Confession: I started reading this. Couldn’t get into it. Had to keep restarting it. And then the audiobook came out and I thought— One more go at it. And away we went. I listened to about two hours of it before I went back to my
Kindle where I have been reading!. What an addicting binge read. I can’t say I love Lilly as much as I wanted to. She’s just not my vibe with the moodiness and all of that, but I couldn’t quit reading this one.

Being half of a totally different culture from who you knew growing up… And what you look like is a weird existence that I am way too familiar with. This one hits home and I officially take back my half assed review and give this one a huge awkward five stars.

I was eager to read this after devouring Goodbye, Vitamin, and though these two books are very different, I nevertheless enjoyed Real Americans.

The book is divided into three parts, and I admit to enjoying the first two much more than the last — there’s something about mother-daughter relationships that just don’t work for me and I think that was at play here. In spite of this, Khong’s excellent writing carried me through to the end, and I will be sitting with the themes of this book for awhile.

Real Americans is, quite simply, as good as everyone says. Rachel Khong weaves the story of Lily Chen, a Chinese-American woman coming into her own as a first-generation child of immigrants; her son, growing up multiracial but passing as white; and her mother, an immigrant and scientist who desire to make the best possible life for her child and grandchild cause deep and painful rifts in her family. This is a story that takes on an almost impossible amount – exploring identity, ambition, family ties, privilege and the morality of genetic editing (so, you know, a few light topics!) – and just about pulls off pulling it together. Some of what Lily’s mom is up to and how that affects her family didn’t quite land for me, but I still found the result to be an impressive feat of storytelling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Real Americans is a multigenerational tale that demonstrates how deep trauma can run through families and how much the choices of parents can affect a child. In the first section of the book, from Lily's perspective, I had so many questions. In Nick's section I was deeply affected and concerned by his emotions. In May's section, my questions were answered but the emotions only heightened. Theirs is a family that so clearly holds love for each other but has a hard time expressing it in healthy ways, which I think almost everyone can relate to in some way or another.

I was very intrigued by the science-fiction-y element of the "time stops" and how they came to be in their family and wish there had been more discussion of it. I also felt like the book ended rather abruptly but understand that as a stylistic choice! I did enjoy the book thoroughly.

This was a fantastic book! I loved how the book was structured with the three POVs, and it wove together perfectly in the end as to why they were in the order that they were. The story explores what it means to be an American, including wealth, class, privilege and race, and the author handled these difficult subjects beautifully. I loved the science aspect of the book. I'll definitely be thinking about this one for awhile.

"But most people in America, those who are fed and clothed and housed, can choose what to care about. From your comfortable position you can decide if you want to know about people in Syria or Myanmar, with the flip of a television switch."

This was tragic, but in a good way. It was a little jarring to be pulled out of Lily and Matthew's storyline and into someone else's, but overall it was a great experience.

I was just telling a couple people that I’ve read a lot of good books in 2024, but not many great books. That recently changed when I finished Real Americans by Rachel Khong, which blew me away!

“How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?”

This character-driven family drama covers three generations and is told in such a unique way that I was captivated the entire time. Real Americans won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I personally loved the family dynamics and how different choices can have rippling effects across time. There was also a minor examination into genetics and the ethics surrounding genetic experimentation that I found absolutely fascinating!

Even after finishing this book a week ago, I’m still wondering what it means to be a “real” American. More so, how much of our lives are predetermined by our familial past versus our own ability to shape our future? This was a complex book with lots of great discussion topics to pore over!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher (Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor) for this advanced copy!

The influence of parenting weighs heavily in this book. May, Lily, her daughter and Nick, Lily’s son all have a story to tell and each has been imprinted with their upbringing and parental desire for them. Lily’s story is first. She is drifting in life. Next is Nick and he is socially inept and was overly controlled by Lily. Last is May, a story of life under belligerent brothers, a mousy mother, and the im[act of Mao Tsetung in China. Both mothers are driven to let their children make their own choices but in reality, stifle them.
A very interesting novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong is an original captivating novel about family, genetics and free will.

