Real Americans by Rachel Khong is a multigenerational tale of family that asks the question what makes us who we are? This gem of a book makes you question what it means to be a real American from three different viewpoints while examining race, class, and inequality by contrasting wealth and poverty. These topics show that there is a complex tapestry that makes a person into who they are and helps to shape who they will become. The one drawback of this novel were the scientific components. I enjoyed the book and would like to thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advance copy for review.

Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew.

I really loved Goodbye, Vitamin so I was very excited to be approved to read this advanced copy of Real Americans. Multigenerational family sagas have the ability to become lengthy and boring very quickly, but Rachel Khong's use of multiple narrators keeps everything paced perfectly. Everything in this book is a lesson on skilled writing. Not one story line is heavy handed or exaggerated.

This one is really good. It'll make you think and feel and want to discuss.

A story told from multiple perspectives from multiple perspectives from multiple generations of a family that explores race, class, and identity. There’s a bit of family drama, a bit of romance, a bit of sci-fi—it has it all!

How far would you go to shape your own destiny? This moving and thought-provoking story about race, class, identity, and family follows three generations of the Chen family. Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a media company, meets Matthew, who is easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, andheir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Despite their differences, Lily and Matthew fall in love. In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers, and leads him to his maternal grandmother and a hidden family secret.

Thank you so much @netgalley, @rrrrrrrachelkhong, and @aaknopf for the ARC! This was a beautiful and incredibly well-written story that gripped me from the start. With a touch of magical realism and foundations in science, the book raises important questions about choice and identity. The story also addresses the moral boundaries of gene modification and whether you can truly ever change who you are. The theme of trust and forgiveness was well explored in all of the relationships between the different characters, and they were each so well developed. The prose was powerful and pretty, and really set the tone for each character and their inner thoughts. I definitely recommend adding this to your 2024 TBR!

Real Americans by Rachel Khong is a beautiful novel about family, relationships and the choices we make in our lives. In the acknowledgements, Khong says that this a book about fortune. It certainly does explore fortune and all of its varied meanings and definitions. The book also forces us to look at the choices we make to create our own fortunes, and the fortunes of our family members. Underlying all other themes is the question of what does it mean to be a "real American".
The story revolves around 2 characters- Lily a Chinese American daughter of scientists, and Matthew, the son of a mega- wealthy established American family. We then learn the stories of their extended families, and the secrets that were kept for generations. The book switches perspectives and we hear the story from many different viewpoints. In the end it all comes back to the same idea- who are we as individuals and how do we show love to those most important to us?
This is a book that will grab you on the first page, and will keep you reading until the last line. It is perfectly written and the characters are real and relatable. I loved every minute of it!

This is a wonderfully written book about family and the choices we make. The characters are beautifully layered and I wanted the book to go on and on! Very good book!

I wanted to read this because I loved Rachel Khong's last book, Goodbye Vitamin. This book has a genre problem. Part one, Lily's section, is fine, but nothing remarkable. It reads like new adult contemporary fiction. The second part, Nick's part, I had a hard time getting through. It was much too long with various pointless side characters & tangents. The voice was also very YA. The last part, Mei's part, I really enjoyed, but then when Nick came back into the story, it felt tedious again and it turns more into speculative fiction. The science/speculative fiction parts did not feel developed enough as a whole, I just don't think the 3 parts work together cohesively.

I absolutely loved this book! Khong is a brilliant writer and the way she weaves the different POVs kept me engaged through to the last page. This is going to be one of the best books of 2024 and I can’t wait to reread it when it comes out in April.

Fantastic social commentary on immigration, broken into 3 perspectives of interconnected people. Very discussable- this book will be great for book clubs! I really enjoyed it. 4.5⭐️

Multi-generational stories from multiple perspectives are so enthralling when done well and Real Americans fully delivers on that front. Lily’s part of the novel was pure magic to me. I could not put this book down. It’s a beautiful story of womanhood, motherhood and family. I would highly recommend this book for fans of Pachinko.

"Real Americans" by Rachel Khong is a thought-provoking exploration of the intricacies of time and the choices we make in the pursuit of control. The narrative, while undeniably compelling, occasionally ventures into convoluted territories, leaving some relationships and storylines with open ends. However, it is within these complexities that Khong weaves a tapestry of human experience, prompting readers to reflect on their own desires for control and the consequences of those desires.

At the heart of the novel lies a powerful message—everyone, regardless of their background, yearns for control over time. Khong artfully explores this theme, particularly in the context of parenthood. The notion that individuals may inadvertently try to hasten their children's journey through life to spare them mistakes and save time is a poignant observation. The author skillfully navigates the delicate balance between the universal desire for control and the individual right to choose one's path.

The characters in "Real Americans" are intricately portrayed, each facing their own struggles and navigating the complexities of life. Khong's ability to capture the essence of diverse human experiences adds depth to the narrative, making it a genuine page-turner. The relatability of the characters and their dilemmas draws readers into the story, fostering a strong connection between the audience and the book.

In the end, "Real Americans" is a compelling exploration of the human experience, I highly recommend this book for those seeking a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant journey through the lens of three generations of imperfect, very human characters who are only trying to be "American."

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for my eARC. All thoughts were my own.

Wow. My mind is buzzing and my heart is full after reading this one. Where do I begin? This is a story of family and trauma and choices and love written beyond-beautifully. The impact of generational trauma is turned on its head a bit as the author chose to illustrate its impact in a way I had not seen before all underlined with the running theme of "REAL AMERICAN". What does that mean to you? A few times as I was reading I stopped and just sat with the nuance of a passage or the weight of a sentence or character choice. This one is really good. It'll make you think and feel and want to discuss. What more does anyone want in a book, right?

