A vast family drama told from the point of view from multiple characters from three generations. It really gives insight into the burden of being descended from immigrants, the pressure to do well and the conflict between being part of a different culture to your parents. The pursuit of the American dream is like a poisoned chalice that splinters families and ties to friends. A really ambitious book that also covers genetics and it really made me think about ethics and ethnicity.

I really enjoyed the parts of the book about life under the cultural revolution in China, it helped to understand Lilys parents strict and almost suffocating expectations of her and her intellect. The trauma is kept hidden yet it influences all the characters lives. A really moving read that has left me thinking about all of the big issues included, I think this book will stay with me a long time. Well written with believable complex characters.

Real Americans
By Rachel Khong

A multi-generational, genre mashup about a Chinese immigrant family, told in 3 sections, Lily, Nick and Mei.

Lily's section reads like a contemporary romance, with themes of powers imbalance within mixed race relationships and daughter/ father, daughter/ mother dynamics.

Nick's section is bildungsroman and there's a distinct change of narrative style. Deeply troubled by his unanswered questions about his father, Nick is unmoored, conflicted about his identity and his race, his family's assimilation and his mother's silence. This is the section that reminded me of the vibe throughout Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

Mei's section is another complete change of narrative style. It reaches back to her childhood on China during the terrifying revolution, her escape to America via Hong Kong, her lost love and her striving to survive in a new racist and hostile country. She gives answers to most of the underlying queries that your mind will form in Lily's and Nick's parts, and adds context but there remain loose threads. This was my favourite section, but that's my genre preference.

The tight structure might have been too restrictive for Khong to tell her story of what it means to be a "Real" American. There were times when the narrator unexpectedly changed mid-section, which was jarring, and spoiled my impression of the structure. The magical realism did not annoy me in the way many reviewers have mentioned, and the speculative element has given me much to ponder over what it means to be a "Real" anyone.

Overall, I admire what Khong has created here. It's a highly readable, thought provoking novel with a history lesson, and much to say about social politics, ethical politics and human nature.

Publication date: 30th April 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #randomhouseuk for the ARC

I really struggled with this, I'm afraid. The beginning was bizarre, there were so many weird things put in: just in the first few percent there was an implausible 40" flat-screen TV (implausible in itself, only a bit awkward to have in a taxi with two people, one man carried it easily up three flights of stairs); the heroine didn't know Matthew's surname yet he was the son of her boss; it claims her mum found the gene expression for the four-leaved clover then created a garden full of them, which was actually found somewhere else 11 years later than the narrative's date and also it doesn't work like that. Might have been an unreliable narrator and keys to that fact and magic realism has been mentioned above so maybe it was part of that, but it just jerked me out of the narrative each time and made me not trust the book at all. When I read a multi-generational saga about the immigrant experience I want to trust what I'm being told and I lost that and lost interest. Sorry!

A multi generational family saga is one of my favourite types of books and Real Americans was one I was looking forward to, it looked to have everything I look for in this type of novel..

The book tells the story of three generations of a Chinese - American family , told from three points of view and over three timelines.

The book opens with Lily just before the millennium. At a christmas party for the media company she works for as an unpaid intern, she meets Matthew. Matthew is wealthy , successful, easy going and heir to a pharmaceutical empire. Lily is broke, the only child to scientist parents and their lives are very different. A whirlwind romance ensues and this first section reads like a romance novel.

The book then jumps to 2021 to 15 year old Alex who lives on an isolated Washington island with his mother Lily. He is lacking a sense of belonging and the book follows him over the next couple of years as he grows up and looks for answers about his family.

The third section then jumps to 2030 and is told from the point of view of Mei, Lily's mother, now an elderly woman, this section traces her life from her early life in China , to her fleeing Mao's Cultural Revolution to her life as a scientist in America. This section was by far my favourite of the book.

Overall , this was an interesting if disjoined read. There were parts of this book I loved and other parts that just didn't work for me. I am not sure if it was the structure that let this book down for me but the parts that were good, were very very good. The story flows well once you get over being taken from one timeline and perspective to the next. I liked the first section, was indifferent about the second and loved the third.

This is a book about race, destiny, class, gender, family, identity, science and a dash of magic realism. It's very easy to read and easier still to get drawn into this family's history but the decisions made by these characters which had explosive effects on their lives were not examined in enough detail for me and yet I couldn't put this down.

