American Han: A Novel

by Lisa Lee

“American Han shook me to my core. Gutting in its quietest moments and heartbreakingly familiar in its loudest conflicts, this book is a gripping portrait of the cost of assimilation into American life."
—Muriel Leung, Lambda award-winning author of How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went on to law school. Kevin came close to becoming a professional tennis player. But where they started is nowhere near where they have ended Jane has stopped going to her law school classes, and Kevin, now a policeman, has become increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don’t want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn’t all it promised it would be. Both deeply serious and wickedly funny, American Han is a profound story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee’s debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Immigration, Book Club, Novels

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2026

About the author

Lisa Lee is the author of AMERICAN HAN. She is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She has received additional fellowships and awards from Kundiman, Millay Arts, Hedgebrook, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Tin House, Jentel Artist Residency, the Korea Foundation, and others. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA, North American Review, Sycamore Review, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere. Lee holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles.
www.hellolisalee.com
www.instagram.com/lisaleehello/

Reviews

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a perfect look at imperfect people in an imperfect world in my eyes. Jane and Kevin are very relatable characters especially when it comes to the relationship they have as siblings. With heavy themes of race issues, police brutality, and chasing the American dream I was full of emotions as I read. There are certainly some humorous moments but a lot of takeaways that make you reflect on our world and our lives. The plot build up is palpable and when tragedy strikes I gasped and could not put this book down till I finished it. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this if you’re into books that are deep dives into flawed characters. This book explores the 4 family members of the Kim family all through the lens of the youngest daughter. It also very much illustrates a South Korean immigrant family’s experiences at the turn of the century.

There is a small bit of dry humor. It’s overall very dry. The characters are incredibly unlikable, though with tiny glimpses of compassion or care. But overall, I didn’t enjoy reading about the abuse, insults, and disfunction that felt very real and without purpose and just accepted.

There was some really nice prose. Some really nice and deep thoughts and conclusions throughout. But it was reflective and thoughtful to the point where there wasn’t much plot and it felt quite slow. Overall, not for me.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley and Algonquin Books!

[Chelsea]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

American Han by Lisa Lee is a first person-POV literary novel exploring two generations of a Korean-American family up to 2002 and how it all accumulates in violence. Jane is a first generation Korean-American on the verge of graduating law school whose parents are going through a divorce when her brother Kevin’s actions shake their world up.

I could connect a lot to the section featuring Jane’s mother, as my own family has also fairly recently left their country of origin to come to America to find wealth after their country was torn apart by war. Her frustration and unhappiness as she realizes Korea is not only modernizing, but becoming a global power while her memories still stay the same was deeply relatable to me. There’s a lot of very poignant things to explore in how our understanding of our home countries are frozen in time and the way that impacts how we talk about it with others.

Kevin’s personality and history of anger is slowly peeled back as Jane thinks about the way their parents raised them individually and together. Jane doesn’t connect the dots for the reader,but it is fairly obvious that how her parents treated Kevin and how they talked about the sexes and the ways they treated others as well as the racism Jane and Kevin faced absolutely did play a part. I thought it was very bold of Lisa Lee to go this direction because making those links in a story takes a lot of work and she did it very well.

I am absolutely going to be reading Lisa Lee’s next book because this spoke to me a lot while also forcing me to draw my own conclusions.

I would recommend this to fans of books exploring immigration and the messier sides of it

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very complex. In all honesty, I was half way in and thought it wasn’t bad and it wasn’t great. I am so glad I pushed through the steady build of this perspective driven (instead of plot driven) book. We get glimpses of a rise in conflict early in the book, but the author soon moves on and levels out. As the book continues, the conflicts seem to linger a little longer, growing in impact and importance to the characters personalities.

The characters in the book are shaped by the injustices they’ve faced and passed down generationally. We see the absolute worst moments of a family, all of them causing each other pain, several in which the narrator is put into situations where she faces unjust actions from her own family. This book explores the dynamics and pressures of growing up seen as and feeling “different.” The challenges of parents who immigrated and feeling their shame for who they are, a community that doesn’t understand them and the drive to prove everyone wrong. This is interwoven with the crippling desire to create and survive the “American Dream” and constantly wanting the next best thing. All of this causing unresolved insecurities, which is where this book really unfolds.

