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clareelizabeth 's review for:
Real Americans
by Rachel Khong
I actually tried to read this last year and put it down — not because it wasn’t good, but because I wasn’t in the right headspace. Picked it up again while on holiday and flew through it. Real Americans completely hit the spot.
I’ve always loved a generational novel, and this one balances character and structure so well. It unfolds in three parts — from Lily in 1999, to her son Nick in 2021, and finally Mei, Lily’s mother, in 2030. I found the pacing immersive, the themes timely but not preachy, and the writing subtly beautiful.
Khong weaves together big questions — identity, class, inheritance, belonging — through the intimate lens of a single family across decades. There’s a quiet confidence to how she lets some threads fray and others come full circle. The science element surprised me but added another dimension, especially once Mei’s section reframes everything we thought we knew.
This is a novel about the gaps between generations, the things we pass on without meaning to, and the impossibility of truly escaping your own history. It's reflective without being slow, and emotional without veering into melodrama.
If you’ve ever loved Pachinko, The Vanishing Half, or Everything I Never Told You, this sits comfortably beside them.
A thoughtful, layered read that I’m glad I gave a second chance.
I’ve always loved a generational novel, and this one balances character and structure so well. It unfolds in three parts — from Lily in 1999, to her son Nick in 2021, and finally Mei, Lily’s mother, in 2030. I found the pacing immersive, the themes timely but not preachy, and the writing subtly beautiful.
Khong weaves together big questions — identity, class, inheritance, belonging — through the intimate lens of a single family across decades. There’s a quiet confidence to how she lets some threads fray and others come full circle. The science element surprised me but added another dimension, especially once Mei’s section reframes everything we thought we knew.
This is a novel about the gaps between generations, the things we pass on without meaning to, and the impossibility of truly escaping your own history. It's reflective without being slow, and emotional without veering into melodrama.
If you’ve ever loved Pachinko, The Vanishing Half, or Everything I Never Told You, this sits comfortably beside them.
A thoughtful, layered read that I’m glad I gave a second chance.