Reviews - Real Americans | The StoryGraph

5.04k reviews for:

Real Americans

Rachel Khong

4.06 AVERAGE

moodymui's review against another edition

3.0

It had potential, but didn’t quite deliver. Just okay.

joybenavides's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bluehour01's review against another edition

5.0

I would give this 10 stars if I could

kads0522's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

mstessab's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

marycat203's review against another edition

3.0

Despite mostly pedestrian prose and characters that felt a little flat to me, this novel was full of interesting ideas that made for a lively book club discussion. (My copy was loaded with page markers!) While focused on the theme of trying to change one’s destiny, Khong also explores postwar Chinese history (the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution) and the Chinese American experience through three generations. I especially liked the ending when ambitious, driven Mei reaches a liberating state of mindfulness. She wishes that she could tell her roommate’s busy granddaughter “that it wasn’t too late. That I had been like her, once, resentful of any interruption. Later, I learned that life lay in the interruptions …”