I am settling myself down with the reality that I will not be able to do this book justice, and that my praise will sound over the top. I have over the top feelings about this book. The writing is just. so. good. You could just coast on the fact that the plot moves so swiftly, and the characters feel so real, but there are also just the perfect sentences. There is a moment in the middle of the book when a character simply says, "Oh...we did," and you know his entire heart is breaking, and your heart is breaking too. Rachel Khong knows not to say too much, but when she says that love is like a "cooked fish" with its face peeled back, you don't need any other words.

I don't remember reading a book recently where I was as invested in the characters as I was in May, Charles, Lily, Matthew, and Nick. Every main character is significant. This is a mother/daughter book, a mother/son book, a first love book, a book about Class and Race, and immigration and ambition...I don't know how all of these topics are explored so thoroughly, but they are. And there are three different timelines! I am in awe.

Sometimes literary fiction feels like sad old trees and men just talking at you. This book feels like a life you have lived, and you yearn for it again. You cannot be separate from what is happening to these characters. I gasped a lot. I cried. I lost sleep. And even though I finished the book 24 hours ago, I don't know that it will ever leave me. I mull over my favorite lines again. I wish the best for everyone (Matthew and Ping!!!), and I turn back to Khong's words that make me feel less alone.

In the end, I don't know how to summarize or recommend Real Americans. I love it with my whole heart, and that's all there is.

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

I had not read any of Rachel Khong's previous works so I was not sure what to expect with Real Americans.

This book is told in three different parts and from three different point of view. Part one is Lily's story who is the second generation in the family. Part two is Nick's story who is the third generation of the family. And finally Mei aka May is the third part and is the matriarch of the family.

Lily's story is of a young girl living in NYC trying to eek by a living while being an unpaid intern at an online travel magazine. She meets and falls in love with the heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. As the only child of Chinese immigrants and an ABC (American Born Chinese) she has nothing in common with the heir, Matthew. But love does not follow social norms and the two fall in love.

Nick, who lives with his mother on a small island on the west coast, has lived a sheltered life. With it being only his mom, Lily, and him, Nick does not feel like he fits in and starts questioning his heritage.

Mei tells her story from 2030. Mei has the piece of the puzzle that Lily and Nick so desperately want and need. Mei's story is one of hardship and hard work.

Science and genetics play a large role in this story. Khong did a good job at balancing the science aspect along with the human side of the story. She also did a good job of each POV having a distinct voice.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: a family drama spanning 70+ years where three generations go through multiples events and changes along with many secrets.

What I liked: this is literary fiction at it finest. We start at the turn of the millennium and meet Matthew and Lily. Matthew and Lily have a brief relationship while they work at the same agency. They reconnect several years later and rekindle their love. While Matthew is from a blue blooded American pharmaceutical family, Lily is from a family of immigrants that escaped mao’s cultural revolution. Lily doesn’t know much about her family history and doesn’t feel connected. She travels to China with Matthew and has her child nick early but also learns more about her parents especially her mother. At the end of part 1 she discovers a family secret that changes everything. Part 2 starts with 15 year nick also feeling isolated living with Lily. I really liked this part of him discovering more about his history and family. Finally part 3 brings it all together with the grandmothers story and how their history crosses. Rachel Kong’s prose throughout the book is beautiful. She provides enough information to keep you yearning for more and plenty to think about. I really thought about the themes and how she played with opposites to keep you thinking. I did get a hard copy for my shelves because I feel like I will revisit this later.

This is out now and a read with Jenna pick. Please do pick up and I know it will be a good bookclub choice.

Real Americans will have you hooked from the very first chapter. It's a Y2K family drama that tackles themes of race, class, inheritance, and family secrets. This book is told from alternating perspectives and each section manages to punch you in the gut in a different way. This book reads like a coming of age story and while it focuses on three generations of a family, friendship is also central to the plot. How do we become who we become and what do we inherit from our parents? I loved this book...

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for this ARC.