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. Real Americans is a multi-generational family story, which poses probing questions about what it means to navigate and balance your individual identity/sense of self with class, racism, cultural identity, and inheritance. The book is told in three parts and we experience three perspectives from this family as we consider these deep concepts and questions.

I enjoyed this book and thought the writing was absolutely spectacular. Khong’s prose painted a very vivid picture and gave us a very clear glimpse into the characters thoughts. I did find the switch between perspectives throughout the story to be a bit jarring but, that might have just been me— I was very invested in each story and it took me a while to sink back into the story, as we switched time/place as well. I think this also made the book a bit difficult for me to get through at times because it took some time for me to reinvest myself in the new primary character of the section.

Aside from these thoughts on the pace of the book, I thought the themes represented in the story, specifically in regard to inheritance and carving a new path for yourself, were thought provoking and posed some interesting questions to consider. It was clear that this topic was very well understood by the author and the feelings described by the characters were very defined. One element I did struggle with was the magical realism element in the story; there was something about this that didn’t seem fully fleshed out but, it didn’t significantly detract from my reading experience.

Overall, I think this book was worth reading and would be excellent for group discussion, as there’s a lot to unpack here. I would recommend this book to any literary fiction fans or fans of family stories!

Interesting read on epigenetic therapies, longevity, etc. I liked Matthew (wish he had a story from his perspective!) and Mei.

Notable lines:

“As people we interrupted one another’s lives-that was what we did. If you sought to live your life without interruption you wound up like me: living life without interruption, totally alone.”

“All this while, instead of seeking more time, I could have been paying attention. I notice it now, my present . . . “

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

I enjoyed Real Americans and Rachel Khong's writing style; specifically, her ability to weave the life paths of different generations together. At times, the jumps between storytellers were confusing and left me with many questions; however, I appreciated that most of my questions were resolved by the book's end.

4.5/5 stars.
I genuinely enjoyed this book! It is written from three perspectives Lily, Nick, and May. Each character describes their own difficulties growing up as a Chinese American. This story also brings light to common issues within families such as regret, selfishness, and stubbornness, I felt empathy for the characters because of this. I liked how each of their stories had one another intertwined within them. Lily and May’s parts were my personal favorites because of the romantic aspect of their stories. I would definitely recommend reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with this ARC!

The writing was really strong; the plot slightly uneven although I mean that in as inoffensive way as possible because it didn’t really negatively impact my reading experience.

Thank you Knopf and Netgalley for my copy of REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong, out 4/30/24!

Rachel Khong blew me away with her novel GOODBYE VITAMIN a few years ago, so when I got the chance to read her new novel early, I jumped at the chance. And to no one’s surprise, this was my favorite novel I read last year. It is beautiful. Khong has created a sweeping generational novel that goes from China to New York to the West Coast and I never wanted it to end.

She makes the reader ask the question, “How far would you go to shape your own destiny?” Are our futures inevitable? What makes us who we are? With a dash of medical drama and science fiction thrown in, I couldn’t put this book down. It starts on the precipice of Y2K with Lily, an unpaid intern at a media company. She meets Matthew. He is easygoing, attracgtive, a native East Coaster, white and a rich heir to a huge family fortune from a pharmaceutical empire. Lily was raised in Tampa, by two scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China, and she’s flat-broke. Alas, they fall in love.

Then, we swing to 2021 and follow Nick. He is isolated and lives with his single mother. He can’t shake the sense she’s hiding something. The opportunity comes up to find his biological father and this journey causes a massive disruption and changes everything he thought he knew.

The final narrator and sweeping story is incredible and I don’t want to spoil anything, so please just read this amazing novel! Khong is marvelous at creating characters with so much tenderness. She makes unique feelings become universal. Her prose is so immersive, you feel like you are existing right along these characters. And she packs so much into a book: class differences, political hardships, anxiety, lonliness, love.

I cried multiple times and wanted to live in this story. I hope you read and love it as much as I did! I am buying a copy to keep on my shelves forever.

I really loved this book and I enjoyed going in to it without knowing much about it. I thought Rachel Khong's writing was so engaging, I didn't want to put it down and I was so excited to see where the story was going. I felt very connected to the characters, Nick especially, and just wanted more of them.

This book is split in to three sections, and I knew that was the format going in to it but I didn't know who the third narrator was, and I was totally surprised when I got there. I enjoyed all three sections but the middle section with Nick was my favorite. I enjoyed watching him grow from a somewhat aimless teenager to a young man. Many of the decisions by all of the characters made me want to shake some sense in to them, but I could also see their motivation at the time.

I loved the settings of each section, as well as how vividly they were written. New York and San Francisco are two of my favorite places, and I could so clearly see each area Rachel Khong was writing about.

I'm eager to read her first book now and cannot wait to see what she comes out with in the future.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys family dynamics and literary fiction with a touch of magical realism. I would also suggest going in to it without knowing a lot about it, because the way it unfolds is so wonderfully done.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

i read this despite reallllly not understanding dear vitamin when i tried it, and i am glad i did. it's a family story across generations, with multiple POVs, but it's also a story about science, about power, about how we bury truths and how they out themselves. everyone is really awful and also really understandable--not antiheros, just people in broken systems making really mixed choices.