I liked the first two parts of this story, Lily and her son Nick, although it felt similar to a lot of other books.

Once it moved on to Mei and the science-fictiony/ gene therapy bit I started to lose interest. I don‘t think it went into enough depth on the science side to have any kind of impact on the story and the 3 sections felt very disjointed, as the 3 MCs plus Nick‘s Dad weren‘t communicating with each other and this translated to the page.

Great story, very cleverly written. It made me think long after turning the last page. Highly recommend.

I absolutely loved this book.

Rachel Khong's writing is incredible.

This book is filled with a great cast of characters who had me hooked and eager to keep turning the pages.

I'll definitely pick up future works by this author.

I enjoyed the first part of this book immensely. It tells the story of a girl growing up in the late 20th century with chinese ethnicity in America. I really enjoyed reading about the day to day issues that arose.
The second part is about her son, as a teenager in current times and it's light, but brings us forward in the mothers story.
The third part shows us the grandmother's story, and she grows up in China, and we hear about the regime there. And the gaps in the story are filled in. We learn a bit more about science investigations and research, and whilst I was ok with this, I felt it took away from the main story and was a bit farfetched. Perhaps if the genetic alterations were considered / explained in more detail, without the chinese element of the story, it may have been simpler for me to understand / engage with.
Having said that, there is a good bit involved in this novel, and it is impressive how it is brought together.

Whilst not entirely my style, I enjoyed Real Americans though it felt like it could have been a hundred pages or so shorter. I knew that there were good things coming, but the initial section building the relationship dragged a little in the wrong places, yet somehow the progression of their lives together somehow still felt rushed and unreal. Perhaps this was deliberate, in hindsight, foreshadowing for the later sections of the novel. Unfortunately for me it was a little off putting and hard to persevere onto the rest of the story. However, Khong has a clever and amusing style and I have no doubt that lovers of romance and love stories will eat this up.

Wow wow wow I wasnt expecting this. The story follows three generations of a Chinese-American family, from the early 20th century to the present day and each character had me hooked. Flew through this one and highly recommend.

What a brilliant enjoyable read this was.
I absolutely love books that span generations, timelines & cultures which Real Americans absolutely nailed.

This is a story that delves into Culture, Immigration, Family, Identity & your 'place' in society but more than anything its a story about belonging.

This is a family saga telling a story of three generations of a family from 1960s China to 2030 America. Although primarily a family drama in a real world setting, there is a science fiction angle that doesn’t fully reveal itself until the end of the first act, making the story immediately more interesting and complex in its themes. The development of gene therapy raises a lot of ethical and moral issues but this novel works on the premise that such a development did take place voluntarily, with the best of intentions but little thought of unintended consequences. After a bit if a slow start, this develops into an interesting and thought provoking story with several potential points of discussion.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC.

Lily and Matthew meet in the dying days of the old millennium. From the start, their relationship is unbalanced - Lily an unpaid intern unsure how she will pay her rent next month; Matthew a high-flying financier to whom money is no object. Matthew is the heir to a pharmaceutical empire, while Lily grew up broke, her scientist parents having fled China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Despite their differences - and Lily's misgivings - the two fall in love.

Years later, fifteen-year-old Nick wonders about his biological father, and why his mother, Lily, cut contact with him and abruptly moved across the country when Nick was too young to remember. When his best friend convinces him to submit his DNA to an ancestry database, Nick finds himself with more questions than ever before - and he knows that his relationship with his mother can never be the same again.

Spanning three generations of one Chinese-American family, Rachel Khong's Real Americans takes the reader from Mao Zedong's China to San Francisco via Hong Kong, New York, the Hamptons and Washington, in this haunting story of identity, inheritance and the choices we make for ourselves and our children.

Khong bestows each of her narrators with a distinct voice, and Lily, whom we meet first, is hands-down my favourite. Witty, astute and reflective, I'll admit to feeling fairly bereft when the narration switched to her son, Nick. The reader is told from the outset that the relationship between Lily and Matthew is doomed, yet, through Lily's recollections, we can recognise the inherent goodness in Matthew that draws her to him in spite of her better judgement, but also understand the disparity in their relationship - and Matthew's obliviousness to it - which unbalances them from the start. (He thinks Lily should quit her dead end job and pledges to support her financially, unable to understand why she would refuse his offer.)