Real Americans came out yesterday. It is a multigenerational family saga told in three parts from three different points of view. This story is incredibly character driven and explores themes of belonging and how our choices impact those we love.

I really struggled with the first part as it dragged a lot. The story starts as a love story and I found it difficult to connect to the characters. Over time the story became more layered and my connection to the characters grew, especially with Nick. Im still confused by some of the story and some weird things happen that I don’t want to give away but this story really made me think.

This novel took me on a roller coaster ride. At first, I almost DNF'd because it seemed like a story about a new adult with extreme confidence and esteem problems. Once she and Matthew got married, however, the pace picked up and we were climbing the arc. It stayed during Nico's story as a youth, but then began to descend again when we jumped 10-15 years to a more adult Nick. Mae's backstory in China was interesting (and now I want to read more about the Cultural Revolution), but it bogged down again when she starts explaining her relationship to Otto.

There just seemed to be too much here for me. An immigrant story. A speculative fiction story (or is it real?). A mother on-the-run story. Several coming-of-age stories. I liked parts of most of them, but together it was too much. I also wanted more details on the speculative fiction part - not a text book but a better idea of how that would really work.

Real Americans tells the story of 3 generations over the course of their lifetimes. Lily, Nick and May are part of the same family but as a result of their upbringings and ethnic backgrounds navigate the world differently. Lily is the daughter of 2 Chinese immigrants who were displaced following the Cultural Revolution. She grows up seeing a dysfunctional relationship, and with expectations that she feels she can never fully meet. She struggles to feel sufficiently Chinese or American. Her life trajectory is altered forever when she meets and marries an affluent white man. Nick is Lily's son, but physically takes after his father and is fully white passing. He grows up yearning to be in touch with his roots and spends his life reconciling his family dynamic. May is the grandmother, who grew up during the throes of the Cultural Revolution. She makes tremendous sacrifices to move to the United States and raise her daughter with the circumstances that were never available for her.

Not only was the prose beautiful and the family drama interesting to be privy to, but reading this made me question what being a "Real American" is. As a Vietnamese American daughter of immigrants, I resonated with much of what Lily and Nick felt and also could understand May's motivations. The tension between being Chinese and American and discussions of reconciling conflicting cultural backgrounds was executed beautifully.

Lastly, I really appreciated the discussions of how, despite the strides we have made to level the playing field for men and women, career and financial mobility for women is still restricted and often dictated by men.

I was a little confused by the magical realism aspect of this novel and how that was relevant to the plot, but that didn't detract from my overall enjoyment. Highly recommend reading this, especially if you identify as AAPI.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!

(Thanks to @aaknopf #gifted.) ⚠️Unpopular Opinion Alert⚠️ I’m going to be an outlier on 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗦 by Rachel Khong. This highly anticipated book is already beloved by many and I loved parts of it, too. Unfortunately, I also disliked parts, but let’s begin with the positive.⁣⁣
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This is a story told in three parts and throughout the book Khong’s writing is truly beautiful. I highlighted SO often. Her three main characters are rich, singular and well developed. Whether I liked them or not, I felt like I knew them. I was enthralled by the first third of the book and enjoyed the references of what it is to be a real American that were a thread running through this story. I flew through the first part and didn’t really ever slow down. ⁣⁣
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In the second section, I began to struggle. The first two parts of the story were very linear and that left a lot of holes that began to frustrate me. But, my biggest complaint has to do with certain elements that I guess you’d have to call magical realism? Fantasy? Sci-fi? I’m not sure, but they definitely took me out of the story and felt like overly convenient devices to move the plot. ⁣⁣
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I still hoped that I’d end up loving this book as I began the third section. Sadly, it was my least favorite part. It just felt so slow and was a jarring switch from the rest of the book. I understand why Khong needed it. I just didn’t enjoy it. There were attempts to explain the magical elements, but they also required too high a level of blind acceptance for me. On a positive note, I found the very end of the story to be touching, but at that point I was most happy to be done. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

In this particular novel, Khong presents a unique and engaging perspective on generational stories, which deviates from my usual literary preferences. However, her writing style is approachable and the narrative is captivating. I found it necessary to recalibrate my expectations and recognize that the heart of this novel lies in the family unit, its past, and its future. While secondary characters make fleeting appearances, it is the family as a whole that truly drives the story.