A couple questions that kept coming to mind for me; can, and should, you still love people who have caused you so much pain? Does being family change this answer?

I appreciate this book for what it is, we need to read books that make us uncomfortable, acknowledge privilege and ground us. I’m going to be reflecting about this book for a while.

Thank you NetGalley, Algonquin Books and Lisa Lee for a copy of this book.

[Patty Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I mostly liked about this book is the deep look that See’s gives us on these characters before Kevin’s situation occurs.

If you love stories about dysfunctional families, this story will not disappoint.

Thank you to Algonquin and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

[Brice Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley & Algonquin Books for the ARC!

Lisa Lee’s American Han is a tender and heartbreaking debut novel that grieves the quiet violence of immigrant trauma.

Years ago, in an essay that coincidentally shares a name with this book, E.J. Koh described han as “not only a suffering but a suffering that is avoidable and is not avoided, a suffering that breaks us and need not break us.”

It’s a difficult concept to wrap one’s mind around, but that definition may help readers understand the competing narratives that shape Lee’s story of a family that seemingly exists at its own expense. Jane Kim, our protagonist and narrator, leads us through the unresolved pain of her three family members—her mother places her entire identity in her children’s success; her father flaunts his wealth but it’s never enough; her brother redirects his insecurities into misogyny and an obsession with guns. In the desperation of reaching for identity, each character claws at anybody nearby, and that’s almost always each other. When the characters surrender to volatility, it almost makes sense—the momentum serves as evidence that injustice and trauma are leading somewhere or that they "mean" something. To use Koh’s language, the family chooses to let the suffering break them because anything less would suggest the pain isn’t real.

Lee is such a focused and generous writer, and she demonstrates a powerful restraint in her prose. We learn so much about these characters by what goes unsaid and how they choose to puncture awkward silences. The parents repeat themselves ad infinitum as if that will make their words carry more weight. The children internalize and lash out at each other. Lee depicts four grieving people who are so forced to live in the immediacy of each moment that they lose sight of how they add up. In one scene, a character points a gun at his friend in anger and jokes about it afterwards, completely unaware that he’s crossed a threshold into some defining cruelty. In another, Jane’s father insults someone who innocuously asks how expensive the family camper was, and in an effort to prove a point, spends the next several minutes struggling to get said camper out of the parking lot. While readers might think that it’s objectively irrational behavior, Lee gently draws their attention to how one innocent question about money bears the weight of every time it was asked maliciously—every time the implication was that Mr. Kim didn’t deserve his wealth.

American Han is uniquely sympathetic in its understanding of how these small anecdotes accumulate symbolism—how they are re-narrativized by each individual—and I was struck by Lee’s ability to depict cruelty as distinct from evil. Certain characters commit heinous acts, but we ache for them. They aren’t innocent. They are accountable for their actions. But they have also lived lives full of experiences that contorted their basic desire for respect into something ugly. The suffering feels simultaneously avoidable and inevitable because the pain has to go somewhere.

I recognize that I’m skirting around specifics, but Lisa Lee has so carefully constructed the book around its domino-effect ending that most details feel like spoilers. Suffice it to say, I think this is one of the most emotionally resonant pieces of fiction I’ve read in quite some time, and it’s all the more impressive that this is Lee’s debut. She writes with such security—such intentionality—in her authorial voice, and I’m glad that she chose such an important topic for her first book. I would highly recommend American Han to everybody who is tempted to romanticize “the immigrant experience,” or to anybody who struggles to pinpoint why family just hurts sometimes.

[Carole Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

All families are dysfunctional in their own way....

