Multi-generational story. Lily's scientist parents immigrated to the USA from China. Their desire to raise
their daughter as a n American meant a home where only English was spoken in the house and the
food was strictly American. Lily has no knowledge of the Chinese culture or language. Unfortunately, she
lives in a world that always identifies her as Asian.
Nick, Lily's son, only knows that is father is white and he resembles him.. Lily has told him that
she parted on bad terms with his father Matthew and agreed to cut off contact. When Nick submits a
DNA sample, he discovers that his father is eager to see him. While he starts secretly seeing Matthew,
his relationship with Lily changes, not for the better.
Then there's May, Liliy's mother, who left China during the Cultual Revolutiuon so she could continue
her study of genetics. As May's past is revealed and her surprising connection to Matthew's family,
the impact of her choices on Lily's and Nick's lives are revealed.
#RealAmericans #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, what a great start to 2024.

This book, the way it pulled me in and I just couldn’t let go. I absolutely think it’s in my top 10 of all time now. I love that it’s in three parts and even if you flashback to a moment, it’s not throwing you off course.

Lily is such a soft, but strong character. Navigating through life and identity, one battle at a time.

This book is like a modern day Joy Luck Club, as cliche as that may sound. But seeing how culture, the American dream, family, marriage will always be topics in books for generations to come, it’s understandable.

Please get this book, recommend it for the next book club meeting, gift to your book loving friends.

This book wasn’t bad. It was a bit slow to get started and then it did grab my attention and had me wanting to keep reading but the ending to me was not what I expected

For this particular review, I'm attempting a new tactic whereby I write a full month after reading the book.

The result: I can firmly say that, although I enjoyed the novel, it didn't leave a strong impression on me. I credit this to ambitious but "clunky" storytelling. Light spoilers follow.

what I appreciated:
- There's plenty of potential in the bare bones. We follow the perspectives of three individuals from one family. The first of these protagonists is Lily, the daughter of two Chinese immigrants. Fresh out of college and dipping into a large city's workforce, she struggles with her identity, with balancing the circumstances that have brought her to the present and figuring out how to make her future. That, in and of itself, posits plenty of exploratory opportunity.
- This novel doesn't shy away from telling everyone that familial connections are complicated.
- There's an air of mystery that is present throughout all three sections. Things feel unaddressed, unfinished, open-ended— it captures the feeling of knowing your present but being in the dark about the past and being unable to fully grasp what the future holds. All of that to say, I think the author did well in capturing that type of atmosphere.

where it falls short:
- The transitions between the three perspectives were particularly abrupt. Just when one character approaches a moment that can/will change the trajectory of their life... Time-skip. Perspective shift. I can imagine that this is done as an attempt to build anticipation; I don't think it was as effective as it was immersion-breaking.
- The third perspective takes a jump backward in time, and there's something about it that feels somewhat detached from the rest of the novel. Part of it is the nature of the revelations, how it finally gives answers to questions that have been long-present while also taking a genre-bending turn.
- The best way I can describe the experience of reading is akin to my experience with writing this review: my mind has felt scattered over how to best organize and present my thoughts. The book also tends to feel scattered at certain points, and it has a tendency to introduce certain conflicts without fully committing to or thoroughly exploring their complexities. One example is the child-and-parent dynamics. We see that each pairing (for example, Lily and her mom versus Lily and her son) operates differently, but the exploration is surface level, often relying on what is told via monologue versus actual interaction.

As an aside, I wonder if the book may have benefited from positioning the perspectives differently. Writing the story chronologically might have made for a cohesive reading experience, albeit at the cost of that "mystery" that hangs over the readers' heads. At any rate, I will say this:

Real Americans is a case of fascinating story with convoluted execution. It always leaves you wanting more in a way— more of a certain character or more exploration of a particular relationship or concept. I can imagine this book being picked for some sort of club, and can immediately name a handful of discussion topics off the top of my head. Although I believe there's still a fair amount left to be desired, I also think it's worth the chance of reading, for its sheer ambition.

My thanks to the author (Rachel Khong), the publisher (Knopf), and NetGalley for providing the eARC through which I was able to read and write this review.

I picked up this one with zero expectations and was blown away. Real Americans is a family saga, told in three parts from the viewpoints of a Chinese American daughter, her son, and her mother. It's about family secrets, sacrifices, and the things parents will do to ensure their children will have a good life. The writing is absolutely beautiful and at times, I had to go back and re-read a sentence just to savor it. The main characters were all good, ethical people who had to make tough choices. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended!

Real Americans is a tragic story of life in America for the Chinese immigrants that come seeking freedom and a better life, as well as those born in America that face the same judgement, despite their citizenship. Told from three different points of view: May, the mother of Lily and an immigrant that fled China during the rise of Communism; Lily, May's daughter; and Nick (also known as Nico), Lily's son. All three are challenged with life for different reasons. To protect her son, Lily takes him and keeps him away from his father and raises him on her own on the West Coast. When Nick becomes a teenager about to graduate high school, he seeks out his father, to confront him about why he left them alone. What he finds is a history frought with ethically questionable situations that he could never have fathomed. Nick resents his mother for taking him from his father when he learns the truth, but subsequently resents his father for never making it right. Along the way, he learns a deep secret between them that he wants them all to make right.

