My taste in recent years have drifted towards lighthearted books, but every once in a while I come across something like this with a little more meat My taste in recent years have drifted towards lighthearted books, but every once in a while I come across something like this with a little more meat on its bones that reminds me of how good it can be read something more literary. All that being said, Real Americans might end up being my favorite book from all of 2024. It's the kind of book that I loved so much, it's hard to put it into words without falling over myself saying, "It's so good, just read it, it's so good."
It's 420 pages, give or take, and I read it in 24 hours, give or take. I read the first half of it on a six-hour drive from Maryland to Ohio, thankful that my husband didn't mind that I stayed in the passenger seat the whole time. I thought it would last me the entire three days, but I stayed up late that first night to keep reading it and woke up early to finish it before going to spend the day with my nephew. It's that kind of book.
The story is hard to summarize, but it's broken into three parts following three generations of the same family. We start with Lily in the late 90s. The daughter of Chinese immigrants who grew up primarily in Florida, Lily is interning for a media company in New York City, struggling to get by when she meets Matthew at a company holiday party. His uncle runs the company where shes interning and he uses his wealth to sweep her off her feet. Turns out his father is the head of one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the country, so flying to Paris on a moment's notice is nothing for Matthew. It's an adjustment for Lily, but eventually the two fall deeply in love.
The second part of the book picks up in 2021 when their son, Nick, is in high school in Washington State. Lily's life looks a little different these days, as she is no longer with Matthew and has largely kept Nick from knowing who his father even is. We don't know exactly what caused the fallout, but Lily and Nick are now living an isolated life on a remote island outside Seattle. Nick is a lonely teen with a single friend whose dreams of an Ivy League future is really the only thing that pushes Nick himself to think beyond his sheltered world - and to begin a search for his biological father.
The third part is ostensibly set in 2030, when Lily's mother Mei is an old woman looking to make amends at the end of her life, but it really fills in a lot of the missing pieces from the past. Mei lived a hard life in China and her story focuses heavily on her escape from Mao's Cultural Revolution to the US in the 70s. At times, the three threads of the story, and especially this last piece, feel disparate, but they all come together to tell a haunting family drama full of secrets.
I will say I was initially drawn to this book because it's tagged here as magical realism and I was a little disappointed that this played a relatively small role in the story. Mei is a scientist and there is quite a bit of talk in her portion of the narrative that is focused on her work in genetics. We see a little bit of the physical effects that her work had on Lily, but the thrust of the book is really the effects that Mei's work has on the relationships within the family. This is ultimately a story about family dynamics and how choices can have rippling effects across time. I adored the characters, I loved the structure, and I was blown away by Khong's prose. It's absolutely incredible. ...more
Woah. I don't yet know how I feel about this one. It's one of the most fucked up books I've ever read and it left me with a very unsettled feeling, buWoah. I don't yet know how I feel about this one. It's one of the most fucked up books I've ever read and it left me with a very unsettled feeling, but holy cow is it well written. ...more
I don't know what I expected from a novel whose elevator pitch is "a man who is gradually turning into a Great White Shark," but it certainly wasn't aI don't know what I expected from a novel whose elevator pitch is "a man who is gradually turning into a Great White Shark," but it certainly wasn't an emotional gut punch.
The plot summary is indeed a little weird. At the outset, newlyweds Lewis and Wren receive the diagnosis that means he will gradually turn into a shark. In the world of the book, this isn't altogether unheard of. Some people mutate into other types of animals much like they develop other diseases in our world; there are policies in place to handle this and facilities that provide treatment. You're going to have to engage in a healthy suspension of disbelief in order to appreciate this book.
But it isn't some gritty sci-fi or horror novel. The subtitle is A Love Story, and that's absolutely what Shark Heart is. It's a tender, emotional exploration of the effect the diagnosis has on Lewis and Wren, as a couple and as individuals. The writing is kind of unusual, as some chapters are written as though they were scripts (Lewis once dreamed of becoming a playwright) and some are written in free verse poetry. Very few chapters are more than three pages, many clocking in at just one paragraph. It's nonlinear, as Emily Habeck takes her reader through the early days of Wren and Lewis' romance, but also Wren's childhood - and then, what happens when she has to let go of Lewis as the transformation becomes complete. This can make things feel a little disjointed at times, but trust me: it all comes together eventually.
And, I don't know. It was just lovely. It's often very sad, as Wren desperately wants to find a way to stay with Lewis even after he becomes a shark, but it never felt manipulative to me. I think that's because the characters felt very authentic, even as they were going through some very strange experiences. I went into this with a healthy dose of skepticism but I'm so glad I went in, because this may end up being my favorite book of the year. ...more
I have loved Tiffany McDaniel's previous two novels and was super excited to grab an advanced copy of her latest, which I went into thinking was looseI have loved Tiffany McDaniel's previous two novels and was super excited to grab an advanced copy of her latest, which I went into thinking was loosely based on the true story of six women murdered in McDaniel's hometown, a dying factory town not far from where I grew up.
To say On the Savage Side"loosely based" on the real life crimes is kind of a stretch - even the jacket copy says "inspired by." It's set about 20 years before the real crimes took place and barely focuses on the crimes at all. Instead, the real heart of this story is the troubled life of Arc and Daffy, twin daughters of a heroine-addicted widow getting by as a prostitute. After a traumatic childhood, the girls become women whose group of friends begin to turn up dead, one by one, floating in the river.
I really enjoyed this book at the beginning, in part because McDaniel's poet background infused her prose with such vivid imagery and Arc's narrative voice was so interesting. Over the course of 450 pages, though, the story became too brutal for me to even consider the word "enjoy" and it became clear that McDaniel had no intention of writing what I'd think of as a crime novel. Which is totally fine - it's just not the book I went in expecting. ...more
Lev A.C. Rosen's first adult book has been described as a queer Knives Out, and that description holds up. Whodunits usually aren't my cup of tea, butLev A.C. Rosen's first adult book has been described as a queer Knives Out, and that description holds up. Whodunits usually aren't my cup of tea, but Lavender House was the perfect blend of fun, unpredictable, and gay as hell.
In 1950s San Francisco, Evander Mills has just been thrown off the police force for being caught pants down in a gay nightclub. He's thinking about jumping into the bay when an older woman named Pearl approaches him with an interesting offer. Her wife, Irene, was the owner of one biggest soap companies in the country until she was found dead from an apparent fall a few weeks earlier. Pearl isn't so sure the death was accidental and would like Andy to look into things.
The catch is that Irene and Pearl lived in an estate in the hills of Marin County with their son, who's gay, and the lesbian woman whom he married for appearance's sake. The son and daughter-in-law's respective romantic partners also call the estate home, as do the son's mother-in-law and three queer members of the household staff. Because it's the 1950s and homosexuality is largely illegal, almost no one else is ever allowed into the home. Pearl refuses to believe any of them could have killed Irene in cold blood but the fact that they so tightly control access means that's almost certainly the case. But who had the motive and who had the means?
If I'm being completely honest, this mystery isn't the twistiest of tales out there. Most of the secrets revealed to Andy aren't that shocking, but Rosen does a nice job of throwing in some red herrings and not telegraphing the answer of whodunit right from the outset. He seems more interested in exploring how the characters' queer identities inform their choices and their freedoms than in giving his readers a salacious tale. Some readers might find that a little boring, but I found it fascinating. The tone of the story is just cheeky enough to be fun without being flippant, and I found myself completely pulled in by all of the characters. I loved it.
And...it seems like maybe Rosen is setting his up to be the first book in a series. More Evander Mills? Yes, please....more
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