. I would definitely recommend reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with this ARC!

The writing was really strong; the plot slightly uneven although I mean that in as inoffensive way as possible because it didn’t really negatively impact my reading experience.

Thank you Knopf and Netgalley for my copy of REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong, out 4/30/24!

Rachel Khong blew me away with her novel GOODBYE VITAMIN a few years ago, so when I got the chance to read her new novel early, I jumped at the chance. And to no one’s surprise, this was my favorite novel I read last year. It is beautiful. Khong has created a sweeping generational novel that goes from China to New York to the West Coast and I never wanted it to end.

She makes the reader ask the question, “How far would you go to shape your own destiny?” Are our futures inevitable? What makes us who we are? With a dash of medical drama and science fiction thrown in, I couldn’t put this book down. It starts on the precipice of Y2K with Lily, an unpaid intern at a media company. She meets Matthew. He is easygoing, attracgtive, a native East Coaster, white and a rich heir to a huge family fortune from a pharmaceutical empire. Lily was raised in Tampa, by two scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China, and she’s flat-broke. Alas, they fall in love.

Then, we swing to 2021 and follow Nick. He is isolated and lives with his single mother. He can’t shake the sense she’s hiding something. The opportunity comes up to find his biological father and this journey causes a massive disruption and changes everything he thought he knew.

The final narrator and sweeping story is incredible and I don’t want to spoil anything, so please just read this amazing novel! Khong is marvelous at creating characters with so much tenderness. She makes unique feelings become universal. Her prose is so immersive, you feel like you are existing right along these characters. And she packs so much into a book: class differences, political hardships, anxiety, lonliness, love.

I cried multiple times and wanted to live in this story. I hope you read and love it as much as I did! I am buying a copy to keep on my shelves forever.

I really loved this book and I enjoyed going in to it without knowing much about it. I thought Rachel Khong's writing was so engaging, I didn't want to put it down and I was so excited to see where the story was going. I felt very connected to the characters, Nick especially, and just wanted more of them.

This book is split in to three sections, and I knew that was the format going in to it but I didn't know who the third narrator was, and I was totally surprised when I got there. I enjoyed all three sections but the middle section with Nick was my favorite. I enjoyed watching him grow from a somewhat aimless teenager to a young man. Many of the decisions by all of the characters made me want to shake some sense in to them, but I could also see their motivation at the time.

I loved the settings of each section, as well as how vividly they were written. New York and San Francisco are two of my favorite places, and I could so clearly see each area Rachel Khong was writing about.

I'm eager to read her first book now and cannot wait to see what she comes out with in the future.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys family dynamics and literary fiction with a touch of magical realism. I would also suggest going in to it without knowing a lot about it, because the way it unfolds is so wonderfully done.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

i read this despite reallllly not understanding dear vitamin when i tried it, and i am glad i did. it's a family story across generations, with multiple POVs, but it's also a story about science, about power, about how we bury truths and how they out themselves. everyone is really awful and also really understandable--not antiheros, just people in broken systems making really mixed choices.

This multi-generational family saga of sorts has a hint of magical surrealism and was such an interesting read. Though it took a little time to get into, the last one-third of the book was so unique and captivating, and the ending was so satisfying to me. I do wish the story could've leaned more into the magical surrealist element, which is what made the story stand out to me. Rachel Khong does a tremendous job of showing, not telling, and I'm glad to have read this book. Thank you Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday for the free e-arc in exchange for a review!

This book was really interesting for me to read. The writing style of the book made it hard for me to connect with the characters because I wasn't able to sit with them and their thoughts, it more like watching a movie (which might have been the point). However, that's not bad, it's just an interesting feeling to have from a book.

In terms of plot, the story tended to get a little boring at times, especially in the last third of the book. However, the emotional aspect (of falling in love, finding your absent father, etc) is what really made the book. I really enjoyed how Lily's love was demonstrated through each time period and how her actions represented it. I also found the tie-in with genetics and culture to be interesting because it allowed for the book to explore almost along with the characters.

I read Rachel's Goodbye Vitamin last year and was in awe of that slim, tender novel, so I count myself extremely lucky to have read Real Americans early. I devoured it in less than a day, in tears at that last line! I loved the three viewpoints, and the tenderness Rachel always manages to infuse in her writing about family. I loved this book and can't wait for everyone else to read it.

I enjoyed the different perspectives in this story. They were all very relatable and dynamic. The writer did a great job of telling each story separately yet coming back full circle.

The story starts with and centers around Lily, and in the next two parts you switch POVs, meeting Nick and May, and go forwards and backwards in time. You spend a good chunk of time with each character and find out what their life is like in relation to the others.

I loved this story and each section so much. The characters were well thought out and I was connected to each of them. I was wanting more of each character when their section was over! The writing was phenomenal and had me lingering on some quotes. I think my favorite POV to read from was Nick🫶🏻 There were some parts when I was really feeling for him.

There was a magical realism element that I didn’t think was necessary or added much to the story, but it goes along with the whole genetics/science portion of the book.