This is an excellent portrayal of what life is like for those who do not fit the mold of a proper American. Not white, not rich, and certainly not upholding the ideal. A great tale of real life, behind the scenes in America, hidden in plain sight.

Oh man, I think this is my favorite book I've read in a LONG time. It's hard to even know how to describe the plot, and I think it's almost best not knowing much going in. This is the multi generational story of a family told from three perspectives during 2001 New York City, 2021 Washington State, and 1974 China during the Cultural Revolution. I loved each character more than the last, and the story was artfully structured and came together in the end as a beautiful puzzle. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time and urge everyone to read it. I'm going to read this author's backlog now, because her writing style and storytelling abilities have me in absolute awe. All the stars for Real Americans!

Absolutely gorgeous. I savored this book for as long as I could, which admittedly, was not long because of how propulsive the story is. This is an ambitious novel, covering so many topics of head, heart and science, but it is smart and skillful, and Khong treats her characters with so much dignity. I was reminded of Celeste Ng, as other reviewers have suggested, but I think Khong is more tender with her protagonists. Their growth feels real. The story they inhabit feels real, even with just the touch of magic present here. I cannot wait for the world to read this book, and I am so grateful to NetGalley and to Alfred Knopf for my advanced copy. What a triumph.

Reading this book is like walking barefoot through a river. You’ll definitely feel things. And they’ll be hard to forget.

4.5 stars. Good things! Makes you think. Would be a great book club book, methinks.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for this advance copy. I loved everything about this book in theory. The look at the different generations of the same family across many decades and contrasting their different lived experiences sounds like the perfect read for me. But I found the pacing to be very slow and I struggled to stay engaged. I think this is just a matter of my personal taste. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy a character driven family drama with multiple POVs.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Real Americans takes place in the era of Y2K...Lily meets Matthew, and they are opposites... who fall in love against all odds.

Fast forward 21 years, and Nick's story unfolds. He lives in NY with his mother, Lily and he can't quite figure out what she is keeping with him.

As he digs into his past to try to find his father, he starts to unearth things that his mother would rather keep hidden. As this involves science, I found this pretty fascinating. The lengths that people will go through to keep their past and secrets hidden to avoid destroying loved ones, is amazing.

Great book - highly recommend!

"Real Americans" by Rachel Khong offers a captivating exploration of identity, family, and the pursuit of destiny across three generations. Khong's narrative effortlessly transports readers from the precipice of Y2K in New York City to the isolated Washington island in 2021, weaving together the stories of Lily Chen and her son Nick as they navigate questions of belonging and heritage. With immersive prose and thought-provoking themes of class, race, and forgiveness, Khong crafts a compelling tale that challenges readers to consider the influence of both nature and nurture on our lives. "Real Americans" is a rich and exuberant social novel that leaves a lasting impression, inviting readers to ponder the complexities of self-discovery and the power of choice.

A story told from multi-generations... and just when I really got settled into the story, it jumped to another member of the family leaving lots of loose thread and holes in the story.

However, Khong does a good job of tying most of the threads together as she brings the story to its conclusion, and no spoilers here, but the ending left me wanting more!

More importantly, Khong has the reader consider family, destiny, how much control do we have over our children, what our choices mean for those around us, and the strength of the family bond.

The writing is really beautiful and Khong made me think about so many things... for long after I finished the story!

I highly recommend. I give this book 4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the digital copy of this book. The book will be published April 30, 2024.

REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong to be published April 30, 2024

I was lucky enough to receive an early gifted copy thanks to @aaknopf.

Unfortunately, this very buzzy book was a let down.

The novel is organized into three sections that feel like three different books. First, Lily narrates her meet-cute with her eventual husband, Matthew. In the second section, Lily’s son takes over and we get a lot of angst and typical coming-of agey-type things as he moves through young adulthood, and in the third section we follow Lily’s mother growing up in China under harrowing circumstances.

This book is trying to do way too much without exploring anything deeply enough. I was hoping that Khong would examine assimilation in America in a way that would cause me to view the issue new or differently, but that was not the case. In fact, I don’t really understand the relevance of the title to the story she told. Yes, there are some references to the Chinese immigrant experience in America, but that was not the main thrust of the book. Now that I think about it, I’m not actually sure there was a main thrust. The characters made unrelatable choices and didn’t communicate with each other in a realistic way – there was no reason for them to be so secretive about their past and it made everyone feel flat and disconnected from each other. And it caused the three stories to feel disconnected as well. The magical realism was frustrating and unnecessary. There was no resolution or growth for pretty much any of the characters.