The novel is divided into three perspectives: Lily, her son Nick, and her mother May. Each character's story is beautifully crafted, though some sections outshine others. Surprisingly, I wished for a longer exploration of certain plot points. It is possible that certain portions were omitted in the editing process.



May's personal history is expertly conveyed, however, the sudden shift to her perspective towards the end required more time for me to acclimate to. It appears that May's story was the focal point for Khong, and the packaging of the novel does not do it justice.

Real Americans was engaging and left me wanting. I wanted more time with every character. I cared for each of them and was stressed about their well being.

The absence of more makes the reader question and analyze what is there. What this story is made of is the family, in different stages, with different moments of connection or distance. And I believe this is the story Khong wanted to tell.

It is not a book of resolutions. It is book of regret and mistakes and the family one dreams of creating.

I really admired the idea of this and there were parts of it that I loved: the cross-generational focus of this and what the story says about the immigrant/first gen/second gen experience.

It's the story of a grandmother who fled China during the Cultural Revolution, her daughter Lily in Y2K NYC and her grandson Nick, a high school student in the current day living in the PNW.

I was expecting a family story, but at times the book felt like three separate stories about people who barely knew each other. The stories are also told out of order (part 3 technically takes place in 2030 but it's all about what happened in the 1970s.)

Every reader of this book seems to have their favorite character/part and none of us agree. Though I lived Lily's life when I got to NYC, scrounging free food and such, I have to say that Nick's college tours had me laughing-crying. Mei's part was obviously the most harrowing.

There was also a magical realism element that for me was a bit confusing.

But in any case, I will keep an eye on this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful book by Rachel Khong - just picked as the May 2024 Read with Jenna Book Club pick. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

This story opens on the precipice of Y2K in NYC. Lily, daughter of Chinese immigrants, is an unpaid intern at a media company and meets Matthew at a company party. Matthew is the scion of a wealthy family and offers Lily an unimaginable life. They marry and then have a son. We are next introduced to Nick, living on an island off Washington with Lily, who has kept him completely sheltered from his father and grandmother, as well as the world at large. With prodding from a friend, he eventually finds out who is father is. The next part of the story has Nick graduated and working, and he meets Mei, Lily's mother, and she tells him her backstory in China.

This is an amazing story and is going to be a fabulous book club pick because there is so much to ponder here, all wrapped up in beautifully-written prose. I loved how the different generations' stories were told - not necessarily in order, but letting us know the characters before filling in all the backstories. The big question that this will have you thinking about is choice - are we the product of our choices, or are those made for us? It will have you feeling so lucky to be born when and where you were - but is that all down to luck? An exploration of classism and racism, as well as the concept of time. Can too much money be just a struggle as not enough? I could go on and on - so very much to think about but I loved every page!

This novel was absolutely brilliant. It spans 3 points of view over different decades (even a point into the near future). It was interesting to see the main characters face similar struggles despite being in different points in time. I found myself pausing and reflecting a lot throughout reading Real Americans. There is just so much depth within the storyline. This novel really made me ponder the idea of the "American Dream".

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor , Net Galley, Rachel Khong for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I loved this intergenerational, magical-ish story about free will, fate, and the ties that bind families. I found myself wanting more of each character when their section was done.

Three generations grapple with identity and culture through life challenges that pull them apart and push them back together again. Along the way, each person must decide whether they will embrace the complications of their lives or denounce everything. Author Rachel Khong’s plot of three main characters offers prose with gravity but the wrong story order in her latest book Real Americans.