I'd recommend this one yet I was a little frustrated by elements, this could have been brilliant but it just didn't quite get there for me.

3.5 -4 star

I completely underestimated this book. What starts as a fairly standard romance took so many twists and turns across the decades, back and forward in a complex family history that had me absolutely hooked. The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is because I wanted more of the women’s stories, and the son grated on me. I wish their sections had been longer. Loved it. Looking forward to seeing what this author writes next.

With thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for sending me an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong

Lily Chen is working as an unpaid intern in New York as the year 2000 approaches and knows she hasn't fulfilled the expectations of her parents, May and Charles - they fled China in the Mao era and are very successful scientists doing important work. Her marriage to Matthew and the birth of their son Nico sets in motion a trail of events that ricochet through three generations. We go forward to grown up Nick and backwards to younger May in order to fully understand.

Wow, what a book - absolutely brilliant! A contender for my best book of the year. A fascinating story, fabulous characters, and it covers some really interesting subjects (science, genetics, politics, history) too - all done in a smart, often witty, often poignant way. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

When your parents expect more of you, but you are happy attempting to living the American Dream. However being an unpaid intern is hard going. A very heart filling read that keeps you gripped.

Real Americans follows three generations of a Chinese-American family; Mei, Lily and Nick. We start off with Lily, in her 20s in the early 2000s. Then 20 years later we follow the POV of her son Nick, a teenager about to graduate. Finally we are thrown back in time to learn the story of Lily’s mother Mei & how she came to the US from China.

This started off strong and I thought Lily was a really compelling character to follow. Her story was by far the most interesting and I would’ve been happy for more of it. Sadly the rest of it didn’t particularly work for me and I didn’t love that the story was out of order generationally.

I felt like the things I needed to know were left out. Conversations, arguments, decisions that are pivotal were simply mentioned in passing. But yet there were paragraphs upon paragraphs of overly descriptive language, a usually unwelcome & unsatisfying detour.

The science stuff also was lost on me and I had no interest in it. Or maybe I just resented that it was included when some of the juicy drama was not. Very sad this wasn’t a favourite, I usually love a multi-generational novel.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable family saga spanning three generations. The non-linear nature of the narrative calls for the reader to pay full attention, but this is richly rewarded. It is a novel of social commentary touching on class, race and visibility. The subject matter has shades of Ishiguro and McEwan when these established authors have delved into how scientific developments affect our everyday lives. I look forward to what Khong writes next, a promising talent

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

Here’s a contemporary contender for the title of The Great American Novel, a rich three generation family saga which tackles some big issues in a highly readable, straightforward way.
Malaysian-born California resident Rachel Khong gained much critical acclaim for her debut “Goodbye Vitamin” (2017) and her reputation can only be further enhanced with this.
In a mix of first and third-person narratives and featuring sections spanning from 1966 to 2030 we settle down with Lucy, aged 22, American born of Chinese heritage in 1999 working as an unpaid intern for an online travel magazine. An office party had me anxious for her, recalling “Jaded” by Ela Lee (2024) but here it’s the place Lucy meets Matthew, the nephew of her boss.
There’s a lot of wealth in this novel although perhaps the more appropriate term is fortune, in the sense of both money and good luck and in the sense that some are just born fortunate. This sense of privilege does not extend to Lucy’s parents who started afresh from Communist China. There’s a lot on appearance and as the novel moves towards a not too distant future the work on genetics which lies behind much of the money takes a darker turn as gene therapy shifts towards polygenic screening- the creation of the most healthiest and most intelligent.
But more to the forefront is a detailed family piece showing the choices open to each of the three generations of the Chen family and the decisions made from these choices. Each feel they have some ability to briefly disrupt time in a world where time is running away from us all. The reason for this comes from an almost mystical encounter between Lucy’s mother and a lotus flower seed.
As suggested by the title it all feels very American but it is an America enriched by the cultural experiences of those not born in the country working alongside traditional white privilege with the edge of how fiddling around with DNA might affect all our futures. It works well as both family drama, a record of how we came to be and posits a scientific view of what might await us in our futures. Reassuringly, Rachel Khong leaves us with a feeling of hope and a belief in the value of family.
Real Americans is published by Hutchinson Heinemann in the UK on April 30th 2024. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