...but Jane's family is a real doozy. Her mother and father are both immigrants from Korea who married in America against their families' wishes and raised their two children, Jane and her older brother Kevin, in Napa. Being the best has always been of supreme importance to both parents and they pushed their children (hard) to excel in everything. Kevin was almost good enough at tennis to compete at the professional level, even though that wasn't necessarily what he wanted for himself, but ended up becoming a police officer, Jane is nearing the end of law school (also not a path she really wanted to follow), and is floudering. No one is really happy, each feeling like they are on the wrong path, and all of the pent up tensions and hostilities are about to explode. Jane's father has left behind the latest in a string of businesses which were supposed to make him a success and is now a long-distance truck driver, her mother is on a quest to find and buy the perfect house in the perfect San Francisco neighborhood in order to have a perfect life, Kevin has become increasingly distanced from the family and has done something which could destroy his career and marriage, and Jane...well, Jane has stopped going to her classes and is on her way to not getting her law degree and not passing the bar exam. Are Kevin's problems enough to pull the family together, or will they be the final straw that permanently tears the four members away from one another?
American Han is a story which takes a look at the American Dream, the immigrant experience, and the cultural divides separating parents from their children. Author Lisa Lee casts an unforgiving light on the family's struggles with "han", for Koreans a mixture of negative emotions (regret, sorrow, anger, grief, and more) caused by suffering and unchosen paths. Narrated primarily by Jane in the first person, the portrayal of this immigrant family employs dark humor mixed in with brutal self-awareness. I found it hard to actually like the characters, although I could empathize with the many challenges each faced, from racism and sexism to abuse and the pressure to assimilate. It is an insightful tale, raw and honest, one likely to appeal to readers of Amy Tan, Chang-rae Lee and Jhumpa Lahiri. My thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for allowing me access to the novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to read and review. I was intrigued by the description of the book, and I have to say that it wasn't what I expected.

"Han" has been described as a sorrow, regret, anger, resentment and/or bitterness. It's an undercurrent in many Korean dramas I've found, and I usually find some relatability to it. I found something similar here though it felt even more stifling in this book. I felt so many times that I was watching a pot about to boil over, and I saw it occur in each one of the characters from the perspective of the narrator and finally, with the narrator herself.

It felt, too, that the author wanted to have the narrator present these snapshots of her family and herself in relation to her family in such a way as to make us really feel what it was like to be her in this family. I feel like han describes the feeling of the narrator present throughout the novel making the title all the more relevant. For me personally, I felt conflicted. I simultaneously could relate to our narrator and then, in other instances, I couldn't relate at all, but I think maybe that is the point. I feel the narrator reflected on how her family members each were shaped into who they were through the actions of others and how even she, even though she thought she'd escaped some of the effects, was affected by the actions of those in her family. I think by the end, she had come to some sense of resolution with them all including most notably, her brother.

Two critiques:

1) We hear certain stories multiple times in the book. They seem to be a little more fleshed out in some instances, and I wondered if this was intentional given that the narrator herself comments on how her parents say the same things over and over as if they haven't said them before. If it's intended to put the reader further into Jane's shoes, I think it works but it does have the potential to turn readers off.
2) In the scene for the "grieving party" for Jane, we see that the women are called by their eldest child's name followed by mother. I'm familiar with this concept from watching Korean dramas, but I do feel it may be helpful to add the reason that they refer to each other in this way.

[Paula W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane and her brother Kevin, both standouts in their young lives, choose to leave their paths and distance themselves from their family to forge their own new paths. Their parents still feel lost in this country that claims to support them but really doesn’t. Things simply aren’t going well for anyone. And while we the readers are looking at this, the author is doing something clever over there….

I couldn’t wait to read this book when I got my hands on it. When your book gets quotes from Viet Thanh Nguyen and Perceval Everett, I’m gonna pay attention. it did not disappoint.

‘Han’ is a profound Korean emotional concept representing a deep-seated, collective feeling of unresolved resentment, grief, sorrow, and enduring pain, often stemming from historical injustices or trauma. It is often considered to be an essential, even nearly genetic, identifier of being Korean. In this novel, the parents of our main character Jane and her brother Kevin want so much to assimilate, want so much for themselves, but they sacrificed much so they could provide everything for Jane and Kevin. There are many things wrong with their family relationship that can’t all be written here, not the least of which is that the parents are nonstop telling the kids how much they sacrificed. Their Korean community wouldn’t understand setting boundaries or cutting ties with toxic family members. It isn’t done; family is what it is. So the trauma lives on, and it is worse for some than for others. This will be one of the biggest books of the year. And rightfully so. 5 stars.

Thank you to Algonquin Books, Lisa Lee (author), and Edelweiss for a digital review copy of American Han. Their generosity did not influence my review in any way.

