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.

I found Real Americans both fascinating and at times kind of boring. There were times where it was powerful and times it focused on the mundane. It tells the story of three generations of the same family, staring with the mother Lily, then moving on to her son Nick, before tracing back to Lily's mother May as she forms a relationship with the grandson she's estranged from. There's a part of me that understands why Khong saves May for the last section, but there's a part of me that feels like I would have interpreted Lily's relationship with her mother in a completely different way if I had known about the life she led in communist China and the relationships she had with two different men. A storyline that doesn't get a lot of attention but causes the fracturing of the relationship between Lily and her husband is the idea of gene editing, and editing for the genes desired to be expressed. I wish Khong had explored this more. Matthew, Lily's husband, is also a hard one to figure out for me. He seems at times to find his family's money repugnant. But then he goes into the family business. He seems desperate to have a relationship with Nick but can blow him off and shuts himself away from the problems of his younger son Sam. I also feel like Lily's part of the story ends abruptly, and even though we see some of why she made the decisions she did from Nick's perspective, her thoughts, feelings and opinions seem to disappear entirely while still having a profound effect on her family. I see why other people could really enjoy this book, but I think I would have liked it better if it had been arranged differently. It also felt like it was really long, but I tend to feel this way with books that are character studies and relationship based. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong is a multigenerational novel told in three parts, told by a mother, her daughter and grandson. It starts with the daughter, then her son, then her mother. I felt some of the changes between the narrators were abrupt which made it difficult for me to engage fully with them. However, I enjoyed reading of their hardships and successes, and how they assimilated into American culture. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Real Americans
Rachel Khong
April 30, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This novel has so many fascinating and beautiful layers, that I can’t even begin to describe how engrossed I felt with the novel. It is a book about the human soul and connections. It is a multigenerational and atmospheric novel with engrossing storytelling, a dash science, and deep secrets. If you like stories like Pachinko, this book will immerse you in their family’s lives.

This story follows three Chinese American main characters spanning over 70 years. It takes us through 1960’s communist China to the future of 2030’s, Silicone Valley.

It is a sweeping saga about fortune, fate, and desire.

The story starts in 1999 where we meet Lily. The MC has the pressures of starting a life and has difficulty finding purpose. She’s trying to find herself and navigate life in the complex city of Manhattan. She has a complicated mother daughter relationship and keeps her job and financial insecurities to herself whenever she asks how she’s doing. Lily meets Matthew at her company Xmas party where he wins a TV. Lily seems to know that luck just doesn’t happen for her. With a lot of awkwardness, these two hit it off. The whole time she’s with him, she seems unsure of herself by his side and thoughts of not being worthy enough for him start making her believe that she doesn’t belong with him. She ghosts him. She goes through life trying to make something of herself and continues to struggle financially, in her career, and with loneliness. Some years later, she is surprised to see him again at a function, yet embraces being with him again. This time they’re both in it for the long haul. Lily’s relationship with her mother comes up and we see Lily try to deal with her daughter guilt of somehow feeling like she let her mother down. Lily is convinced her mother isn’t happy with her decision of getting married. Lily feels she has led her mother down by not becoming something bigger in life or falling in her own mother’s footsteps as a scientist. Matthew also has a complicated history with his family. They try to conceive and promise to be different with their child. Conceiving the child proves to be difficult for the couple. Once the child arrives, things change drastically as she feels a need to be over protective.

The story then jumps to 2021. Their child, Nick, grows up and starts to have questions about his father. He is navigating similar things like his mother. There’s the awkwardness of High school and not fitting in. There’s only one friend he has. And the immense feelings of not feeling good enough for college and again not fitting in and isolation. He grew up without his father and little by little with the help of his maternal grandmother learns the reason why. He finally meets his father, but has never felt comfortable enough with him to form a good relationship with. He learns of a half brother. He tries to live with these feelings and tries to make something for himself knowing life has thrown him this. His half brother has his own jealousy towards him. We feel the complexity between the father-son relationship.

In 2030, May, Lily’s mother tells her POV. She is seen earlier in the book with a bit of mystery to her relationship with her daughter. We all want to know what did she do? She’s been following her grandson, Nick, since her daughter cast her aside. Nick notices one day and wants answers so he agrees to hear her story. She takes us through her rough childhood in China and how hard she worked to get into a university even with everything stacked against her. She takes us through China’s revolution and how she was forced to choose between love and living. Eventually, she makes her way to America where she continues to work as a scientist focusing in epigenetic work. She wants the best for her daughter and makes a decision that will alter not only her daughter’s future, but have lasting consequences for herself and family too.

I knew I was going to have a book hangover. I could feel myself getting close to the character’s storylines. I was invested. You can feel Lily’s love for Matthew and her son. At times, lyrical writing was moving. We feel the love between the characters. This is a thought provoking with the ideology of what it means to be American, the American dream, genetics, destiny, multigenerational wealth, loneliness, and our parents hopes and dreams for us, just to name a few themes. This book is perfection for those looking for deeper, moving novels that will leave you thinking about the character long after you finish it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Receiving an advanced copy was a delightful surprise. I believe both existing fans and newcomers will find it equally enjoyable.