Real Americans
4.25/5🌟

Rachel Khongs second novel reads more like three separate novellas, each one about a separate member of the same family.

We meet Lily in 1999, a first generation daughter of two Chinese scientists. In what seemed like a romantic dramedy, she meets and falls for the handsome son of a pharmaceutical scion - a family that has an old connection, coincidentally, to Lily’s. We then fast forward about 20 years to meet Nick, Lily’s nearly grown son, whose father is mysteriously absent. Finally, in 2030, we learn about May, Lily’s mother. This is my favorite section of the book as we May’s background and her experiences in the Chinese Cultural
Revolution and as an immigrant to the US are uncovered.

The beaitful cover art hints to the different cities and time periods covered, in a pattern that becomes apparent as a helix; a strand of DNA. This story fascinatingly weaves together love, family connections, science and genetics, and even a sprinkling of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it magical realism.

It asks questions of race, identity connection, to what lengths we will go to for our children’s well being, and how much say should we have, really, in who our children become.

I enjoyed the slow, even pace, the deftly crafted and complicated characters and the interesting dilemmas presented.

Have you read this one yet?

Many thanks to @netgalley and @knopf for the Advanced Reader’s Copy!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, and Rachel Khong for allowing me to read this interesting multigenerational literary fiction novel. I loved this book. I learned so much about China and immigrating to America as well as the family drama that can occur from such a powerful family history. I love the multiple point of views. This book was beautifully written and I can’t wait to read everything from this author. I am looking forward to the next book as this author is an auto buy author for me now. Thank you again for allowing me to review this book.

This is a thought provoking read that digs deep into our society, where it is and where it may be headed. The characters were interesting and the mystery of the story kept me reading. However, things developed too slowly for my liking, which brought my rating down a bit.

Probably my favorite book of the year and I almost skipped it! What a mistake that would have been. I loved the character development and the story progression.

A multi-generational story told from the perspectives of the mother, the son, and the grandmother. The grandmother left cultural revolution era China, while the mother experienced a first generation American upbringing and her son a second generation, without knowing his father. Despite the relation, each family member feels somewhat disconnected from the other and each section explores their history and choices that led them there. Overall, a story about genetics, power, and wealth, told across three somewhat disparate generations, but who in the end discover the common threads. The first two parts were more gripping than the last, but it did come together in the end.

Three generations of Asian-Americans with a section devoted to each-Lily (born in Fl) her son Nick(raised on a remote island in Washington) and Mei (adopts name May) who is born in China and literally escapes to America. I had a very tough time with this book. Lily’s story seemed stereotyped and unrealistic and her son Nick (section 2) was to my mind not a like-able character. The third section devoted to Mei (adopts name May) to me was the most interesting. Her life in China is historical fiction-peasant growing rice- escape through her brilliance to University in Peking-persecution under Mao’s cultural revolution-and eventual escape to America.
The book touches on multiple topics-racism , assimilation, genetics, love and family relationships, illness, molecular biology and gene editing but IMO never in sufficient depth to hold the reader. I truly struggled with this book and would be interested to see what others think.

An intriguing story of three generations, Lily, Nick and May, told through their viewpoints. I quite enjoyed seeing their different life stories and how stories resonate through the generations. It made me ponder and think, quite a resonating story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

This is a book I could not put down. I was so drawn into the story and the characters. There is a sense of mystery to it and I had to keep reading to find out what is and will happen. It's a story that covers multiple generations of two families -one family who came to the US after being persecuted during the Chinese Cultural Revolution for being intellectuals/scientists and the other family having wealth and access. Their lives ultimately intertwine in multiple ways and the story reveals the layers of complexity as it goes. I really liked the immigrant family and the book is told from three generations point-of-view. In some ways it might have been interesting to hear from the other family's point-of -view too but that would have doubled the size of the book. The one thing that did confuse me is the changing of the first person narrator to the different generations. I would read a bit and get disoriented until I figured out details that helped explain whose point-of-view we were hearing but that was my oversight -- each part clearly said who the character is -- so I assume others won't get confused like me! I really enjoyed this book. The book is definitely about love and family as well as genetics and evil corporations all rolled into one.

I recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

A story of love, loss, and longing. Of fate and decisions made. A story of miscommunication and missed connections across decades. All told from three differing perspectives.

