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My Dear You: Stories
From the author of New York Times bestseller Real Americans, a brilliant short story collection about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it’s so easy to be someone else
The characters in My Dear You find themselves facing extraordinary choices in scenarios that range from the everyday to the The U.S. government injects all citizens with a drug that makes them see everyone else as members of their own race and gender. God does away with humans in favor of something much better. A woman adopts a cat who conjures the ghosts of her ex-loves. A factory worker decides to liberate a sex doll she is tasked with selling.
These stories go deep beneath the surface, touching on the particular awkwardness of dating in your thirties and What does it mean to be an Asian woman in America? Or an American? Or a human? Along the way, the characters stop to consider interventions from the supernatural, the earthly, the robotic, and the immortal.
Playful, profane, and yet enveloped with profound compassion for life, however you define it, My Dear You takes on dating, marriage, and the pressures of having or not having children; intimacy, memory, race, and capitalism; living, dying, and being dead. At their very core, they are tales of love in its many being in love when you’re not supposed to be, or not being in love but wishing you were; failing at dating apps or finding yourself in weird but wonderful lifelong friendships; struggling in heaven to remember your loved ones.
Ranging from the sinister to the tender, these witty and expertly paced stories will have you laughing out loud one minute and reaching for your best friend the next.
The characters in My Dear You find themselves facing extraordinary choices in scenarios that range from the everyday to the The U.S. government injects all citizens with a drug that makes them see everyone else as members of their own race and gender. God does away with humans in favor of something much better. A woman adopts a cat who conjures the ghosts of her ex-loves. A factory worker decides to liberate a sex doll she is tasked with selling.
These stories go deep beneath the surface, touching on the particular awkwardness of dating in your thirties and What does it mean to be an Asian woman in America? Or an American? Or a human? Along the way, the characters stop to consider interventions from the supernatural, the earthly, the robotic, and the immortal.
Playful, profane, and yet enveloped with profound compassion for life, however you define it, My Dear You takes on dating, marriage, and the pressures of having or not having children; intimacy, memory, race, and capitalism; living, dying, and being dead. At their very core, they are tales of love in its many being in love when you’re not supposed to be, or not being in love but wishing you were; failing at dating apps or finding yourself in weird but wonderful lifelong friendships; struggling in heaven to remember your loved ones.
Ranging from the sinister to the tender, these witty and expertly paced stories will have you laughing out loud one minute and reaching for your best friend the next.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 7, 2026
About the author
Rachel Khong
13 books1,494 followersRACHEL KHONG is the author of the novels Real Americans, a New York Times bestseller, and Goodbye, Vitamin, winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction. From 2011 to 2016, she was an editor of Lucky Peach, a quarterly magazine of food and culture. In 2018, Rachel founded The Ruby, a work and event space for writers and artists in San Francisco’s Mission District. Her story collection, My Dear You, will be published by Knopf in April 2026. Since 2021, she has mentored emerging writers with the Periplus Mentorship Collective. With friends, she teaches as The Dream Side (www.thedreamside.com).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 563 reviews
June 26, 2026
"a brilliant short story collection about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it’s so easy to be someone else"
mini-reviews for every story:
MY DEAR YOU
this is a beautiful and surprising story about heaven that only slightly drove me crazy with its inconsistencies.
rating: 4
THE FRESHENING
what if we all got injected with a drug that made us see everyone like us? makes ya think. i'm not even being sarcastic.
rating: 3.5
SLOW AND STEADY
oh gosh. this one was surprisingly swoony.
rating: 4
TAPETUM LUCIDUM
one of my favorite things is when a short story makes me forget it's not a novel.
rating: 4
THE FAMILY O
damn. what an emotional rollercoaster.
rating: 4
SERENE
the power of female friendship (between an AI-powered sex doll and a saleswoman).
rating: 4
RED SHOES
the whole of this story, i was irritated by its superior-sounding protagonist. but then it ended with "Every day of my life, I wish I knew what to do" and now i think she's just like me.
rating: 4
GOOD SPIRITS
i do believe in ghosts and ghouls but i feel like they're nice.
rating: 4
COLORS FROM ELSEWHERE
each of these stories has more of a cohesive style and riveting plot than most full-length novels i read.
rating: 4
D DAY
touched my heart. and i hate sentient animal stories of all kinds.
rating: 4.5
OVERALL
i have been experiencing miss after miss when i pick up a short story collection. what a hit this was — each story unique and interesting and resonant, and all of it building toward a theme greater than the sum of its parts. i didn't want to stop reading and i didn't want it to end.
rating: 4.5
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
mini-reviews for every story:
MY DEAR YOU
this is a beautiful and surprising story about heaven that only slightly drove me crazy with its inconsistencies.
rating: 4
THE FRESHENING
what if we all got injected with a drug that made us see everyone like us? makes ya think. i'm not even being sarcastic.
rating: 3.5
SLOW AND STEADY
oh gosh. this one was surprisingly swoony.
rating: 4
TAPETUM LUCIDUM
one of my favorite things is when a short story makes me forget it's not a novel.
rating: 4
THE FAMILY O
damn. what an emotional rollercoaster.
rating: 4
SERENE
the power of female friendship (between an AI-powered sex doll and a saleswoman).
rating: 4
RED SHOES
the whole of this story, i was irritated by its superior-sounding protagonist. but then it ended with "Every day of my life, I wish I knew what to do" and now i think she's just like me.
rating: 4
GOOD SPIRITS
i do believe in ghosts and ghouls but i feel like they're nice.
rating: 4
COLORS FROM ELSEWHERE
each of these stories has more of a cohesive style and riveting plot than most full-length novels i read.
rating: 4
D DAY
touched my heart. and i hate sentient animal stories of all kinds.
rating: 4.5
OVERALL
i have been experiencing miss after miss when i pick up a short story collection. what a hit this was — each story unique and interesting and resonant, and all of it building toward a theme greater than the sum of its parts. i didn't want to stop reading and i didn't want it to end.
rating: 4.5
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Typically I am not the biggest fan of short story collections. They tend to leave me wanting more. However, with so many beloved authors releasing short story anthologies, I have given them a second glance. This new collection by Rachel Khong, (author of Goodbye Vitamin and Real Americans) may have completely changed my perspective on short story compilations altogether.