[Renu S · Rating 5 out of 5]

American Han by Lisa Lee is a deeply moving and introspective novel that offers a powerful exploration of family, identity, and the emotional costs of assimilation. From the opening pages, Lee’s writing stands out for its emotional precision and sensitivity. The novel’s vivid internal landscapes make the reader feel the weight of unspoken pain, cultural expectation, and longing that shape the immigrant experience. The emotional descriptions throughout the book are especially striking, allowing you to truly feel the complex challenges of being an immigrant in the United States and the lingering, often invisible effects of assimilation across generations.

The story centers on the Korean American Kim family, using the POV of Jane Kim, a woman grappling with her sense of self as the gifted daughter of the Kim family. Her personal crisis coincides with the mysterious behavior of her brother, Kevin, an event that exposes the family’s buried grief, unresolved tensions, and emotional fractures. As the narrative unfolds, Lee weaves in the Korean concept of han—a deep, collective sorrow rooted in loss, resentment, and endurance—to frame the family’s struggles.

What makes American Han especially compelling is its refusal to offer easy resolutions. Lee captures the inescapable ties between family members—the love, resentment, loyalty, and pain that bind them together—while questioning what it truly means to belong. The novel is both intimate and socially resonant, shedding light on the hidden emotional labor carried by immigrant families who appear successful on the surface.

Note: Received an ARC via Netgalley.

[Jonathan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review on my Goodreads page. The novel is scheduled for release on May 31, 2026.

American Han was not exactly what I expected—and that may ultimately shape how readers respond to it. Rather than presenting as a traditional, plot-driven novel, it reads more like a deeply introspective, memoir-like narrative told through the perspective of one member of a four-person Korean family trying to find its footing in America.

The book unfolds through a series of loosely connected vignettes rather than a central, driving storyline. These moments capture the quiet, often disorienting experience of existing between cultures—of feeling, at times, like an outsider.

Viewed through this lens, American Han becomes less about plot and more about perspective—about identity, belonging, and the small, accumulated moments that shape both. The writing leans reflective and restrained, allowing meaning to emerge in quiet, sometimes unexpected ways.

That said, this approach will not resonate with everyone, myself included frankly. Readers looking for a clearly defined plot, rising action, and resolution may find themselves wanting more direction or momentum. However, for those willing to embrace a more contemplative and character/memoir-driven experience, there is something thoughtful and affecting here.

[Megan Welbourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

American Han by Lisa Lee is a book about a Korean American family living in the San Francisco area. Kevin and Jane are the children of two controlling Korean immigrant parents. Readers learn about their childhoods, having to train in tennis and piano for hours each week, the pressure to do well in school, to assimilate into American society. The parents were hard on their kids in different ways, and it was especially pronounced by their genders.
Fast forward through the years and Jane is in law school and Kevin is married and a police officer. Their parents have grown apart and are finding their own ways, so the family dynamic continues to change. I did like the progression of relationships and sense of self by the end of the book. However, this was slow. There was very little action until the last quarter of the book, and even then, it was slowly described and not well concluded. I did not feel the book description was accurate to what actually ensued so I kept waiting for more to happen. It was disappointing when I realized I had a different expectation than I was getting. Overall, while I really enjoyed learning more about Korean immigrants and Korean family life, the story itself was not interesting enough for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for my ARC.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | American Han by Lisa Lee is a searing, sensitive, and stunning debut that captures the silent strain and simmering sorrow of striving for success in a world that demands perfection. Set in the 1980s Bay Area, the novel follows Jane and Kevin Kim as they navigate family expectations, cultural contradictions, and the crushing cost of assimilation.

What makes this book so powerful is its quiet, cutting clarity—the way it reveals how love and pressure can become painfully intertwined. The “model minority” myth is laid bare through tennis courts, test scores, and tightly held emotions, all masking a deeper sense of disconnection and distress.

While I didn’t grow up in a Korean American household, so much of this story felt familiar, formative, and frighteningly real—the pressure to perform, the instinct to internalize, the habit of swallowing feelings whole. It hit hard, and yes, it made me cry.

Lee balances biting humor with heartbreaking honesty, crafting characters who feel flawed, fragile, and fiercely human.

This is a bold, brilliant, and beautifully bruising novel—one I’ll be recommending to anyone who will listen.