I really can't put into words how truly fabulous <u>Real Americans</u> was, so you'll simply have to read it yourself. Khong's characters truly jump off the page and I loved every single one of them and their deeply flawed selves. I minored in Chinese language in college and read a lot of Chinese historical fiction, so that aspect and the small incorporation of Chinese folklore was just as intriguing to me as the rest of the novel. I truly wanted to live in the lives of Lily, Nick, and May and found myself wanting more from each of their stories-though also wholly satisfied with the book's somewhat abrupt conclusion. This was just a fabulous story about identifying oneself and how your identity is viewed by others. It was truly more than just a coming of age story because it encompassed entire lives lived and the regrets we all inevitably experience. This is already getting my vote for a Goodreads best in whichever category it is undoubtedly nominated in.

Thank you #netgalley for sharing this incredible ARC. I loved it all: the depth of the characters, the well structured plot, the historical crossovers. My only complaint is probably more of a personal issue….there were times when I couldn’t keep track of the characters but at the end it all came together. 4/5 stars.

With Real Americans, Rachel Khong has created a work of fiction that shows us not only the complexity of America's foundational trinity--life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--but also the consequences of trying to attain it. We see this through the lives of May (Mei) Ling who immigrates from China during the Ming dynasty, her daughter Lily, and grandson Nick whose desires seem to drive them, as equally haunt them. Three generations on a quest for those God-given rights that makes one American. But at what cost? Sacrificing love, severing one's cultural ties, broken familial relationships. Khong masterfully has created characters who will have you simultaneously rooting for them and being angry at them for the choices they make in the midst of trying to protect themselves and the ones they love from hurt. In a quest to find personal joy, how do our decisions ultimately impact our lives? Are we really the master's of our fate? Their stories make you contemplate how our individual life choices are more complex than they appear and many times are the effect of other's decisions. The book also shows you how the "trinity" plays out among three specific groups: first-generation immigrant, first-generation American, and second-generation American. Although on the surface it may seem that their goals are unique, if you peel away the layers, we can see that their goals are more connected than we think. After reading this book, you will have a new perspective and appreciation for what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness really means. Thank you to the publisher Alfred A. Knopf for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I struggled with this book, it took me a month to read. Real Americans is a character-driven novel and it did not have a plot to lead me through the book. Luckily it was separated into three parts, each part gave the story of a different character. Honestly, I found the first part about Lily (Nick's mother and May's daughter) somewhat boring. The timeframe of the early 2000s and concerns about Y2K were relatable, but her developing relationship with Matthew was not enough to keep my attention. Since two celebrity book clubs chose it as their May 2024 book of the month, I decided to continue reading it. I enjoyed the second part of the book, Nicholas’ (Lily’s son and May’s grandson) story was more interesting.

His friendship with Timothy, finishing high school, and applying to Ivy League colleges. Discovering who his biological father was and that he came from a rich family. The book's third part is about May, Lily’s mother, and Nick’s grandmother. This part is more historical as it takes place in China under the rule of Mao Zedong and the People’s Republic of China. The historical story covered how May grew up and wanted to become a scientist. I think the historical element of the third part of the story drew me in. Towards the end of the book, the lives of these three characters are brought together. There was a magical element to the storyline that intrigued me. Each of the three characters had the same magical ability, but it was never really clarified how they obtained this ability. The book has an underlying theme of what a “real American” is. Each character has their own experience of being an Asian American and how they differ depending on the historical timeframe. I thought it was a good thought-provoking theme, that was successfully brought up throughout the book. I think my review of this book is very much the minority, it seems that a lot of readers enjoyed it. So maybe this book just wasn’t for me.

This book has something for everyone- romance, intergenerational family drama, and ethical scientific dilemmas. Overall a great book with some segments more interesting than others.

Real Americans is a fantastic exploration of identity and ethics around bio-engineering. Are you doing your kids a favor, if you are ensuring „perfect“ genes or is your perception of perfection shaped by your own upbringing and cultural ideas. If you strive to make things easier for your kids by genetically allowing them to blend in, do you also rob them of their culture ? What if you only want to do good and have pure intents but things still go wiring by accident, are you liable for the damage done ? At least morally ? Lily Chen is at the center of Rachel Khong’s story. A first generation Chinese-American woman, child of immigrant scientists, whose mother unbeknownst to her modified her „genetic material“ mother of a son, who through another modification may still culturally be multiracial but looks like the spitting image of his Caucasian father. The desire to force the best possible life for future generations causes deep and painful fault lines in this family. Identity, ambition, family ties, culture, privilege and the morality of genetic editing, it‘s all at the center of this awe inspiring thought provoking book. This is a book that will stay with me for a while and have me pondering on the concepts and the implications.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the eARC of this fantastic book in exchange for an honest review.