In the weeks and months leading up to the year 2000 in New York City, college student Lily Chen is trying to figure out if the media company where she works is her true calling. Unlike many of her classmates at NYU who seem to have their whole lives figured out, Lily can’t decide what her life’s big ambition should be. Her parents are both scientists, but genetic mutations and biology never interested Lily much. The trouble is, she doesn’t know what does.

At a company party, Lily meets Matthew and is in awe of how easy everything seems for him. A big part of this is Matthew’s access to money. Not only is he a successful hedge fund manager, he’s also the heir to an enormous pharmaceutical company and the wealth it produces. Matthew doesn’t want to rely on his family’s money, he says, but he also doesn’t hesitate to do so when a situation warrants.

Despite her doubts about herself in their relationship, Lily and Matthew fall in love and get married. When their son, Nick, is born, a terrible secret comes to light that causes Lily’s doubts to resurface. She takes Nick and leaves Matthew for good.

Twenty years later, Nick is growing up on an island a ferry ride away from Seattle and feeling restless. He and his mother look nothing alike; she’s small, petite, and decidedly Chinese. Matthew is tall, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed. It’s hard enough to field the surprise by strangers who meet the mother-son pair, but Nick doesn’t even need their questions for him to have doubts about himself.

His mother is closed off and doesn’t share anything about his birth father. After insisting to the point of exhausting her, Nick gets Lily to tell him Matthew’s name and reaches out to him. The connection, however, only does more to confuse Nick about his past and himself.

A chance encounter with his grandmother, Lily’s mother May, takes Nick on an emotional journey. May relays her past and what brought her to the United States during a time of revolution and conflict in China. Through her story, Nick realizes he can draw a straight line from May’s decisions as an immigrant to Lily’s decisions as a young newlywed and, now, his own professional pursuits. He longs for Lily and May to reunite, but Lily refuses and Nick wonders if he’ll always live in this strange limbo about himself and his place in the world.

Author Rachel Khong gives all three of her main characters time and space on the page to share their stories. Readers hear from Lily first and then Nick twenty years in the future before going back to the 1960s with May. The prose is weighty, told with gravity and pauses during certain scenes so readers can feel them in full right along with the characters.

It’s unclear, however, why Khong chose to start with Lily’s story. In many places, her thoughts, ideas, and feelings sound similar to any twenty-something in almost any era pondering their place in the world. Lily often considers her parents’ cultural background, but in some places it doesn’t seem as important in the narration as it does to her. As a result, the story feels unnecessarily weighed down by all the heavy writing. The abrupt end to Lily’s portion of the book also feels awkward.

The internal character agony continues with Nick during his teenage years and early adulthood, making the plot drag in many places. Once again scenes are given a great deal of importance without any discernible reason why. Nick’s questions sound similar to Lily’s, albeit in a different timeframe, which might make some readers feel like they’re going through the same story twice.

May’s story is without a doubt the most compelling, and after completing it readers might wonder why the book doesn’t start with May and continue chronologically. The secret that drives Lily and Matthew apart would have created a much bigger and deeper dramatic impact with May’s experiences anchoring it. As it stands, the secret and the reasons for it feel rushed and as if the book doesn’t consider them important.

The implied question in the title—who are “real” Americans?—never gets fully answered or even addressed. Those who are willing to give a story about cultural clashes, especially within families, a try might want to check this out.

I requested this based on the cover alone, and I am so damn happy that I did. A family drama told through the POV of three family members, with a super unique twist.

I absolutely love Rachel Khong's prose so much. She tells a story of class, wealth, race, family and so much more in what feels like an effortless way.

Lily is American, well Chinese American although she fully looks Chinese but doesn’t speak the language. Working as an intern after college. She struggling to make ends meet. Until one night she meets Matthew. The two hit it off and fall in love even though they couldn’t be more different. Matthew comes from a wealthy white family, whereas Lily comes from Chinese immigrants and is currently broke. Still the two find each other and decide to build a life together. But as the story progresses you quickly see things start to unravel.
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Loved!!!
This story is about race, economic status, forgiveness, family, and trying to find yourself in the world. I enjoyed the spanning of generations and all the questions this book poses to its readers. A great book and one I’ll recommend.

