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Moderate: Racial slurs, Violence
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, War
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Murder
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence
Moderate: Infertility, Suicide, Torture, Violence
Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
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.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Racism
Minor: Death of parent
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.
Moderate: Infertility, Racism, Rape, Classism
Minor: Violence
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Violence
Moderate: Infertility, Suicide
I Will definitely be recommending this to as many people as I can.
Moderate: Addiction, Violence
Minor: Rape, Suicide