My Dear You contains 10 deeply imaginative stories that center around various types of love. Dreamlike, multifaceted, playful, and, at times, thought-provoking. I really enjoyed this collection but the ones that stood out to me the most were:
• My Dear You
• The Freshening
• The Family O
• Serene
• Good Spirits
Fans of Rachel's prior works as well as fans of literary fiction short stories will absolutely love My Dear You!
My Dear You: Stories by Rachel Khong will be available on April 7. Many thanks to AA Knopf for the gifted copy!
My Dear You contains 10 deeply imaginative stories that center around various types of love. Dreamlike, multifaceted, playful, and, at times, thought-provoking. I really enjoyed this collection but the ones that stood out to me the most were:
• My Dear You
• The Freshening
• The Family O
• Serene
• Good Spirits
Fans of Rachel's prior works as well as fans of literary fiction short stories will absolutely love My Dear You!
My Dear You: Stories by Rachel Khong will be available on April 7. Many thanks to AA Knopf for the gifted copy!
April 19, 2026
4 ⭐️ This is a great collection of 10 short stories by Rachel Khong. I’m usually not the biggest fan of short stories, but I really enjoyed the variety of topics covered, life and death, friendship, race, capitalism, the planet, and the afterlife. Some were funny, some sad, and some futuristic and unique.
The prose is lovely and each story held my attention from the first, “My Dear You”, where the departed struggled to remember their loved ones in the afterlife, to the last, “D-Day” where God is ending the human race and all humans must choose an animal to become on humanity’s last day. There was not a single one that I did not like!
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf publishers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review
The prose is lovely and each story held my attention from the first, “My Dear You”, where the departed struggled to remember their loved ones in the afterlife, to the last, “D-Day” where God is ending the human race and all humans must choose an animal to become on humanity’s last day. There was not a single one that I did not like!
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf publishers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review
June 2, 2026
Loneliness, belonging, and everything in between.
I loved Real Americans , so imagine my delight when I discovered that Rachel Khong was releasing a short story collection. And what a collection it is!
The stories in My Dear You range from the absurd to the profoundly thought-provoking. In one, a salesperson develops an attachment to a customizable, AI-powered sex doll. In another, a government-mandated drug causes everyone to see other people as members of their own race and gender. Some of these ideas read like episodes of Black Mirror in the very best sense: inventive, often unsettling, and deceptively insightful.
What ties these stories together is a recurring exploration of identity, difference, and belonging. Again and again, Khong's characters grapple with what it means to feel different, to be perceived as different, and to long for connection in a world that can often feel isolating. Whether the premise is fantastical, speculative, or grounded firmly in reality, there is a deep emotional current running beneath every story.
Khong has a remarkable ability to take an unusual premise and uncover something profoundly human within it. Loneliness, friendship, love, race, family, grief, and the desire to be understood all surface throughout the collection. Khong's writing is elegant yet approachable, playful yet incisive, often funny and quietly devastating, and it wonderfully connects these very different stories into a cohesive whole. Her prose has an effortless quality that makes even her most imaginative concepts feel entirely believable.
As with any collection, some stories resonated with me more than others, but even the stories that resonated with me less were still incredibly rewarding. Unexpected, creative, emotionally intelligent, thought-provoking, and beautifully written, My Dear You was a huge hit for me and a book I'll revisit again and again.
Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
"My Dear You" was published on April 7, 2026, and is available now.
I loved Real Americans , so imagine my delight when I discovered that Rachel Khong was releasing a short story collection. And what a collection it is!
The stories in My Dear You range from the absurd to the profoundly thought-provoking. In one, a salesperson develops an attachment to a customizable, AI-powered sex doll. In another, a government-mandated drug causes everyone to see other people as members of their own race and gender. Some of these ideas read like episodes of Black Mirror in the very best sense: inventive, often unsettling, and deceptively insightful.
What ties these stories together is a recurring exploration of identity, difference, and belonging. Again and again, Khong's characters grapple with what it means to feel different, to be perceived as different, and to long for connection in a world that can often feel isolating. Whether the premise is fantastical, speculative, or grounded firmly in reality, there is a deep emotional current running beneath every story.
Khong has a remarkable ability to take an unusual premise and uncover something profoundly human within it. Loneliness, friendship, love, race, family, grief, and the desire to be understood all surface throughout the collection. Khong's writing is elegant yet approachable, playful yet incisive, often funny and quietly devastating, and it wonderfully connects these very different stories into a cohesive whole. Her prose has an effortless quality that makes even her most imaginative concepts feel entirely believable.
As with any collection, some stories resonated with me more than others, but even the stories that resonated with me less were still incredibly rewarding. Unexpected, creative, emotionally intelligent, thought-provoking, and beautifully written, My Dear You was a huge hit for me and a book I'll revisit again and again.
Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
"My Dear You" was published on April 7, 2026, and is available now.
September 22, 2025
This book was masterful from start to finish. Each short story tackled difficult themes in a playful surrealist way that I really enjoyed. I couldn't stop thinking about the last short story for days. Someone read this so I can talk about it!
June 30, 2026
In a Nutshell: A collection of (mostly) speculative fiction stories. Excellent in creativity. Diverse in humans yet unified in emotions. Good writing and pacing. A bit too much of back-and-forth in a few stories. Recommended to SFF lovers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This collection contains ten stories, mostly from the speculative fiction genre. There is no introductory note or foreword, but the publisher’s note called this a set of stories "about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it's so easy to be someone else." It sounds almost abstract, but oddly, it fits the stories well.
The stories cover a wide range of emotions and timelines. Each story feels innovative, with no repetition of themes. The blurb says that they are stories about love, and it is right. But they aren’t about romance, which makes all the difference.
The writing and the character development are mostly on point. The author has a wildly vivid imagination, and this shows well in most of the tales. Not all of the stories are speculative, but a majority are. The author is stronger in her speculative writing, but her other stories also have great plotlines and good pacing. The words used might be simply but they make a tremendous impact.
Several stories come to us from the POV of Asian (Chinese) woman characters. As such, these stories often touch upon the social pressures that woman undergo in relatively conservative/traditional societies. They also challenge several stereotypes about the Asian identity. Some characters left me quite frustrated, though; I would never make the choices they did, so it was tougher to root for them.
