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.

Spanning three generations, this novel starts out in Y2K-era New York. Lily, an unpaid intern, meets Matthew, an heir to a pharmaceutical empire, and as most chance encounters in books or movies go, they fall in love.

Skipping ahead fifteen years, the novel now follows Nico, Lily, and Matthew's son. Interestingly enough, Nico does not remember his father and seeks him out behind his mother's back. But what questions may arise from his reconnecting with a parent who he believes abandoned him?

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I fell in love with this novel. From the heartwarming yet heartbreaking story to the inviting and beautifully written characters, this has officially earned a top spot in my “favorite books of all time” list. Wow, just wow.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found Real Americans (what a title!) absorbing, evocative, and thought-provoking. I'm not always a fan of time lapses or multiple perspectives, but Khong managed them so skillfully - and while I appreciated each of the three sections individually, reflecting a week later, they feel like even more than the sum of their parts.

I think there was SO much contained within this book I'm not sure the magical realism element (staying deliberately vague) was necessary, but I admire the author for experimenting - and for beautifully weaving together so many threads. For readers drawn to immersive, sprawling-yet-precise, multi-generational stories that raise big questions about belonging, fate, and power, I recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for my advance copy.

lily was by far the best part of this and that meant that the book kind of dragged whenever she wasnt part of the narrative. the last third was the weakest imo, but I think one of the most striking parts of this books was lily's love and how it manifested throughout the different sections.

Smart, exploring ideas about our bodies, genetics, cultural alienation, what “optimization” really looks like and what the cost is. Matthew was terribly boring as a husband but an interesting kind of absentee father. There are real moments of emotional devastation. Plenty of coming of age confusion and malaise and stumbling. I’m not sure the class analysis goes that deep here but reading this while watching in tandem with the fall of the house of usher just makes me think…. Ahhh. The poison of wealth, the ultimate quest for perfection and didsatisfaction. i thought the last part was riveting.

This book is full of heart and tenderness. I am an enjoyer of books that revolve around families and span generations. I like reading about families growing up and members figuring out what love is and what their place in their world is. Real Americans gave me that. I like how it talks about identity and about growing as an individual and as a member of a family. It had passages that struck me and Rachel Khong writes emotions so well.\

However, I would say that I kind of started to get bored by the end of the book. The first 2/3 of the book really got me hooked but the pacing of the third just set me a bit off and I was quite disappointed by it even if I was wholly intrigued by every plot point in the book.

Beautifully written! Real Americans, by Rachel Khong ,is a thought provoking and deeply moving novel . Through three generations, the story of May, Lily and Nick unfolds. Exploring what it is to be, as well as be seen as a “real American” and the lengths a parent will go for their child . As secrets of the past are discovered and lives are forever changed you will be drawn in. Highly recommend!

This book left me absolutely speechless—I’m so sad that it’s over! Khong masterfully weaves together three generations as they define what it means to be Real Americans. The writing was gorgeous, and I found myself highlighting passage after passage. I already know I’ll reach for this book again and again.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC. I can’t wait for this to hit shelves!

I adored the first 2/3 of this book, but the last 1/3 fell flat for me. The first 1/3 follows Lily Chen, an immigrant woman doing an unpaid internship in New York City who falls in love with a man who ends up being a pharmaceutical heir — with a strange connection to her parents. The second third follows Chen’s 15-year-old son, Nick, as he navigates life without a father figure. The last 1/3 follows Lily’s mother who immigrated to the United States with Lily. 3.5 stars

I literally gasped at the last sentence of this book. I LOVED the story of this complex family and slowly uncovering the journey this family has endured. It was amazing from start to finish and I enjoyed seeing different perspectives that tied into the mainline of the story.

This was an amazing read and I wish that there had been more to see how Nick, Lily, and May re-connect!

OK, I absolutely loved this book. Multigenerational family sagas told from switching perspectives are my jam, and Real Americans 100% delivered. The narrative structure kept me turning pages (a no small feat since I was traveling the week I picked up my copy!) and the language and pointed observations about what it means to be a person, an American, and an ethical human being will stay with me for a long time. Even though Real Americans deals with complex topics such as immigrant experience and exploration of personal identity and what it’s like to inhabit a white or a non-white body as a person of color, the book is approachable for a wide variety of readers. It’s going to be a great book club pick when it comes out!
Also, one word on science: I have a biomedical sciences PhD and was not bothered by any scientific inaccuracies (a pet peeve of mine!). In fact, I am very impressed by how thoroughly and accurately the science was represented, given the sci-fi angle to the story. It would have been easy to go overboard and paint May’s work as grotesque but I actually found it pretty believable in a way that aligned well with the state of scientific progress at each given time period.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed it immensely.

Thank you to NetGalley and A. A. Knopf for the ARC!

I loved this book. The juxtaposition of 1999 and 2021 is wonderfully done-so many details I'd forgotten about which brought me right back to the Y2K days. The thoughts on race and culture are part of the whole story-which is essentially nurture vs nature but presented in a way that felt new.

An interesting, cerebral exploration of whether or not destiny can be determined genetics, and the ethics of making choices for unborn children. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley!

This was so interesting and surprising, didn’t go where I thought it would at all. I liked the window into the Cultural Revolution and the twist that connects this family. I wished for a bit more emotional exposition, as everyone was so interesting and I believed all their choices, but at times it felt like big things happened and the characters just moved on without reacting. Also felt it sort of lost focus at the end, trying to tie up loose ends and give a satisfying denouement, but overall enjoyed this book very much!
Thanks very much to NetGalley for my copy and introducing me to this author!

Real Americans was an enthralling and beautiful read. With an air of mystery, the book explores the consequences (and possibilities) of DNA alteration and the morality questions that come with it. In my opinion, it goes above and beyond as a story not just about epigenetics but also about the meaning of family history and relationships, immigration, class, race, and love to identity, and how they all intersect. Khong deeply develops each of the three main characters while maintaining the threads and central questions of the story. Altogether excellent, it will stay on my mind for a long time.