This book reminds me a little of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, where you get the huge sweeping story that spans a generation. It’s not super fast paced, but you are still itching to see how everything turns out. However, this one is told through three people and covers a much longer period of time than that book. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This story follows three generations of Chinese Americans, each very different from the other, yet connected. I enjoyed the backgrounds of May, Lily, and Nick, it wasn’t until about halfway through that we learned of how significantly their story was changed by science. May makes choices she believes are for the greater good, but at the same time she plays with destiny and it’s no surprise that her daughter would have preferred the chance to make these choices for herself.

You are all in for a treat in 2024! Mark your calendars for April 30th and get ready for Rachel Khong's "Real Americans"
This is a sweeping tale of a family told in three parts, starting with good o'l Y2K on new years eve, we meet Lily an unpaid intern who meets Matthew, heir to a pharmaceutical empire. Honestly, Khongs writing of the interaction of these two when they met, their body language, and responses to one another, was absolutely perfect and made me want a book or movie just about these two and the days they filled. Things seem perfect!
Jump ahead to 2015 and we meet fifteen year old high school student Nick Chen, who not only is going through teenage growing pains, but is also in search of his biological father. For me, this is where the biggest part of the story takes place with relationships being tested on many different levels.
The third part of the novel is where the future takes us to the past, and we are given a back story that ties all of these lives and interactions together. I learned a lot about a very dark period in this part of the book, it would have been worth a read even as a stand alone story.
Khong is so so talented in writing emotions and characters that feel very real on the page. The way people who seem to be absolute strangers but are woven together is something I have always loved when executed properly. She does just that. Think Dickensian by way of "Great Expectations", (one of my favorite books, so this is definitely a compliment from me).
This one is going into the "favorite books of the year" column for me.

Real Americans is a book I kept thinking about, even through the parts I did not particularly enjoy. Rachel Kong is a brilliant writer. The prose is beautiful and the plot is compelling enough to keep me awake when I need to be asleep.

What I loved: The premise. It’s a multigenerational story about belonging told from shifting perspectives. There are elements of magical realism and speculative fiction about the future of genetics. The first section is written from the perspective of Lily who is a very distinct personality: she’s both capable of drawing hard boundaries and allowing life to happen to her. The love story was sentimental but believable in the way that so many outside factors- like family and financial distress can break a relationship. There was so much of Lily’s story that I wish I could have read more of- but much of it feels rushed (maybe this is related to the magical realism and movement of time). I also enjoyed Lily’s son’s perspective which explores the theme of race and American identity and what it means to feel like an other but look like you belong. This feels like a newer contribution to an important literary theme.

The threads of magical realism were not developed enough. You could blink and miss them. They add little to the plot and take away from the more interesting thread about genetic engineering. I enjoyed the history interwoven into Lily’s mother’s perspective but otherwise, I found myself least invested in her story.

Despite some misses, this book is enjoyable and thought provoking. The writing is strong and distinct from the author’s first book, which is also a great story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGallery for the ARC to review.

This novel takes the reader on a three generation journey but not in a linear order. First we witness a poor, first generation Chinese student, Lily Chen, fall in love with a pharmaceutical heir, marry, and have a son. They then discover a strange connection between their parents. The second part of the novel follows their son in his teen to young adult life - his parents have not been together since he was a baby and he does not even know his father’s identity. The third part of the novel brings the reader back in history so we learn about Lily’s mother’s life in China and how she met Lily’s father and immigrated to the US. Through the story we learn why her relationship with Lily’s father and Lily was always strained - and describes the connection between the families that tore the couple apart.

I was so excited to receive this novel because I enjoy this author’s previous work, however this one fell a bit flat for me. It read really slowly and even though the middle part was the most interesting for me and I enjoyed getting to know Nick (the son) and his life - in the end, I couldn’t connect with any character and the story just couldn’t draw me in enough to love this book. I liked it - just couldn’t love it.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon Vintage and Anchor for the opportunity to review

‘In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made, and if so, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?’

This was my first novel by Rachel Khong and while it was written very well, I floundered a bit.

Real Americans is a smart read with a legitimate feeling of family trauma, sadness and longing.

However, this novel includes a cast of seemingly joyless characters and it felt somber through its entirety leaving me struggling for connections.

That being said, I certainly plan to read more of her work.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 4.30.24

This was a unique and incredibly written character driven novel. If you are more into books with a fast plot, look elsewhere. This is told in 3 POVs, across 3 generations of a family.

Typically, when I find a book "well-written" I find that the prose is wordy and generally more difficult to read but I found REAL AMERICANS to be VERY readable. I flew through it, even though it is quite long. And- quite honestly, I wanted more. I was so immersed into each character's life that I became sad when their POV was over.

As for the POVs, I was wanting more overlap in the characters' interactions and also more overlap in their time periods. When we moved to a different POV, there was a significant time jump, which made for page-turning, but never really gave me the answers to all of the questions I had. So, again. despite the length, I was craving more. However, I think it was intentional.

Now, there were themes in here about DNA/genetics that I wasn't expecting, and in theory it doesn't appear that it'll work, but it really did. It was subtle and didn't overpower the plot even though it very much influenced it. Given the unique aspects of the book overall, this would be a fantastic book club pick with a lot to discuss.