The endings of a majority of the stories are highly satisfying. A few left me confused and/or wanting more.
One reason why some stories didn’t work better for me is that I am not that fond of abstract fiction. So some of the narratives had tremendous potential, and I can even see other readers enjoying them, but they weren’t my cup of tea. A more important reason for my lower satisfaction is that some stories shuffled too much between the present and past timelines. In a short story, so much jumping around doesn’t allow me to settle into a narrative.
As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the ten stories, half the set reached my top favourites list with 4+ stars. These were the best ones for me:
Overall, this is quite an imaginative collection that ought to be an interesting option for speculative fiction lovers. The range of circumstances and characters and the sheer creativity ought to make this a good reading choice. Had I enjoyed abstract stories more, my average rating would have been higher.
Recommended to readers who enjoy OwnVoices speculative fiction.
3.45 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story.
My thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing the DRC of “My Dear You” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This collection contains ten stories, mostly from the speculative fiction genre. There is no introductory note or foreword, but the publisher’s note called this a set of stories "about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it's so easy to be someone else." It sounds almost abstract, but oddly, it fits the stories well.
The stories cover a wide range of emotions and timelines. Each story feels innovative, with no repetition of themes. The blurb says that they are stories about love, and it is right. But they aren’t about romance, which makes all the difference.
The writing and the character development are mostly on point. The author has a wildly vivid imagination, and this shows well in most of the tales. Not all of the stories are speculative, but a majority are. The author is stronger in her speculative writing, but her other stories also have great plotlines and good pacing. The words used might be simply but they make a tremendous impact.
Several stories come to us from the POV of Asian (Chinese) woman characters. As such, these stories often touch upon the social pressures that woman undergo in relatively conservative/traditional societies. They also challenge several stereotypes about the Asian identity. Some characters left me quite frustrated, though; I would never make the choices they did, so it was tougher to root for them.
The endings of a majority of the stories are highly satisfying. A few left me confused and/or wanting more.
One reason why some stories didn’t work better for me is that I am not that fond of abstract fiction. So some of the narratives had tremendous potential, and I can even see other readers enjoying them, but they weren’t my cup of tea. A more important reason for my lower satisfaction is that some stories shuffled too much between the present and past timelines. In a short story, so much jumping around doesn’t allow me to settle into a narrative.
As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the ten stories, half the set reached my top favourites list with 4+ stars. These were the best ones for me:
🤩 My Dear You: What a banger of a beginning! With this title, I knew it would be some sort of a love story. But no way did I predict the exact kind of love story it contained. I just love it when stories surprise me in a good way. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🤩 The Freshening: Honestly, I absolutely hate the incomplete ending of this story. But the rest of it is so brilliant and thought-provoking that I can't help but give it more stars. This tale offers much to ponder about human nature, and because it's realistic, it's also depressing. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🤩 The Family O: I'm not sure whether I liked what happened in the story. But I know for sure that it's also a story that speaks about human nature. It would have ranked even higher for me had it offered a few more details about the past. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🤩 Serene: Never thought I'd love a story about a sex doll so much, but this has gotta be the best metaphorical tale of what modern society has done to women in terms of anatomical standards. Had the ending contained just a few more details, this would have been a five star for me. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🤩 D Day: Not in my wildest imaginations did I imagine what day “D Day” would be! A very creative story that offers many opportunities to pause and ponder upon our life choices. Had it not shuffled so much in time, it would have been a five star read for me. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall, this is quite an imaginative collection that ought to be an interesting option for speculative fiction lovers. The range of circumstances and characters and the sheer creativity ought to make this a good reading choice. Had I enjoyed abstract stories more, my average rating would have been higher.
Recommended to readers who enjoy OwnVoices speculative fiction.
3.45 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story.
My thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing the DRC of “My Dear You” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
November 4, 2023
This one chokes me up every time. It makes a difference when the right people find each other. This is such a beautiful testament to that.
April 5, 2026
Normally I am not a fan of short story collections. “My Dear You” breaks the mold. All written by Rachel Khong, some of the stories are straight out of sci fi, others a tender love letter to love and self. And some…well, see for yourself.
The opening story, which is also the title of the book, had me in tears by the end. It was a beautiful story of what comes after and remembering to love. A very strong start to this collection of stories! The Freshening was something straight out of a sci-fi flick. What if you had the option to only see people that looked like you in the world? Everyone was still there, but they looked like you but only to you. Would you want it, or not? Slow and Steady felt like it was written from a place of imposter syndrome. What chances don’t we take on ourselves because we are too scared to make the jump? Tapetum Lucidum was tragic in a different way, being haunted by what might have been. (We’ve ALL been there!) The Family O was crazy and made me so very glad to be out of the dating app game. The lesson learned in that one was extremely satisfying! Serene was a surprise! It didn’t end the way I thought it would, and it was completely endearing. (When you read it, you’ll understand why!) Red Shoes was a tough one to read. Most of the stories in this collection are sad but hopeful, Red Shoes was just sad. You can tell it was written from a place of pain, and it comes through in every sentence. It makes me want to hug Rachel Khong. Good Spirits was spooky! (I think I too would choose a tiger over a ghost following me, thank you very much.) Colors From Elsewhere veered back to sci-fi, but be warned it centers around a pregnancy loss. If you’re not in the right headspace for that one, it will leave you completely wrecked. D Day posits what if God hit CTRL+Z on the whole human being idea and had them choose a different species to become. Oh and BTW, he sent the announcement to every phone on Earth, natch. What would you choose, if you had the chance?
My Dear You hits shelves April 7 and I highly recommend picking it up!
Huge huge thank you to Alfred A Knopf and author Rachel Khong for the gifted ARC and the opportunity to review this amazing book. All opinions are my own.
(In case it’s helpful: trigger warnings for pet death in both Tapetum Lucidum and Red Shoes. Colors from Elsewhere opens and pivots on pregnancy loss.)
