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bahareads 's review for:

Real Americans by Rachel Khong
4.0
challenging emotional reflective sad
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Real Americans is a family saga that spans three generations of a family. It follows Lily, Nick, and Mei or mother, son, and grandmother respectively. The writing was compelling and the story keeps you reading. This was GoodVibesBites&Brews Book Club Read and it was highly enjoyable. Generally, I do not like family sagas but Real Americans hit the spot. There is a lot to unpack as Khong tackles multiple topics with her book; there were so many we could not even talk about them all at book club.

My favourite POV was either Lily or Mei. I think Nick was ungrateful the older he got and that made me dislike his character towards the end of the book. I enjoyed Mei's perspective because I liked reading about what it was like to grow up during the Cultural Revolution in China. Each of the characters has a distinct voice that causes the plot to unweave itself until the reader has a full understanding of the actions of the characters.

I do think the genre of the book changed as the plot went along. It went from being literary fiction to science fiction.