The switches in narration also allow the reader to contrast the way different characters see themselves and see each other. To Lily, Matthew's self-deprecating manner is charming and attractive; when Nick eventually meets his father, he finds him disingenuous and cowardly. Khong presents the same pattern in each narrative switch: each character we meet strives to do more, to live better than the previous generation; each cannot understand the choices their parents felt compelled to make.

The section of the novel which focuses on May, Lily's mother, is particularly powerful, drawing out comparisons between Mao Zedong's China and America in the 21st century and highlighting the myth of equality that they believed as immigrants. May - encouraged by her husband - rejected her Chinese heritage and contrived to Americanise Lily as much as possible, believing that it was in her best interest. However, the effect is that - like so many second generation immigrants - Lily feels suspended between two disparate cultures; her face marks her as different from her American peers, while her inability to speak Chinese sets her apart from those who share her heritage. Like her own son in the future, Lily feels betrayed by her parents' choices.

On a final note, there are some odd science fiction/magical realism riffs about the nature of time and the potential of genetic engineering that really jarred with the rest of the story for me, feeling very at odds with the realistic tone of the rest of the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

This will be my book of the year, I think - an epic, sprawling family story told in three parts that I could not put down. Rachel Khong is a genius.

Really enjoyed this. lt's set in America and China and spans the 1960s to the present day(ish), examining immigration, culture, family, identity and wealth. I love multi-generational books and timelines and thought this was great, but as it spans such a huge time period some sections felt a little rushed. Overall it's a great read and would make a brilliant book club read as it has loads of great discussion points: Recommended!

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I liked how all three generations had their own narrative. A good and thought provoking reads

A tale about belonging, and what makes who we are. About family, and how we can love so much, and think that we know what is best without knowing how stifling it can be,.This is a book about assimilation, separation, and isolation It is a story about intergenerational, and intercultural failings....Reaf it!

What a great book. Lily is the child of scientists who fled Revolutionary China and have raised her to only speak English and to be a “real American”. At a company party she meets Matthew, the son of a very rich pharmaceutical company family and they begin a relationship. Years later Lily’s son Nick seeks a relationship with his father and we learn more about the circumstances of both families.
This is a gripping story about identity and what it means to be who you really are. I loved the character of Lily, who tries hard to make decisions to safeguard her own integrity, without really having an understanding of some ethically dubious (to put it mildly) things which have been done to her. There are questions about social and genetic engineering and human authenticity running through this fascinating and emotional novel.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Following three generations over three timelines, this novel pulled me in from the first sentence and I couldn’t put it down. Moving from China to the USA. this novel explores how secrets kept down the generations can destroy those who are yet to come. The characters, are wonderfully drawn and the historical research that must’ve gone into this novice was exemplary. A novel about family and relationships, culture and science, but above all about identity and who we really are and the choices we make.I will certainly be looking out for more from this author. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to have. an advanced copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

An extraordinary book, with a credible science fiction strand which is not immediately apparent. When it comes, it made me question exactly what kind of book I had been reading.
It's told by three generations of the same line of Chinese Americans. Rachel Khong loads layer upon to layer to give the reader a tantalising glimpse of the denouement in advance without spoiling it.
It was very readable - written well and gripping - but I could have done with it being maybe 20,000 words shorter. It seemed too long and there were parts where it took an age to get to the point. For that reason, I'm giving it three stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance reader copy of this book.

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House/Cornerstone, and the author Rachel Khong.
I really enjoyed this story. I had big deja-vu as the format had echoes of a few other books I've read before, namely Little Fires Everywhere and similar narratives. However this didn't detract from the experience and I enjoyed how the story wound together with the different perspectives from each of the characters. 4 stars.

This was a really good read and not at all what I expected. I enjoyed the split narrative between the three generations and different timeframes as the connections between each character were unveiled.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was a really fascinating read, especially as I now work in genetics and have to grapple fairly regularly with the legacies of eugenics on the discipline. I wasn't sure about the change in POV at first - I think I would have liked to hear more from Lily directly - but I understand why it was done and it works in the narrative of the novel. Having the multiple timelines sort of come together in the last 50 or so pages of the book definitely paid off, though I was not expecting the magical realism element that threaded throughout. Definitely a book that provokes some thought on the areas of privilege, class, race and whether we should change things just because we can.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review it if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.