A Read With Jenna Pick, Real Americans is receiving a ton of buzz and I see the cover almost everywhere books are promoted. And for good reason. It’s a well-crafted and intriguing story and told in a unique way. It felt more like reading three novellas than one constant novel.

I thought the first two sections, one dedicated to Lily and the other to her son, Nick, were so interesting and I had a hard time putting the story down. But the third section focused on Lily’s mother, May, did not capture my attention like the others.

Overall, I think this is a great story that I found myself quite engaged with. Again, I wish the May section held my attention more but like I said, this is a good novel and I think readers will have much to discuss.

i grew to really care about these characters, a compliment i can give best by saying i'm a multiple perspective hater and yet enjoyed reading from each of this book's three points of view.

unfortunately, this swap — from mother to son to grandmother — left a few gaps that felt inexplicable. we leave one character having abandoned one parent and embraced the other, and return to the opposite with no explanation. things i thought we'd find resolved by character development — the mother's reliance on the son, the son's unwillingness to love, the grandmother's ambition and stubbornness, relationships to power and to wealth, the grandfather and father themselves — we similarly find either magically fixed or unchanged by the end. its central theme, revolving around genetics and race and money and class and what makes us who we are, similarly stuttered out.

while i liked a lot about this, i thought it didn't register the whole point of family dramas. i knew these characters in some ways, but i didn't know the bonds between them.

4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5

I requested this book on NetGalley, but in the meantime, pre-ordered it because I wanted it so much! I honestly don't remember that much about Goodbye Vitamin (though I did read it and give it 4 stars), but the premise of this book sounded really good to me. And I was sucked in from the start!

I’m truly a family saga girlie at heart and this one covers three generations of a family with a really unique and intriguing story. It’s definitely a character-driven book, but I also loved that the plot went in directions I wasn’t expecting.

The first part of the book focuses on 20-something Lily living in NYC in the 90s, the second on 15-year-old Nick in Washington state in 2021, and the third on Mei in San Francisco in the year 2030, but also goes back to her childhood in China. I don’t even want to tell you how they’re all related because, for me, the unraveling of the story is my favorite thing. There’s a little bit of science and genetics involved and some of it confused me a bit at times, but ultimately I loved the added depth it gave the story.

Some people are saying the book is too long, but I thought it was just perfect and probably would have been willing to read even more. Especially about Lily's life and relationship.

I definitely recommend Real Americans to anyone who enjoys family sagas that have lots of depth!

I requested an advanced e-galley before I heard any hype about this one. The premise sounded intriguing and I had heard great things about this author’s previous book. Knowing I usually love @readwithjenna book club picks, I was even more excited when Real Americans was selected for May.

This book is divided into three sections, three POV’s and three timelines. In my opinion, neither of these parts felt cohesive and came across as disjointed and confusing. What was the point of it being titled Real Americans? In my opinion, there were no profound takeaways and any attempt at a deeper message was poorly executed.

I can look past some of the fails I listed above if there is really good writing. Unfortunately, it was “unimpressive” at best. The narration was either very robotic or came across as YA.

Overall this book lacked in too many areas for it to be enjoyable for me. I felt like I really didn’t “get” this book.

Thank you to #netgalley and @aaknopf for my complimentary e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher for gifted advance copy of 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙨! It's available now.

This is an achingly beautiful family saga about three generations of a Chinese-American family. The story is told in three parts which almost read like separate novels. What began as the first part in Lily’s story in the late 1990’s was actually the middle of the timeline.

Lily is the daughter of Chinese scientists who fled to America during Mao’s brutal Cultural Revolution. Lily and her mother May have a fraught relationship, which Lily sees as her mother feeling disappointed in her life choices. Lily yearns for the kinds of easy relationships her American friends have with their parents but she is always walking on eggshells with her own. (“𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.”)