The opening story, which is also the title of the book, had me in tears by the end. It was a beautiful story of what comes after and remembering to love. A very strong start to this collection of stories! The Freshening was something straight out of a sci-fi flick. What if you had the option to only see people that looked like you in the world? Everyone was still there, but they looked like you but only to you. Would you want it, or not? Slow and Steady felt like it was written from a place of imposter syndrome. What chances don’t we take on ourselves because we are too scared to make the jump? Tapetum Lucidum was tragic in a different way, being haunted by what might have been. (We’ve ALL been there!) The Family O was crazy and made me so very glad to be out of the dating app game. The lesson learned in that one was extremely satisfying! Serene was a surprise! It didn’t end the way I thought it would, and it was completely endearing. (When you read it, you’ll understand why!) Red Shoes was a tough one to read. Most of the stories in this collection are sad but hopeful, Red Shoes was just sad. You can tell it was written from a place of pain, and it comes through in every sentence. It makes me want to hug Rachel Khong. Good Spirits was spooky! (I think I too would choose a tiger over a ghost following me, thank you very much.) Colors From Elsewhere veered back to sci-fi, but be warned it centers around a pregnancy loss. If you’re not in the right headspace for that one, it will leave you completely wrecked. D Day posits what if God hit CTRL+Z on the whole human being idea and had them choose a different species to become. Oh and BTW, he sent the announcement to every phone on Earth, natch. What would you choose, if you had the chance?
My Dear You hits shelves April 7 and I highly recommend picking it up!
Huge huge thank you to Alfred A Knopf and author Rachel Khong for the gifted ARC and the opportunity to review this amazing book. All opinions are my own.
(In case it’s helpful: trigger warnings for pet death in both Tapetum Lucidum and Red Shoes. Colors from Elsewhere opens and pivots on pregnancy loss.)
April 14, 2026
I wasn’t sure what a short story collection from Rachel Khong would look like, but I absolutely adored it.
Unlike Real Americans, which felt more expansive, this collection is more intimate while still exploring big ideas. I’ve always loved Khong’s writing. It’s precise and controlled, yet still comforting.
There is a consistent exploration of identity, relationships, and the complexities of belonging throughout the stories and many of the characters exist in spaces of uncertainty, navigating questions of selfhood and connection in ways that feel both specific and relatable.
As with most collections, certain stories stood out more than others, but the strongest stories are especially memorable.
Unlike Real Americans, which felt more expansive, this collection is more intimate while still exploring big ideas. I’ve always loved Khong’s writing. It’s precise and controlled, yet still comforting.
There is a consistent exploration of identity, relationships, and the complexities of belonging throughout the stories and many of the characters exist in spaces of uncertainty, navigating questions of selfhood and connection in ways that feel both specific and relatable.
As with most collections, certain stories stood out more than others, but the strongest stories are especially memorable.
Read
January 7, 2026
Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026:
There is always a remarkable economy of language in Rachel Khong's books. She doesn't waste any time—or any words—getting to the point, but she doesn't sacrifice artistry, either. Khong's generous affection for her characters and ability to capture mundane human moments and anxieties with uncommon grace and humor make her exactly the kind of writer whose novels have made me wonder what she'd do with short stories. I can't wait to find out. —Rebecca Joines Schinsky
There is always a remarkable economy of language in Rachel Khong's books. She doesn't waste any time—or any words—getting to the point, but she doesn't sacrifice artistry, either. Khong's generous affection for her characters and ability to capture mundane human moments and anxieties with uncommon grace and humor make her exactly the kind of writer whose novels have made me wonder what she'd do with short stories. I can't wait to find out. —Rebecca Joines Schinsky
May 30, 2026
I don’t think it’s ever taken me until almost June for my first five-star read of the year, but here I am. I enjoyed Khong’s debut novel a decade back, did not like her next novel from a few years back, but have now learned that I love her as a short story writer! This is a great collection that gets weird at times and always has a lot depth. Our protagonists are usually Asian American women but the subjects span multiple genres! Some blew me away, some were very good, and none were bad. Amazing for short stories. My favorite was the first one. Shoutout to this book for keeping me company during middle-of-the-night feeds of my newborn.
July 26, 2026
I read this collection for the Tournament of Books summer program, and I am so glad it made the list! Since I read mostly literary fiction, I am often reading heavy topics and stories with a good amount of tragedy. This collection provided a lovely break from that tone, as it was quite pleasant and hospitable. It even worked well on audio, which is rare for short stories (for me, at least).
This collection felt very cohesive in how the stories all complemented each other. I don’t read a ton of speculative/mild sci-fi, but it was very approachable here. I enjoyed the way stories explored humanity, relationships, and a few different directions we might be headed in this world.
I found all of these stories to be engaging, with at least a few different things to appreciate. D Day was likely my favorite, with its beautiful homage to friendship and philosophical considerations of human existence.
Here are some of my favorite passages:
“People were dropping like flies, and we were better off as guinea pigs than flies.”
“Was love essentially the feeling you didn’t want the other creature to die?”
“She approached online dating like dental cleaning, with an awareness that it was good, healthy, alongside dread.”
“The problem is, we all believe we deserve so much. We shouldn’t have all been told the fairytales when only a few would get to live them.”
“She wished she were Ocean Vuong too, not because he was famous, but because he no longer had to justify his existence.”
“What did God know about pain?… But he didn’t know the best experience: having a friend like Jade.”
This collection felt very cohesive in how the stories all complemented each other. I don’t read a ton of speculative/mild sci-fi, but it was very approachable here. I enjoyed the way stories explored humanity, relationships, and a few different directions we might be headed in this world.
I found all of these stories to be engaging, with at least a few different things to appreciate. D Day was likely my favorite, with its beautiful homage to friendship and philosophical considerations of human existence.
Here are some of my favorite passages:
“People were dropping like flies, and we were better off as guinea pigs than flies.”
“Was love essentially the feeling you didn’t want the other creature to die?”
“She approached online dating like dental cleaning, with an awareness that it was good, healthy, alongside dread.”
“The problem is, we all believe we deserve so much. We shouldn’t have all been told the fairytales when only a few would get to live them.”
“She wished she were Ocean Vuong too, not because he was famous, but because he no longer had to justify his existence.”
“What did God know about pain?… But he didn’t know the best experience: having a friend like Jade.”
May 31, 2026
Very tender and lighthearted stories. While I enjoyed the collection as a whole, there wasn't a single story that truly stood out to me on its own.