Thank you to Algonquin Books for the advanced reader copy via NetGalley.

[Mona Frazier · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book description, "A searing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience," was not true INHO. I read a lot of novels, fiction and non-fiction, about the immigrant experience. Based on the description, I expected something different from this book.

Jane and her brother Kevin are the children of two controlling Korean immigrant parents who have high expectations. Readers learn about their childhoods, the hours they spent training in tennis and piano each week, and the pressure to do well in school. There are also sibling comparisons. These expectations and the verbal lashings given to the kids significantly impact their lives.

What I liked was the insight the author had and her ability to share that without anger. She writes well.

What I didn't enjoy was the back-and-forth in time, sometimes in Jane's POV, others in her mom and dad's. It made for a lot of redundancy. I get it, the parents were terrible. There was minimal action or tension in the first 75%, which made it a slow read. I almost DNF'd it, but I don't like to do that to books I receive from Netgalley. Overall, it was okay.

[Addie BookCrazyBlogger]

Growing up in the Bay Area during the 80’s and 90’s, Jane Kim and her brother Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Jane went onto law school and Kevin came close to being a professional tennis player. Except Jane has stopped going to law school classes and Kevin washed out, becoming a police officer instead, who is increasingly distant. Their parents, each on their own path to the elusive American dream, don’t want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin commits an act of violence, they must all come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn’t it all promised to be. If I could sum up this book in one word it would be: resentment. The resentment Jane has for her family pours off the pages in waves. This book has a lot to say about being raised in a Korean-American family and not about of it was positive. It discusses the struggles of growing up Asian-American during that time period: the racism and the sexism. It was eye-opening.

[Estelle T · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Family dysfunction is not my favorite subject matter, so I want to be upfront that this read was a bit outside my usual sweet spot. That said, Lisa Lee’s debut novel is a thoughtful and unflinching look at a Korean American family navigating identity, assimilation, and the quiet weight of unmet expectations.

What the author does well is render each character with complexity and honesty. The flawed family dynamics feel genuinely observed, and the exploration of the immigrant experience adds real depth to the story. For readers who gravitate toward character-driven literary fiction, this one will likely resonate.

For me, it was a 3.5-star read. Thoughtful and well-crafted, but the heavy family drama kept me at arm’s length throughout.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Helen Wu ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone who is constantly thinking about generational trauma and deeply drawn to immigrant stories, I really wanted this book to land for me. On paper, it had everything I usually connect with. Family pressure. Identity. Silence passed down like inheritance. I did relate strongly to the trauma the mother inflicts on her children, which felt painfully familiar in ways that were hard to ignore. Still, while I appreciated what Lisa Lee was trying to explore and respected the intention behind the story, I struggled to fully sink into it. The pacing felt slow and emotionally distant, and I often found myself waiting for a deeper pull that never quite arrived. I can see why this resonates for readers who value restraint and inevitability over momentum, but it ultimately did not meet me where I was, even though I truly wanted it to.

Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the ARC!

[Corky · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Lee is obviously a talented writer, this novel didn't work for me in a variety of ways.


First, the organization of the book did not work. There were different sections for each family member - which resulted in a lot of repetition and the prose became boring. Then we had the different time lines indicated, but the chapter didn't really stay there.

Second, this felt like a memoir squished into 'fiction'.


Lastly, nothing really happened. There were small moments (the car ride with her mom's friend, talking to Kevin one on one, her parents praising her) that felt like they would lead to something bigger - that did not. I felt disappointed. It was dark - but I didn't notice any humor.


I'm a big fan of both nonfiction and fiction that breaks down the complexities of the immigrant experience, but, for me, this was a miss.

[Colleen Olinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested this advanced readers copy because I thought it was by one of my favorite authors, Lisa See-until after I read it & went to do my review, wondering why another reviewer was using an incorrect author name. Alas, this is Lisa Lee's debut novel, & I was impressed-hopefully the author won't be offended by being compared to such an awesome author. This novel is about a Korean family whose two adult children are trying to navigate the trauma they experience from their immigrant parents’ mental & emotional abuse, often pitting them against one another. Brings up the question of, when does generational trauma finally get stopped? How do you try to remain a family from a culture where family is everything, when so much is against you? I enjoyed this character-driven novel, & look forward to more by this author.