Lily meets a wealthy white man named Matthew and falls in love even though she never feels quite his equal. She struggles with their class differences even though Matthew distances himself from his family’s great wealth. When she travels to China and meets an old acquaintance of her mother, and especially once she has her own child, she begins to see her mother in a new light. (“𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”)

The very poignant second and third parts of the novel are Lily’s son’s Nick and May’s story. From the rural countryside of China to San Francisco, the book spans generations and asks the age-old question, can two people from very different socioeconomic classes ever overcome their differences? This ambitious novel covers a lot of ground, from the brutality of China’s communist party to New York City at Y2K to tech startups in Silicon Valley. There is also scientific discussion of genetics and the ethics surrounding genetic experimentation. I won’t soon forget these characters. This book is easily one of my favorite books of the year.

I alternated between listening to the audiobook and reading. Highly recommend listening if you’re a fan of audiobooks!

“Real Americans” by Rachel Khong is a stunning family saga of American identity, spanning three generations of a Chinese American family.

The novel begins on the brink of the year 2000 in New York City, where we meet Lily Chen, a young intern navigating the complexities of her young life, balancing career and love. Her relationship with Matthew, an heir to a pharmaceutical empire, sets the stage for a story that delves deep into themes of class, race, and the pursuit of the American dream.

As the story unfolds, we are introduced to Nick, Lily’s teenage son, who grapples with his own sense of belonging. His quest for identity and understanding of his mother’s secretive past is an ever present theme.

The final thread of the story is told through May, Lily’s mother, whose reflections on her youth during China’s Cultural Revolution and her subsequent life in the United States offer a rich historical base and a personal perspective on her life as an intelligent and educated Chinese woman.

Khong’s prose is stunning and moving, seamlessly weaving together the personal and the complicated norms this story introduces you to. The characters are interesting, with their flaws and aspirations displayed in such a way that is both compassionate and believable. The novel’s structure gives you time for the deep dive you want to spend in each character’s world.

“Real Americans” is one of the best stories I have read so far in 2024. It is a story that asks us to consider whether we are destined by our past or if we have the power to shape our own futures. With its bold and thoughtful examination of life’s biggest questions, Khong’s novel is a testament to the power of storytelling in understanding who we are and what it means to come home. I would highly recommend this to your book club and I can't wait to tell everyone I know about this book.

Real Americans is a true generations family drama, told in three parts by three different generations of the family. I loved Lily’s part, got a little bored in Nick’s, and then loved May’s at the end which tied everything together. In additional to the typical roots of family trauma, there is a sci-fi aspect to this one that honestly went a little over my head, but added a compelling element to the story.

The writing is incredible and I’ll keep picking up anything Khong writes.

I’m very torn about my thoughts on this book: on one hand, I thought it was beautiful and emotional, and on the other hand, I feel like I didn’t understand it.

The writing is phenomenal. We follow the lives of three relatives: Lily; her son, Nick; and her mother, May. We dive deeply into the lives of each, and I found myself so attached to every character, feeling tense when they were in trouble and happy when , they encountered luck. They are such well, rounded characters, you root for them because they are good people, but we are also privy to parts of them that are not entirely complementary. Especially the part about May, which leans well into historical fiction which is not my typical preferred genre, had me completely hooked.

And yet, there was a throughline of science and time that I just couldn’t grasp. There was a recurring theme about time standing still, and I struggled to understand whether it was real or some sort of science fiction. And the plot that related to genetics went completely over my head.

The book was masterfully written and highlights the question about what it means to be a real American – is there even one definition. Were any, or all, of our three protagonists real Americans? This was a beautiful multi generational story that raises so many questions about identity, family, and success, and I won’t soon forget it.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy and exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

This started out strong - but I quickly grew frustrated.

-The first main character, Lily, is so immature, bland, and self sabotaging. I love an anti-hero, but she was just void of any personality, ambition, passion, or saving grace. I didn’t get a strong sense of her at all - she was fickle about her attitude about microaggressions and using Matthew’s wealth. Then she felt like a completely different character in the context of being Nick’s mom - yet another inconsistency. Both Lily and Mae were so unlikeable, it was hard to be empathetic toward their masochistic, whining cycles.