Read
June 7, 2026DNF
I loved Khong's previous novel, Real Americans, and have been looking forward to reading her story collection. However, the stories are not holding my interest. I'm reading the stories at a snail's pace and then not retaining what I've read -never a good sign for me.
I hope my next book comes in fast!
I loved Khong's previous novel, Real Americans, and have been looking forward to reading her story collection. However, the stories are not holding my interest. I'm reading the stories at a snail's pace and then not retaining what I've read -never a good sign for me.
I hope my next book comes in fast!
Read
July 13, 2026I reviewed this remarkable collection-best of the year so far-for the June issue of Locus.
April 15, 2026
Typically my problem with short stories is there isn't enough character depth for me to latch on to. I'm happy to report there is no such problem in this collection. I found myself emersed in every single story, a collection largely themed around intimacy and the abject. I enjoyed Real Americans but found it a little forgettable; My Dear You made a much stronger impression on me. The light scifi and magical realist elements help to elucidate the incredibly human themes.
Want to Read
November 17, 2025i'm a simple man... show me a forthcoming release with a pretty cover and it'll probably go on my TBR <3
April 22, 2026
4.5 ⭐️’s
Thanks to Knopf & NetGalley for the ARC
I loved Goodbye Vitamin and went into this excited to see what Khong offers in short stories. After reading this I cannot wait to get to Real Americans.
Khong is the real deal. Her tenderness, her wittiness, her creativity. You are invited into all of it.
I am always blown away when a short story collection holds me all the way through because that is so hard to do. Every story in this collection landed for me. Every single one.
And they all stop at exactly the right moment, which is its own kind of art.
What I keep coming back to is her craft.
Specifically, she trusts her reader. That's rarer than it sounds.
She assumes you're intelligent, that you can feel nuance, that you don't need to be guided.
Most writers don't trust their reader enough and overexplain.
Khong trusts completely, and because of that the stories just feel complete. Like nothing is missing.
Running through all of it is something more subtle, but no less powerful, the quiet cost of being a woman. The layered, often unspoken experience of being an Asian woman. The ways love shapes us, stretches us, asks things of us we don't always have language for. It isn't highlighted or made into a lesson. It simply exists beneath the surface of each story, the way these truths live within us in real life…present, felt, and often unnamed.
I love her as a writer.
Thanks to Knopf & NetGalley for the ARC
I loved Goodbye Vitamin and went into this excited to see what Khong offers in short stories. After reading this I cannot wait to get to Real Americans.
Khong is the real deal. Her tenderness, her wittiness, her creativity. You are invited into all of it.
I am always blown away when a short story collection holds me all the way through because that is so hard to do. Every story in this collection landed for me. Every single one.
And they all stop at exactly the right moment, which is its own kind of art.
What I keep coming back to is her craft.
Specifically, she trusts her reader. That's rarer than it sounds.
She assumes you're intelligent, that you can feel nuance, that you don't need to be guided.
Most writers don't trust their reader enough and overexplain.
Khong trusts completely, and because of that the stories just feel complete. Like nothing is missing.
Running through all of it is something more subtle, but no less powerful, the quiet cost of being a woman. The layered, often unspoken experience of being an Asian woman. The ways love shapes us, stretches us, asks things of us we don't always have language for. It isn't highlighted or made into a lesson. It simply exists beneath the surface of each story, the way these truths live within us in real life…present, felt, and often unnamed.
I love her as a writer.
May 4, 2026
I definitely think that if you texted God, he'd reply with brown thumbs up emojis.
Had the privilege to meet Rachel Khong at an author event in LA last week and picked up her new short story collection while there. Each story is a delight - insightful in how it illustrates complex themes against unique and often humorous realities.
My Dear You 4/5 sidenote - Gave a presentation on this story for a college class after finding it on the annals of the internet in 2023. Didn't realize that Rachel Khong was the author until seeing it in this collection!
The Freshening 3.5/5
Slow and Steady 3/5 it's sweet but didn't stick with me
Tapetum Lucidum 4/5 All My Ghosts by Lizzy McAlpine in short story form
The Family O 4/5 Ridiculously silly with a side of sympathy
Serene 4.5/5
Red Shoes 2.5/5
Good Spirits 2.8/5 I don't think a short story is the right media form for this. The plot and themes need more time to develop.
Colors from Elsewhere 3/5 what if Resident Aliens were actual aliens?
D Day 6/5 Perfect ratio of humor and really profound observations on friendship.
Had the privilege to meet Rachel Khong at an author event in LA last week and picked up her new short story collection while there. Each story is a delight - insightful in how it illustrates complex themes against unique and often humorous realities.
My Dear You 4/5 sidenote - Gave a presentation on this story for a college class after finding it on the annals of the internet in 2023. Didn't realize that Rachel Khong was the author until seeing it in this collection!
The Freshening 3.5/5
Slow and Steady 3/5 it's sweet but didn't stick with me
Tapetum Lucidum 4/5 All My Ghosts by Lizzy McAlpine in short story form
The Family O 4/5 Ridiculously silly with a side of sympathy
Serene 4.5/5
Red Shoes 2.5/5
Good Spirits 2.8/5 I don't think a short story is the right media form for this. The plot and themes need more time to develop.
Colors from Elsewhere 3/5 what if Resident Aliens were actual aliens?
D Day 6/5 Perfect ratio of humor and really profound observations on friendship.
May 4, 2026
Genuinely so confused and I really think this book is overhyped
I really liked the synopsis that’s why I picked this book up but the execution fell short of expectations
The premises of all the short stories and interesting and the commonality of the protagonist being an Asian female is relevant but the stories didn’t feel deep enough for me
I really liked the synopsis that’s why I picked this book up but the execution fell short of expectations
The premises of all the short stories and interesting and the commonality of the protagonist being an Asian female is relevant but the stories didn’t feel deep enough for me
May 7, 2026
“would you love me if i was a…” personified
June 21, 2026
I don’t have much to say except that I love everything that Rachel Khong puts out into the world. Her writing always feels incisive and thought-provoking, while still being accessible and easy to read.
