Reviews with content warning for Classism - Real Americans

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Real Americans by Rachel Khong

15 reviews

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book had so much more than I was expecting! Meet Lilly she is just one branch of this dysfunctional Chinese American family that is full of secrets. In this book you will find commentary of what does it mean to be an American and if you could change things, would you?

This is a 600 page literary fiction, she really gives time for each family member to tell their journey and for reader to understand how their story contributes to the family whole.

This book also has a touch of magical realism (Chinese fable come to life) and a science fiction (or is it?). This ended being the perfect book to read for the holidays.

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jollyette's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I don’t know why this one. No really “good” reason. I just saw this one around a lot and it seemed everyone was enjoying it. So, I gave it a try.

In a blurb that borrows heavily from Goodreads: 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. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, 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 answers. And in the near future, Nick and his grandmother cross paths unexpectedly, and the full story of the family history all comes out. Can the family relationships mend and recover or are they broken forever?

This is written in that common “contemporary” lit fic writing style. There’s an easy cadence to the writing, it’s well-paced, smoothly written, easy to follow, sort of conversational (but in a thought-out way, not stream of conscious), and the dialogue is really natural. Just, quality generic writing/storytelling. And I mean that in a complimentary way.

The intergenerational perspectives that tell this story, and the jumps in time between them, really help maintain the mystery and unfolding drama over the course of the book. I was invested in all three characters’ narrations, even as they were such diverse voices/experiences and I personally identified more with some than others. It was impressive that Khong made all three as authentic as each other, despite how different they were. There were so many major topics and themes that were explored in these pages, from belonging to politics/history to science to morality (and more), all delivered within a framework of super high-intensity family drama, and a plot of intrigue and secrets. I loved that combination; it made for a page-turning reading experience. Perhaps a few holes/things that fell flat, with so much included, but overall very successfully done. And the ending…it was open-ended and not “clean,” but with a path towards reconciliation clear (if still not fully chosen by everyone) and that made, for me, a realistic and satisfying, and quite touching (tbh), conclusion.

As I mentioned, there were a ton of complex questions Khong addresses in these pages. And I want to share a few of my primary takeaways, reactions/reflections, or otherwise just listing the themes that I thought Khong explored well.

- A really interesting take on making a difference/making the world a better place. Can it be done from the “inside,” as it were, or is it better from a grassroots effort? When considering a safer/healthier future, is forced genetic sciences a reasonable option or should we put effort into creating a world in which that doesn’t matter, because the framework (equality) is better? (I know where I lean…the latter.)

- Looking further at equality, Khong demonstrates how easy it is to cleave to money/power, whether born to it or adopted into it (and it is easier) versus the bravery to step away. Which actually allows a person more freedom (in general, like with temporal/financial independence, and as far as choosing a path for themselves)? Where is the perfect line between the two? Fascinating conversation.

- The always heartbreaking reality of how each generation wants the same for the next: freedom, choices … and yet due to our own experiences and the way time changes, how we choose to provide that has its own limitations. So, often, despite all our best efforts/intentions we can never achieve that singular goal.

- Whoa, the morality of genetic therapy (and the enduring strength of genetic ancestry/connection) is explored in a fascinating, engrossing way. A totally unexpected aspect of the novel for me.

- What an emotionally devastating look at how there is never enough time to do/be everything we want. And how yearning for more time so often causes us to lose the present (the time that we do have) even more/faster.

- As a sub-theme, which feels like a surprise because of the title, the question of what - internal and external - makes one believable as a “real” American. This is such a widely felt and explored concept in literature, and this book is a well-done addition to that body.

There was a lot going on in this book, but each piece – plot, settings, characters, themes, writing – were developed fully in their own rights. It kept me totally entertained the entire time, and has a little something for a lot of different kinds of readers. I’d recommend this one for sure.

“But the truth was something else - a reluctance to acknowledge a reality that made me uncomfortable. In the act of giving I conceded that I had more than I needed, and some had far less than they did. It was for no real reason, it wasn't fair. It shattered the illusion of my own free will - that I had made choices, and those choices had resulted in my life. To look away was easier.”

“Once she had believed that connection meant sameness, consensus, harmony. Having everything in common. And now she understood that the opposite was true: that connection was more valuable--more remarkable--for the fact of differences. Friendship didn't require blunting the richness of yourself to find common ground. Sometimes it was that, but it was also appreciating another person, in all their particularity.”

