A review by rholbrook
Real Americans by Rachel Khong

3.0

Long multigenerational family sagas are some of my most favorite books so I had high hopes for Real Americans. Sadly I was left feeling cold with no real connection to any of the characters. A lot of significant life events were skipped over in a few sentences putting me at a further distance from the characters and lacking any understanding about their motivations. So much of the writing was lacking introspection and read like fact after fact. I think the exploration of race and class dynamics could've been handled with a lot more nuance too. The sci-fi element also felt really unnecessary and gimmicky and I think it would've been a stronger story without it. All of that said, there were some glimmers of hope but ultimately I can't help feeling like this didn't live up to the potential. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to review.