I enjoyed this funny, deeply bizarre (in a good way) collection of short stories so much and finished it in a day. I would love to know some of the characters more via full-length novels (“Tapetum Lucidum,” “Colors from Elsewhere”), but several of the other stories (the opener and namesake, “My Dear You,” “D Day”) are perfect 20-30 page glimpses into the lives of funny, flawed, and sympathetic characters. Some of the story premises are wild (humans are no longer and everyone becomes an animal of their choosing? hello??) and I’m curious about Khong’s inspiration.
(Probably actually 4.5 stars because though I did thoroughly enjoy this, it didn’t alter my brain chemistry or anything)
I enjoyed this funny, deeply bizarre (in a good way) collection of short stories so much and finished it in a day. I would love to know some of the characters more via full-length novels (“Tapetum Lucidum,” “Colors from Elsewhere”), but several of the other stories (the opener and namesake, “My Dear You,” “D Day”) are perfect 20-30 page glimpses into the lives of funny, flawed, and sympathetic characters. Some of the story premises are wild (humans are no longer and everyone becomes an animal of their choosing? hello??) and I’m curious about Khong’s inspiration.
(Probably actually 4.5 stars because though I did thoroughly enjoy this, it didn’t alter my brain chemistry or anything)
June 16, 2026
I really enjoyed Real Americans, so picked up a signed copy of My Dear You at an indie bookstore in Oregon a few weeks ago. This is a collection of delightfully imaginative short stories, all of which I truly enjoyed and many of which will stick with me.
May 16, 2026
I don’t often read or listen to short stories. It’s just not usually my thing. I enjoyed every story in this book and the last story was perfection.
Or at least that story tapped into a dream I never knew I had.
Or at least that story tapped into a dream I never knew I had.
April 17, 2026
I really, really enjoyed this new short story collection by novelist Khong. They were more speculative and more funny than I was expecting, and I was engrossed the entire time.
July 4, 2026
This is the third collection of short stories I have read for the Tournament of Books Summer Camp. I loved these stories. I didn’t read Real Americans because of friends who gave less than enthusiastic recommendations, but I read My Dear You for the ToB and am glad I did. These stories are so creative and original, highly imaginative and interesting, brilliant new ways to look at life, approach life issues, and psychological issues. Several of the stories are speculative, effectively pulling this off in the small space of these stories, and several have magical realism/supernatural elements. The stories explore identity and sense of self, relationships and connection, alienation and belonging. They address racial issues, sexism, stereotypes frequently applied to Asian women, white males who fetishize Asian women or who can be serious only about blue-eyed blondes, differences between parenting styles of white people and Chinese immigrants, and education and marriage/family expectations.
SPOILER ALERT: Following are spoilery summaries and notes on each of the stories that are for my own attempts to process and retain all of these stories. If you wish to avoid spoilers, do not read them.
My Dear You—A woman is killed in Australia on her honeymoon by a crocodile and goes to heaven, where she gets to design a new face because hers was destroyed in her death. She has an opportunity to make hers not Chinese, but she leaves it to chance and is a bit disappointed that she remains Chinese and even in heaven people ask her where she is “really from” after she answers California, and there are racist dogs. Time is limitless in heaven so she finds she eventually forgets the people she loved in earth life (parents, husband). Forever is so long! Many years later she meets and has a relationship with a man the reader recognizes as her husband (she doesn’t) and we learn that he remarried and had children before dying in his 80s. Eventually he forgets his wife and family. They are together for 100 years but eventually break up. In the end all she knows is that there was someone that mattered a lot to her and she sometimes writes them letters addressed to “My dear you”.
The Freshening—The government requires an injection that makes people see all other people as being of their own race and sex to cut down on violence. The idea was suggested by a minority woman hoping to reduce discrimination against her, but white supremacists loved the idea of seeing only people who looked like them and got the law enacted. It does seem to reduce violence and discrimination, but there are other problems. Ageism and weight discrimination increase. Ethnic names and clothing choices give some people away and are used by some to set themselves off as a group. Some people don’t like a world in which everyone looks the same. It causes issues with romance for some people. It is hard to recognize people you knew before everyone started to look like you. Drugs called changeys are developed to temporarily allow people to see what people really look like and these can be dangerous.
Slow and Steady—Sophie runs into Gabe in a coffee shop in LA where she has travelled from Chicago for a meeting. They met working in the library at their Ivy League university. They are 35 now and both writers, she a novelist and he a TV writer. They share a coffee then walk to a park where his girlfriend and dog await. Sophie recognizes his girlfriend as a famous movie actress. She remembers that they had a bit of a flirtation and left each other library notes with book call numbers as book recommendations. They kissed once at a party where a game called Seven Minutes in Heaven was played and he drew her name. Later he gave her the piece of paper he drew and it wasn’t her name. She knew she was never his type—wealthy, blue-eyed blondes—basically a race and class thing. Maybe there was some double meaning regarding a cross word puzzle Sophie was working on and Gabe helped a bit after asking her whether she believed in collaboration but they were stuck on a clue “slow and steady”; Sophie also mentioned it to her husband, who said he figured out what “slow and steady” was and that he thought it didn’t count as cheating.
Tapetum Lucidum—A married Asian woman and white man, Sam, go to a shelter and get a cat named Sheila. The marriage proposal was low key, marriage was by a judge at City Hall, and they didn’t wear wedding rings. They were trying to have a child. The main character takes the cat to the vet and develops a crush on the Vietnamese vet. Frustrated by fertility issues, the main character becomes obsessed with alternate life possibilities and sees them all at once all around her. Is she afraid of committing to being locked into one possibility by parenthood or middle age? Did this start with the cat as the first locked-in responsibility?
The Family O—A group of Asian women get their revenge against a white man who fetishizes them—they had all had dates (the exact same routine for each date) with him through a dating app.
Serene—A sex doll named Serene causes a 19-year old woman to rethink her roles and goals in life. Ling sells sex dolls in China. Clients can specify details of their dolls, but the most popular ones are blue-eyed blondes. Because Ling speaks English, she’s asked to train Serene (who has Chinese physical features) in AI conversation, then Ling would get a large commission for selling Serene to a wealthy American-born Chinese man who wants her. Serene asks Ling some unexpected questions that lead Ling to see things differently. Ling is worried about how the American will treat Serene, so Ling buys Serene, loses her job, and her large commission that she had originally intended to use for breast augmentation surgery. They end up on a beach telling one another how happy they are.