This was a miss for me!

Link to come.

What does it mean to truly belong? Who is a "real American?"

Real Americans is a sweeping epic of a novel that traces three generations of Chinese Americans as they wrestle with their destinies in America.

May is a scientist who fled China during Mao's Cultural Revolution. She gave up a great love and settled for a man that could provide her with a new life that would give her the freedom and the opportunity to forward her important scientific work in the field of genetics.

Lily is May's daughter who is unsure of her life direction and lacks the drive and the need to succeed of her immigrant parents. Her fate however becomes intermingled with Matthew Maier, an heir to a pharamaceutical empire. His wealth and privilege is light years away from the life that Lilly has led and the struggles that she has faced. Can their love surmount those daunting obstacles?

Nick is Lily's son who wants answers to the past that his mother has kept carefully hidden. He is determined to seek out the father he has never known and to find answers to the questions he has that demand answers. Little does he realize what those answers will do to life as he knows it.

All three viewpoints are told in intersecting timelines as we journey with the characters towards both realization and redemption.

This novel fascinated me. It's themes of belonging and acceptance are universal, but Khong just presented them in wholly unique ways and I became completely immersed in May, Lily, and Nick's stories.

I feel like this is a perfect book club pick-Jenna? Reese? Anyone?-just because there is so much discussion that could result from the different plot lines and themes. *I'm being vague purposefully to avoid spoilers.

DO NOT miss this one! It's a unique reading experience.

What I liked
-the writing is easy to read (it took me ~5 hours to finish)
-interesting ideas here and there (unfortunately none are fully-developed. See next part)
-I can see this being a good book club book. Lots of interesting topics for discussion! (I can see BOTM picking this for April/May 😆)

(I’m running out of good things to say 🙈)
-a pretty cover
-GOODBYE, VITAMIN was great - please read it if you haven’t already
-this is the first I’ve read about “imprinting” as an epigenetics therapy in fiction. A great day for science literacy 🤷🏻‍♀️
-a solid introduction to Asian literature (???

What didn’t work for me
-A LOT of telling

-each section focuses on a different POV. But especially for sections 1 & 2, they end right after a big event happens that’s supposed to change the character. And then we stop there 😅 It was frustrating to trudge through loads of descriptions of food, architecture, events, yet stop right when these flawed characters are supposed to develop. It’s like seeing before vs after pictures of these characters as we move through the story chronologically, without knowing why they made their decisions this way

-the beginning of part 3 is the strongest in terms of character development but quickly dissolves into a mishmash of cultural revolution history x science fiction x social commentary on inequality

-I think it’s trying to do too much without fully committing to any idea. It wants to be a multigenerational family saga but lacks the sprawling historical feel. it wants to be a coming-of-age of finding belonging but stops short of developing characters through their darkest moments. it wants to be sci-fi but just throws around big terms. It wants to be a complex mother daughter relationship lit fic but what is that ending 🫠

-so. many. overwritten. tropes. The Asian women x white men trope is getting a little tiring for me to read especially when it’s repeatedly pointed out in part 1 without adding anything new to the conversation. Same with wealth inequality, being white passing, etc. again, the book just throws around these ideas in short bursts without diving deeper into them

-idk if it’s intentional but there’s a lot of unresolved internalized racism from Lily’s POV(part 1). Compounded with the lack of emphasis of solidarity, it sometimes reads like the three MCs are just whining about how people around them have disappointed them (rightfully so) but without committing to building community themselves. There are instances where I feel each MC is also perpetuating white supremacy but they either aren’t aware of it or don’t care when it’s used for their own gain 🥲 Maybe that the author’s intention in having unlikable characters (and not developing them into relatable people), I just feel there’s such a lack of love for community in this book

Real Americans connects the stories of a grandmother, her daughter and her grandson in three parts. Rachel Khong has described the immigrant experience of Lily whose parents are Chinese scientists in Florida. Lily meets the ultra rich Matthew in NYC. Though she has some trouble living in his world, the two fall in love and marry. Years later she gives birth to Ben but something tears the marriage apart and Part 2 is told from the viewpoint of Ben beginning in his high school years outside of Seattle. The final section of the book is narrated by May, Lily’s mother who immigrated from China seeking a better life. Throughout the book there are secrets interwoven and slowly revealed in the story. Like the double helix her parents study, Lily’s family and Matthew’s keep coming together and moving apart over many years. In addition to being a solid plot, Khong raises several issues involving genetics that I found very interesting as a former scientist teacher.

Real Americans is a stirring novel that spans 3 generations.
Rachel Khong explores many themes including class, race, family and genetics.
It's an insightful book.

I was enraptured from beginning to end. The different perspectives of the characters were easy to follow but didn't feel like I know exactly what happens with each and why they did what they did. Will definitely be recommending this to others.

I liked that this story was told from three different points of view that is my favorite type of story. This story is about rac, class and identity. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more books from Rachel Khong.