Generational stories are not my normal read, but Khong makes an accessible and readable novel. I had to adjust my expectations and realize that this is a novel of a family, its history and its future. Other characters float in and out but the family, as an entity, is the real tale and focus.

The structure is split between Lily, her son Nick, and her mother May. It is a beautiful story, but parts of it sing more than others. I rarely say this, but it could have been longer. I wonder if other parts were edited out.

May’s history is well told. But the jump to her at the end took the most time for me to adjust to. I think May’s story is the one Khong wanted most to write. And the packaging of this story is a disservice to that narrative.

Real Americans was engaging and left me wanting. I wanted more time with every character. I cared for each of them and was stressed about their well being.

The absence of more makes the reader question and analyze what is there. What this story is made of is the family, in different stages, with different moments of connection or distance. And I believe this is the story Khong wanted to tell.

It is not a book of resolutions. It is book of regret and mistakes and the family one dreams of creating.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong is an examination of race, culture, privilege, and the bonds within a family. Through this multigenerational tale, told from the perspectives of Lily, Nick, and May, we learn about the Chen/Maier family. Part biotech fiction, part historical fiction, and a lot of family saga, Real Americans sucks you in with its depth and intricacies.

Khong explores the struggles of the life of an immigrant alongside the complexities of the life of a child of an immigrant and how the lessons and experiences we have as children affects the decisions we make as adults and parents.

I appreciated Khong's handling of Nick's experience as a white-passing son of an Asian American. I find it interesting that my own sons, who are both part Korean and part Native American, will have different experiences based on their appearances, as one is white passing while the other looks more like me, with dark hair and tan skin.

If you're looking for an engaging story that provides loads of topics for discussion, don't miss out on Real Americans!

Read if you like:
• Books about privilege and identity
• Multigenerational stories
• Asian American literature

In this emotionally complex and rich novel, three generations’ stories intertwine and soar. May, Lily and Nick…. May/Mai born in poor, rural China and driven and smart enough to be admitted to the University of Peking (Beijing) to study biology. There, she meets Ping, a brilliant fellow student, they fall in love, marry and dream of becoming world class scientists together in the West. Sadly, Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the Red Guard put an end to their university and they are separated and sent to the country to work in the fields along with many other intellectuals. They are separated but try to covertly meet…they love each other and want to keep their dream alive but that is not to be. Mai escapes first to Hong Kong and then the American. She and her new husband work in a lab on Long Island, have a daughter., Lily and eventually move to Tampa. Lily finishes NYU, meets her future husband, Matthew and they have baby Nick. A terrible secret is revealed and Lily takes the baby, leaves Matthew and never intends to speak with May again. Seventeen later, Nick who Lily has told that his father wanted nothing to do with either of them, takes DNA test and connects with Matthew. Matthew pays for Nick to attend Harvard but attempts made to develop a father-son relationship fail. Fast forward to San Francisco where adult scientist/entrepreneur Nick accidentally meets his grandmother May. May explains family history to Nick and the story three generations come together. Sometimes charming, sometimes gut wrenching…what makes someone a Real American is complex yet simple.

*4.5 stars rounded up. A rich, engrossing novel about three generations of two families whose lives become entwined--one, wealthy, white Americans and the other, Chinese immigrants.

The cast of characters includes May who leaves China with her husband Charles during the Cultural Revolution. Both find work as scientists with the Maier Group. Then there is Lily, their daughter, who meets and marries Otto Maier's son, Matthew. Their son, Nick, looks EXACTLY like Matthew. How is that possible? When Lily learns the truth, it sets her life careening onto a different path.

The novel addresses some modern concerns, such as the ethics of the field of epigenetics, and asks the question: Who are 'real Americans?' I enjoyed the look at life in China during the Cultural revolution aa well.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.