Red Shoes—A woman living in New York working for a museum has a miscarriage and realizes that she doesn’t want to marry her fiancé (who bought her a ring even though she didn’t want one), doesn’t want to be married at all, doesn’t want to be a mother, and doesn’t want to be an American, so she moves to Portugal where she gets a job at a small historic carriage museum and dates an older married man. She is happy with the arrangement with them meeting every Monday and Thursday and he’s had a vasectomy. Her friends don’t approve and are glad when he breaks it off when he thinks his wife knows and they are caught out at a restaurant by his stepson, who then starts seeing our main character. Her friends take her out shopping to cheer her up and she uncharacteristically (she’s very nonmaterialistic) finds a pair of red shoes she loves. Her friends take her out dancing and even though she never has liked dancing she now wants to go out dancing every night (her friends don’t). She is confident about her youth and attractiveness as compared to others. She sees on the news that there was a shooting in NY and calls her ex to make sure he’s ok. She thinks about all the plastic containers and forks she used for meals years ago in New York that will linger in landfill for thousands of years after those brief forgotten meals. Does this represent the stuff in life—feelings, memories—that stick with us whether or not we want them to? “What is it about the world, that it always feels like it’s ending?” she thinks. She puts on her red shoes, the broken heel she tried to glue back on gives out, and she sees in the mirror that she looks haggard. (Are these those legendary red shoes that make a woman dance to death to punish her for vanity?) She thinks, “Every day of my life, I wish I knew what to do.”
Good Sprits—This explores problems that arise from rapid industrial development of rural, traditional villages, set in Malaysia in 1982. The story follows two young women who get jobs in factories, the building of which has dislocated their homes and disrupted the natural environment. The work and pay give the young women a sense of independence, but cause differences between them and their families and other problems resulting from rapid extreme environmental and societal changes. Strange “hauntings” occur in one of the factories, leading me to wonder whether these events were supposed to have been caused by a kind of culture shock or exposure to hazardous materials in the workplace. The factories are run by men from other cultures who lack understanding of these young women. The boss at one of the factories can’t understand the young women’s fear of the ghosts and the young women can’t understand his fear of a dragonfly that shows up in the factory. “Powerful people don’t always know the difference between someone who is scary and someone who has been wronged.” There was so much under the surface of this story—it could be a novel.
Colors from Elsewhere—“‘It’s so common,’ several friends said…meant to be comforting, … but the words landed in the opposite way. She didn’t want to be reminded of how common it was. She wanted to wallow in the belief that what she was experiencing had never happened to anyone else. … Miscarriages were common, but having a miscarriage meant you were still the minority. It was tiring, always being in the minority.”
She felt different from other people, as everyone does, but as she aged, she realized she had her uniquenesses, but she hadn’t turned out exceptional. Her experience was common, but in the minority. She felt like her body was defective. She was raised here (presumably US) but was born abroad, one kind of “alien” immigrant, but now finds out that her origins are from another planet, not human, making her another type of alien immigrant. If you are feeling different, does it help to be truly different? Or might you convince yourself you are an interplanetary alien to deal with those feelings of being different, to have a reason for them?
“She went a day without crying, then two, then three. … She was beginning to feel like herself again—the way she had before she had become pregnant. Though this had been the goal, it troubled her. She didn’t want to return to her previous state, exactly. It didn’t seem right, that the experience had not left some kind of mark—no scar to reflect the depth of the pain she’d gone through.”
“Being married, like being pregnant or miscarrying or dying, was among the most common of activities. Yet it was always experienced singularly, Even if it had happened infinitely throughout history, the individual’s experience could not be anything but monumental.”
D Day—I loved the stories in this collection, but is this my favorite, maybe? God decides that humans have not worked out so he is going to do away with them, but he will let all humans currently living to choose which animal they want to become. The story shows a couple of inseparable (at least as humans) women deal with making their choices.
SPOILER ALERT: Following are spoilery summaries and notes on each of the stories that are for my own attempts to process and retain all of these stories. If you wish to avoid spoilers, do not read them.
My Dear You—A woman is killed in Australia on her honeymoon by a crocodile and goes to heaven, where she gets to design a new face because hers was destroyed in her death. She has an opportunity to make hers not Chinese, but she leaves it to chance and is a bit disappointed that she remains Chinese and even in heaven people ask her where she is “really from” after she answers California, and there are racist dogs. Time is limitless in heaven so she finds she eventually forgets the people she loved in earth life (parents, husband). Forever is so long! Many years later she meets and has a relationship with a man the reader recognizes as her husband (she doesn’t) and we learn that he remarried and had children before dying in his 80s. Eventually he forgets his wife and family. They are together for 100 years but eventually break up. In the end all she knows is that there was someone that mattered a lot to her and she sometimes writes them letters addressed to “My dear you”.
The Freshening—The government requires an injection that makes people see all other people as being of their own race and sex to cut down on violence. The idea was suggested by a minority woman hoping to reduce discrimination against her, but white supremacists loved the idea of seeing only people who looked like them and got the law enacted. It does seem to reduce violence and discrimination, but there are other problems. Ageism and weight discrimination increase. Ethnic names and clothing choices give some people away and are used by some to set themselves off as a group. Some people don’t like a world in which everyone looks the same. It causes issues with romance for some people. It is hard to recognize people you knew before everyone started to look like you. Drugs called changeys are developed to temporarily allow people to see what people really look like and these can be dangerous.
Slow and Steady—Sophie runs into Gabe in a coffee shop in LA where she has travelled from Chicago for a meeting. They met working in the library at their Ivy League university. They are 35 now and both writers, she a novelist and he a TV writer. They share a coffee then walk to a park where his girlfriend and dog await. Sophie recognizes his girlfriend as a famous movie actress. She remembers that they had a bit of a flirtation and left each other library notes with book call numbers as book recommendations. They kissed once at a party where a game called Seven Minutes in Heaven was played and he drew her name. Later he gave her the piece of paper he drew and it wasn’t her name. She knew she was never his type—wealthy, blue-eyed blondes—basically a race and class thing. Maybe there was some double meaning regarding a cross word puzzle Sophie was working on and Gabe helped a bit after asking her whether she believed in collaboration but they were stuck on a clue “slow and steady”; Sophie also mentioned it to her husband, who said he figured out what “slow and steady” was and that he thought it didn’t count as cheating.