An intergenerational tale that is split into three parts, exploring family, belonging, and time. I struggled with the first third which follows Lily as she attempts to find her place while falling in love with someone from a far wealthier background. It read very much as a pretty standard romance, the class commentary lacked nuance and Lily felt so empty and dull as a character it was hard to connect with her. The last few pages of the first part brought me back to the novel. Part two follows her son as he tries to reconnect with his father, transitions into adulthood, and through his relationship with his mother, fleshes her out into a fuller character. The final part, for me, was the most engaging as we go back to Lily’s mother Mei who turned 13 at the start of Mao’s Great Leap Forward. A fascinating period and Mei’s journey, eventually to America, was interesting to follow. Weaving time and family, this was an enjoyable read, with three distinct narratives to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is an American-Chinese multigenerational story. Told in three parts by Lily, Nick, and Mei, in that order and not in a linear timeline. Mei and Charles were born in China and during their youth they lived through the era of Mao Zedong and the dreadful consequences of his “Great Leap Forward”. They were both university students who ended up doing menial work in the fields in the countryside but escaped to Hong Kong and eventually to America. Beautifully written, this is quite a long book and fairly slow paced but quite compulsive reading.

Briefly, Mei became a scientist and had a child called Lily who worked in media until she met a wealthy Industrialist Matthew Chen and married him. They had a son, Nick/Nico but after they separated Lily moved to San Francisco having no contact with Mei, through her own choice. Nico was raised by Lily, a strict mother and despite feeling unloved and alone he achieved a place at Yale university, unbeknown to him financially assisted by Matthew.

Of Chinese birth and/or origin but also American many of the family struggle to understand how to best fit in to modern American society. Each section of the book is really interesting but I felt that there seemed to be no actual conclusions to any of their stories. Some fascinating insights into Chinese culture and into the main characters lives, with some interesting family dynamics. A story with a philosophical bent as destiny, choice fate and fortune all play a part in this profound tale.

Real Americans is a family saga with POVs from three different generations. It tackles each generation's struggles, dilemma, ideas and issues.

I was a little bit confused with whose timeline I was reading. Other than that, I enjoyed the story, which has a mix of romance, science, history and a little bit of magic. I rate it 3,5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Real Americans
Rachel Khong

Started off loving this. Really enjoyed Lily’s story and the start of her relationship with Matthew. Nick’s story was ok but unfortunately not as believable for me and I found my interest waning.
By the time I got to the story of Lily’s mother I really just wanted things to get wrapped up. Instead the third part of the book dragged on a bit too much and the ending just didn’t leave me feeling satisfied at all.

I don’t like giving poor reviews as I know the blood sweat & tears that go into writing a book but I feel the author was a little ambitious with this book. However she can most definitely write and I would be more than happy to see what comes next.

Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this title.

A Chinese-American multigenerational saga that is undoubtedly beautifully written and well-thought-out. Although the book is quite lengthy, I found myself engaged for the majority of it, largely due to Rachel Khong's prose. However, I must admit that my initial enthusiasm for the plot waned as I progressed. The narrative is divided into three sections—Lily, Nick, and May—with Lily's story being the most captivating for me. Additionally, I had high hopes for a certain secret revelation, which ultimately fell a bit short of expectations.

While I appreciate the themes the author explores throughout the book, and I did enjoy it overall, it didn't quite have the impact I anticipated. Nonetheless, I remain open to exploring more of Khong's work, as her writing style and the dynamics between the characters were the highlights for me.

A shocking and complex multi-generational story that starts off very quietly but then has massive ramifications and a real impact. Lily is an intern in New York, struggling to make rent when she meets and falls for the very rich nephew of her boss. The course of true love might not run smooth for the mismatched pair, but there is something more sinister at work in their family histories that catches up with them. As the stories of their parents entwine, and the family they dreamed of doesn't quite go to plan, truths, shocking decisions and ongoing complexities are exposed and myths exploded. A very absorbing read that has complex characters all around Lily.