Real Americans is full of so many things... family, immigrant experience, coming of age, first love, science fiction, and a splash of magical realism. I just loved all the characters and their imperfections, often misbehaving but ultimately trying to survive in the America they are living in. This is a perfect book club pick with so much to digest and discuss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Really was interested in this book & read it pretty quickly. I appreciated that the complexity built the longer you read & that really worked to keep me engaged in the plot. I enjoyed the questions of science & the boundaries of what science should or should not do. I also really enjoyed the conversations around race that entered into these questions. I'll read more by Khong in the future.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong
(This review is based on an ARC sent to me from NetGalley)

Rachel Khong's new novel explores who gets to be 'Real Americans'.
The book spans several generations. There are things to learn on both sides of the generational divide.
A story of young love in New York city, a young man coming of age in the Pacific North West, and a Chinese student who determines her own future in a country where Communism is taking hold.
The author covers the concepts of Genetcs, Power and Ethics.
Society brings pre conceived notions based on superficial traits.
The three generations of Chinese Americans in the novel grapple for self determination.
The book is in three novella-length sections, each told from the perspective of a different character, plus a prologue.

REAL AMERICANS
Rachel Khong

Three generations. Lily is a mom. Nick, is her son, and Mae, is her mother. We sit in with them as they discuss life and the current situation they find themselves in. There is a line weaving through the story that connects the characters and the generations that were as surprising as it was inventive and unique.

Lily has just met Matt. He seems like the representation of dreams she doesn’t remember dreaming. Perhaps someone else’s idea of the perfect husband, Lily marries him anyway. Sure whatever dreams may come are sure to be better than the nightmares she’s dreamed before.

Nick is Lily’s son, and he is attending college. With a strained relationship with his mother and an absent father, he decides to find out who his father is. What he finds will raise questions about Lily’s life, her past, and how that ultimately influenced Nick’s life.

It’s an interesting cross-section of three people who only have lineage in common. And how that one thing can sometimes be the only thing holding a family together.

I had no idea where the book was going. It surprised me and shouldn’t have. Had I read the synopsis I would’ve found out who we were following. Remarkably it was a fun experience reading it not knowing who was going to narrate next.

Now that I’ve spoiled that experience for you, I might as well tell you about the book.

I had a great time reading REAL AMERICANS and I’m so glad I picked it up. The exploration of the dynamics between the family members was very interesting. I had a lot of questions about what we owe the people we love in this life. And sometimes the obvious answer isn’t the right one. The only way to know is to answer it incorrectly.

Thanks to Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for the advanced copy!

REAL AMERICANS…⭐⭐⭐⭐

Told through three timelines, Real Americans is a sweeping family saga and I was all in!

The story first follows Lily, a recent college graduate in NYC in the late 90s who meets Matthew, her complete opposite. Despite their seemingly endless differences, the two opposites attract. The story then follows Nick, a 15 year old in 2021, who is curious about his biological father and will pursue information, with or without his mother’s help. After that, a third perspective is revealed, bringing answers to many of the family’s long lingering questions.

I was hooked on Real Americans from the start. It’s a story that explores identity, success, science, culture, and more. I was invested in all three parts of the story though it took longer for the final section to grow on me and keep my interest like the first two did. I highly recommend this engaging family saga.

I am often drawn to stories that explore the intricate, often messy relationships between parents and children. So, when I picked up "Real Americans" by Rachel Khong, I was excited to dive into the multi-generational tale. But as I flipped through its pages, I found it hard to connect with the story.

The book is structured around what feels like three separate stories, each focusing on a different character within the same family. At first, I thought this approach was interesting; however, just as I started to connect with one character's perspective, the narrative would move on to someone else. This disruption made it hard for me to stay emotionally invested.

Don’t get me wrong—Khong has a talent for creating relatable characters, each dealing with its own set of challenges. And there’s a lot to appreciate about the storytelling. Khong has a knack for capturing the small, everyday moments that make family life both beautiful and frustrating. But the book tries to tackle so many heavy themes—identity, belonging, generational conflicts—that it ends up only scratching the surface.

Despite my frustrations, I did enjoy aspects of "Real Americans." I see a lot of potential in Khong’s writing. If you enjoy a broader, more fragmented look at family dynamics, this book might resonate with you. As for me, I’ll be keeping an eye on Rachel Khong, hopeful that her next story will fully capture my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advanced readers copy in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review.