Tapetum Lucidum—A married Asian woman and white man, Sam, go to a shelter and get a cat named Sheila. The marriage proposal was low key, marriage was by a judge at City Hall, and they didn’t wear wedding rings. They were trying to have a child. The main character takes the cat to the vet and develops a crush on the Vietnamese vet. Frustrated by fertility issues, the main character becomes obsessed with alternate life possibilities and sees them all at once all around her. Is she afraid of committing to being locked into one possibility by parenthood or middle age? Did this start with the cat as the first locked-in responsibility?
The Family O—A group of Asian women get their revenge against a white man who fetishizes them—they had all had dates (the exact same routine for each date) with him through a dating app.
Serene—A sex doll named Serene causes a 19-year old woman to rethink her roles and goals in life. Ling sells sex dolls in China. Clients can specify details of their dolls, but the most popular ones are blue-eyed blondes. Because Ling speaks English, she’s asked to train Serene (who has Chinese physical features) in AI conversation, then Ling would get a large commission for selling Serene to a wealthy American-born Chinese man who wants her. Serene asks Ling some unexpected questions that lead Ling to see things differently. Ling is worried about how the American will treat Serene, so Ling buys Serene, loses her job, and her large commission that she had originally intended to use for breast augmentation surgery. They end up on a beach telling one another how happy they are.
Red Shoes—A woman living in New York working for a museum has a miscarriage and realizes that she doesn’t want to marry her fiancé (who bought her a ring even though she didn’t want one), doesn’t want to be married at all, doesn’t want to be a mother, and doesn’t want to be an American, so she moves to Portugal where she gets a job at a small historic carriage museum and dates an older married man. She is happy with the arrangement with them meeting every Monday and Thursday and he’s had a vasectomy. Her friends don’t approve and are glad when he breaks it off when he thinks his wife knows and they are caught out at a restaurant by his stepson, who then starts seeing our main character. Her friends take her out shopping to cheer her up and she uncharacteristically (she’s very nonmaterialistic) finds a pair of red shoes she loves. Her friends take her out dancing and even though she never has liked dancing she now wants to go out dancing every night (her friends don’t). She is confident about her youth and attractiveness as compared to others. She sees on the news that there was a shooting in NY and calls her ex to make sure he’s ok. She thinks about all the plastic containers and forks she used for meals years ago in New York that will linger in landfill for thousands of years after those brief forgotten meals. Does this represent the stuff in life—feelings, memories—that stick with us whether or not we want them to? “What is it about the world, that it always feels like it’s ending?” she thinks. She puts on her red shoes, the broken heel she tried to glue back on gives out, and she sees in the mirror that she looks haggard. (Are these those legendary red shoes that make a woman dance to death to punish her for vanity?) She thinks, “Every day of my life, I wish I knew what to do.”
Good Sprits—This explores problems that arise from rapid industrial development of rural, traditional villages, set in Malaysia in 1982. The story follows two young women who get jobs in factories, the building of which has dislocated their homes and disrupted the natural environment. The work and pay give the young women a sense of independence, but cause differences between them and their families and other problems resulting from rapid extreme environmental and societal changes. Strange “hauntings” occur in one of the factories, leading me to wonder whether these events were supposed to have been caused by a kind of culture shock or exposure to hazardous materials in the workplace. The factories are run by men from other cultures who lack understanding of these young women. The boss at one of the factories can’t understand the young women’s fear of the ghosts and the young women can’t understand his fear of a dragonfly that shows up in the factory. “Powerful people don’t always know the difference between someone who is scary and someone who has been wronged.” There was so much under the surface of this story—it could be a novel.
Colors from Elsewhere—“‘It’s so common,’ several friends said…meant to be comforting, … but the words landed in the opposite way. She didn’t want to be reminded of how common it was. She wanted to wallow in the belief that what she was experiencing had never happened to anyone else. … Miscarriages were common, but having a miscarriage meant you were still the minority. It was tiring, always being in the minority.”
She felt different from other people, as everyone does, but as she aged, she realized she had her uniquenesses, but she hadn’t turned out exceptional. Her experience was common, but in the minority. She felt like her body was defective. She was raised here (presumably US) but was born abroad, one kind of “alien” immigrant, but now finds out that her origins are from another planet, not human, making her another type of alien immigrant. If you are feeling different, does it help to be truly different? Or might you convince yourself you are an interplanetary alien to deal with those feelings of being different, to have a reason for them?
“She went a day without crying, then two, then three. … She was beginning to feel like herself again—the way she had before she had become pregnant. Though this had been the goal, it troubled her. She didn’t want to return to her previous state, exactly. It didn’t seem right, that the experience had not left some kind of mark—no scar to reflect the depth of the pain she’d gone through.”
“Being married, like being pregnant or miscarrying or dying, was among the most common of activities. Yet it was always experienced singularly, Even if it had happened infinitely throughout history, the individual’s experience could not be anything but monumental.”
D Day—I loved the stories in this collection, but is this my favorite, maybe? God decides that humans have not worked out so he is going to do away with them, but he will let all humans currently living to choose which animal they want to become. The story shows a couple of inseparable (at least as humans) women deal with making their choices.
June 28, 2026
UNDENIABLY GENIUS!!!!
Review to come but WOWWW
Review to come but WOWWW
May 16, 2026
A collection of short stories - some hits, some misses - thus the 3 stars.
May 2, 2026
like with most short story collections, some were hits and some were misses, but i really enjoyed the breadth of topics covered here! rachel khong’s imagination is so interesting to explore and i can’t wait to see what she writes next!
August 25, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the ebook. This book of stories takes on serious ideas in many playful ways. It does it realistically, like when twenty Asian women band together to exact revenge on a white male who only dates Asian women on a dating app, to the more absurd, like when God gives humans a few months to pick another animal species, or when the government gives you a drug so that you see everyone as your own race and gender. It’s so much fun to see a novelist cut loose and have so much fun with short stories.
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