-The one-dimensional white saviors Matthew and Nick were unfortunately the heroes of the story - repeatedly offering grace, money, and forgiveness to the actual intended protagonists. Each plot point was pushed forward by the white men, which made me uncomfortable. It definitely felt like I was reading The Help. Isn’t this 2024? I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was written by a white guy.

This was a stunning multi-generational novel! I was completely captivated from the start and equally fascinated by all three storylines/POVs as well as the historical and scientific aspects. The writing was emotional, mesmerizing and thought-provoking; I didn’t want to put it down and I know I will thinking about it for a while! The questions it posed about identity, belonging, the choices we make, family, destiny, class (I could go on!!) were instantly relatable. Along with The Women, this one will likely end up in my top reads of 2024 list and highly recommend it for AANHPI month!

I really have some mixed feelings about this novel. While I find it to be quite riveting, somehow the story overall fell short of my expectations. Real Americans follows the story of 3 generations of a Chinese-American family starting with Lily, the daughter of Chinese parents who emigrate to the US. This was not only a story of race and family but one of genetics, too. Overall the story felt unfinished and what could have been a stellar book was just good.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for this ARC.

How do you rate a book that doesn't quite deliver on its promise, and yet is still a riveting read?

Told through the perspectives of three generations of a family, Real Americans follows Lily as she finds the love of her life, Nick through his high school and college days as he gains independence, and Mei in her old age as she recounts what really happened all those years ago.

Of the three accounts, I feel like Lily's and Nick's boil down to coming-of-age stories, no matter how you try couch it in fancier, more racially-interesting terms. And I think that's where my mismatched expectations resulted in some disappointment. I was expecting more of a deep dive into what it means to grow up Chinese-American, but this only just scratches the surface.

The book tries to tackle so many worthwhile subjects—what it means to belong, a mother's love and expectations for her child, immigration and assimilation, having wealth and privilege, affirmative action, racism. You name it, it feels like it's in this book. If you're thinking to yourself, wow that's a lot, yes it is. And maybe that's the problem.

With so many topics, how do you achieve a meaningful look into any one of them? Well, I'm not sure you can. You can only superficially acknowledge them for a few pages, or even just a paragraph here and there, and that's about it. Every time I came across an interesting observation, I'd get excited, only to have the book immediately abandon it and move onto the next thing.

Throughout the whole story, there is this feeling that the good part is coming and I'm imminently about to stumble upon it. And this feeling propelled me through the book. I kept turning the pages, waiting with anticipation at what were sure to be astonishing revelations. But they never really materialized to my satisfaction.

I did find Mei's portion to be the most interesting and compelling. Hers was more than just a coming-of-age tale. She talks about what it's like to grow up during the Cultural Revolution, at a time of famine, when neighbor turned on neighbor, and every sort of intellectual aspiration was viewed as a punishable offense. I can't help but be drawn towards this part of Chinese history. It was the defining event of my parents' youth, yet they hardly ever talk about it.

The other interesting part of Mei's tale is the focus on the science that is central to this book, especially the ethics of gene editing and selection. But here again, it feels like the story got just close enough to tantalize, then immediately backed off, as if afraid to take anything other than a superficial stance on a potentially controversial topic.

I did want to mention the writing style. It came across as rather choppy at first, with lots of random observations and intense bursts of information, all the while keeping the reader at arm's length emotionally. It was a bit jarring initially, but then I hardly noticed anymore after a few chapters. So either I acclimated to it or the writing smoothed out. Either way, if you're having trouble at the start, don't let it prevent you from going a little further.

The entire time reading this book, I could feel the potential. There was this electric buzz that at any moment, this was going to become an amazing read. And it almost got there, but then somehow it didn't. Underneath this riveting story, there is a missed opportunity to really say something new and insightful about a host of worthwhile topics. Instead, this book skirts around them, giving brief nods to all but never more than that. It wasn't as good as Goodbye Vitamin, but I'm glad I read it.