My experience with the book turned out to be somewhat disappointing, especially because my expectations were quite high. When I started reading it, I expected it to be the kind of story that would grab me and keep me hooked until the end, but it wasn't. Part of my disappointment came from the structure of the book, which is divided into three parts with seemingly disconnected stories, and with jumps between them. Part of my disappointment came from the structure of the book, divided into three parts with seemingly disconnected stories, and time jumps that end in cliffhangers with no clear resolution.
The book is divided into three stories: the first, a love story between Lily and Mathew; the second, a coming-of-age tale centred on Nick; and the third, the flight of Lily's mother Mei from a communist country in search of the American dream. The problem is that each part seems to start telling an interesting story, but then leaves a lot of things undeveloped and without clear answers.
Of the main characters, I found the female characters, Mei and Lily, mother and daughter, more convincing, showing more depth and consistency. The male characters, on the other hand, left me with many unanswered questions. Mathew, Lily's husband, was particularly difficult to understand. Even at the end of the book, you were still unclear as to why he had fallen in love with Lily and what motivated him as a husband or as a father. Nick, the son, began his part with a good level of intrigue, but his development didn't live up to the potential it promised.
An additional element that I found disconcerting was the inclusion of a small bit of magical realism, which, while not in the way, did not add much to the main plot either. This lack of cohesion in the stories, coupled with the unresolved cliffhangers, left an overall feeling of dissatisfaction.
In short, the book seemed promising, but its structure and the underdevelopment of the characters and their stories did not live up to my expectations. I would have liked more development and connection between the parts, as well as a clearer resolution of the conflicts raised.

Mi experiencia con el libro resultó ser algo decepcionante, especialmente porque mis expectativas eran bastante altas. Cuando empecé a leerlo, esperaba que fuera el tipo de historia que me atrapara y me mantuviera enganchado hasta el final, pero no fue así. Parte de mi desilusión proviene de la estructura del libro, dividido en tres partes con historias aparentemente desconectadas, y con saltos en el tiempo que terminan en cliffhangers sin resolución clara.
El libro se divide en tres historias: la primera, una historia de amor entre Lily y Mathew; la segunda, un relato de coming of age centrado en Nick; y la tercera, la huida de Mei, madre de Lily, desde un país comunista en busca del sueño americano. El problema es que cada parte parece empezar a contar una historia interesante, pero luego deja muchas cosas sin desarrollar y sin respuestas claras.
De los personajes principales, me parecieron más convincentes los femeninos, Mei y Lily, madre e hija, quienes mostraron más profundidad y consistencia. Los personajes masculinos, por otro lado, me dejaron con muchas preguntas sin respuesta. Mathew, el esposo de Lily, fue particularmente difícil de entender. Incluso al finalizar el libro, seguías sin tener claro por qué se había enamorado de Lily ni qué lo motivaba como esposo o como padre. Nick, el hijo, comenzó su parte con un buen nivel de intriga, pero su desarrollo no alcanzó el potencial que prometía.
Un elemento adicional que encontré desconcertante fue la inclusión de una pequeña parte de realismo mágico, que, aunque no estorbaba, tampoco aportaba mucho a la trama principal. Esta falta de cohesión en las historias, junto con los cliffhangers sin resolver, dejó una sensación de insatisfacción general.
En resumen, el libro parecía prometedor, pero su estructura y el subdesarrollo de los personajes y sus historias no cumplieron con mis expectativas. Me hubiera gustado más desarrollo y conexión entre las partes, así como una resolución más clara de los conflictos planteados.

This story follows a family, albeit in rather an odd order. We start with Lily, born in America to traditional Chinese parents who are scientists. She falls in love with an American, Matthew, and they marry and have a child Nick, who's story we then follow as his parents split up and he considers himself Chinese American, although he doesn't look Chinese. It then becomes complex as the perspective changes to Lily's mother, May, born in poverty in China, abused by her family and neighbour, but determined to make her way as a scientist. We see the cultural revolution through her eyes, and her escape from China, but not with Ping, the love of her life, but a more reliable partner who she marries.

The book has interesting sections, but has a lot of rather dull irrelevancies as the characters angst about their background and desires. The various sections with differnt points of view didn't mesh well, and occasionally they changed mid-chapter. Overall I was mildly entertained but wasn't really gripped.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Cornerstone for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Chinese - American multi generational beautfully written novel, told from multiple perspectives brought together at the end.

Enjoyed Lily's reflections the most, as was less interested in Nick's comingof age teenage dialogues & chaos. The Sci-fi was an unexpected surprise.

Would be a great bookclub book, to reflect on race, culture, identity, power and wealth from the different generational & character perspectives.

Pacing was completely off for me, and I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. In the end decided it wasn’t worth pushing through and I didn't complete the book.