“I'd thought transporting me to another setting was all that was needed to render me normal. I'd failed to consider that I might be the same person here.”

“Without time, ambition is worth nothing: It is only frustration. Time was what I wanted, more than anything.”

“Time passes, indifferent to me. So much of my life I have let slip by, because I have not attended to it. All this while, instead of seeking more time, I could have been paying attention.”

“This was what love had always been for me - denying your own reality in order to protect another person.”

“Hearing a story, what did it accomplish? Nothing. And everything.”

Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Based on all the hype surrounding it, I expected something different from this book. I enjoyed the story, but it didn't amaze me.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The reviews for this book among my friends were all over the place, so I didn’t know what to expect. But I really liked this one. I would teach this book if I were a college professor. I love contemplating existentialism and ethics in conjunction with each other and some of the biggest what ifs of our lives.

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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is really excellent — I read a comp that suggested this is for readers of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, but I think Pachinko is a more accurate comp for me. It has a similar grandly-sweeping time span, with deep and devastating insights about history and humanity through the lens of more closely personal and interpersonal moments.

I struggled a bit with the back third — the pacing of it overall and the use of the second person made it slower for me, and somehow it felt more practical: it landed more like the way the book needed to wrap up structurally than what needed to take place by emotional necessity. Ultimately it didn’t hit as deeply and personally as I wished, though as I said it’s totally excellent; I longed for more catharsis, more emotional outpouring perhaps, but that is also not the affect of the book or of the storytellers inside it.

Definitely recommend — I am curious about Goodbye, Vitamin now, though it make take me a while to get to Khong’s backlist. I’ll for sure take note of her future novels, if not immediately dive into them.

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bookshelfmystic's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Real Americans is one of those books where the plot is different than what it's about. There are only a few major events (with the exception of the flashbacks in the third section, which I found the most compelling and, incidentally, plot-driven), but they're woven together with so many little scenes that tell a rich story that goes beyond the plot.

The story we're told is about race, about class, about belonging in America, in a hundred different ways. Lily's experiences as a Chinese-American are heavily contrasted with her son's, who looks entirely white and has a wealthy father, and both of them have a distinctly different experience than May, who grew up in China during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The three narrators give us three different perspectives on these intersecting lines of privilege and power, and they illuminate the question posed by the book's title: What makes a real American?

I enjoyed each section of this book, but my favorite was the last third, especially as May describes her childhood in China. I'm increasingly drawn to historical fiction set in times and places I'm unfamiliar with: it brings a human element to history that is just fascinating to me. Learning more about May makes Lily's section more poignant, too; I think particularly of how May is so lively and happy chatting with Lily's hired help Jenny in Mandarin, but becomes much quieter when English is being spoken.

Overall, Real Americans was an entertaining and fulfilling read, especially once I understood that most of the story was going to take place at parties, in dorm rooms, and in little moments between friends and lovers.

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emmy_likes_2_read's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Real Americans focuses on three generations of an Asian American family. I enjoyed its structure, which was a little like three stories in one. The first section focuses on Lily, the daughter of two Chinese immigrants who fled Mao's China, and is in the mould of a "messy 20-something" novel with a strong but complicated live story through line. The second section focuses on her son Nick and is more a coming of age novel. The final section is devoted to the story of Mei, Lily's mother, and can be best described as historical fiction. It really brought several earlier storylines together and helped explain Lily's alienation from her mother and from Nick's father. Belonging, identity, fate, and destiny are key themes, but the way this novel explores them in terms of science and epigenetics and the ethics around those gives it a fresh and unique feel. It also explores complicated family dynamics impacted by immigration, racism, class, and wealth. The reasoning behind some of the actions of some of the characters remained a mystery to me though and I wished I had the power to force everyone into family therapy, but overall I'm glad I gave this book a go, particulalry since Khong's debut, Goodbye Vitamin, was not as successful for me as it was for other readers.

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kdinsmore's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Real Americans will stick with me for a long time. It’s a multi-generational narrative that crafts a story through quite a span of time. Lived experiences for several family members are written in beautiful, and at times, heartbreaking detail. This is a true depiction about how environment, world events, and our personal choices while navigating the uncontrollable can have a trickle down effect for generations.

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