[Lindsay Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Lee writes family dysfunction with a specificity that feels almost uncomfortably real. The novel's greatest strength is how it refuses to let you flatten anyone into a villain. The parents' harm is real, and so is their love, and Lee holds both truths at once without flinching. The structure reads almost like linked short stories moving through Jane's life, creating a mosaic effect that rewards patient readers.

That said, the cumulative weight of the subject matter made this a slow, heavy read for me. Child abuse, police violence, mental health crises, and the suffocating pressure of parental expectations all weigh on every page. This book asks you to sit with discomfort rather than race through it.

This is a powerful debut with a story that will linger.

Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharlene N · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

I am sorry to say that this book bored me to tears. I read because I was interested in reading about a South Korean’s immigrant family’s experience at the turn of the century and I was also super excited about the setting in Napa and San Francisco (near my home town). Unfortunately, the writing was very dry and very meandering and not much happened at all in the first 50%. I did like the second half much better, but it was still very slow.

The characters are all very unlikeable and flawed. I had a tiny bit of empathy as we learn a little bit more about their background and upbringing but the glimpses were too tiny and the plot was very thin.

I would recommend to readers interested in literary fiction that is very dry and character driven.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for access to this eARC.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ooh boy I was not expecting this to be such a dark and emotional journey!

In American Han, Jane Kim tells her story of being raised by immigrant Korean parents in the San Francisco Bay area. Although her parents want great things for Jane and her brother Kevin, their parenting style is suffocating and at times neglectful and abusive.

This book is in part the story of growing up and realizing your parents are just sad people who are disappointed with their lives and their unmet potential. And yet, it’s also hopeful, because Jane, though not a strong presence in the story, is ultimately able to break free from this cycle and make her own choices.

This was a deep, sad and profound read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Algonquin Books for the digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Chaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel takes a hard look at a dysfunctional family with fractured and tortured experiences. Siblings Kevin and Jane deal with a demanding and unforgiving mother and a distant and sometimes violent father. The book is more a series of flashbacks to the tortured history of the family, with little plot propelling it forward, but ending with Jane, the protagonist, taking the step to move away from the toxic environment of her hometown and family. It's difficult reading for anyone, more so for any readers burdened by the demands of a difficult parent. There's a lot of heartbreak in Jane's history with her family. Anyone with a difficult parental situation will recognize the tortuous relationships that can make an adult child want to bang their head against a stone wall. It's difficult reading, with very little redemption

[Ann Margolis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel was ok,well written and had its moments of humor but nothing new that I hadn’t read before. Clashes between mother and daughter,old world South Korean vs.American born. The story meanders from present time to past with upbringing of daughter and her brother in their mostly American Northern California neighborhood.The values of the mom mostly colliding with what their children actually want and need…….education,socially,etc.I actually found it somewhat sad to read when the daughter feels she has to give up her values to appease her mother.I think many others will understand and enjoy this book,give it a try.Thank you NetGalley,author,Lisa Lee,and publisher,Algonquin Books for the opportunity to read the arc ebook,American Han.
On Sale,March 31,2026

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Kim narrates this story of her fractured family. Set largely in 2002, as Jane is skipping classes in the last semester of law school, her mother is separating from her father, and her brother Kevin is spinning out, it leans in on the immigrant experience and parental expectations. Jane's parents raised them in Napa, where they are the only Korean family, and raised them to succeed. Both Jane and Kevin played tennis but neither enjoyed it. Their father bought, ran and sold multiple businesses in a quest for money. Their mother is obsessed with her face. This has familiar themes but Lee has layered in a tragedy that throws everything off. No one in the family is especially likable but you will feel sympathy for them. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An interesting read.

[Waverli Almand · Rating 4 out of 5]

DRC via Edelweiss

I don’t have much to say about this book because the feeling it evoked isn’t quite describable with words. It reminded me of my mom and halmeoni, and their messy, turbulent, dysfunctional—but loving—relationship.

Two of my favorite quotes* that seem to complement each other:

“People who weren’t Korean didn’t understand. I barely did. I was always forgetting and remembering again—that was our job, as Korean Americans, to remember, to keep remembering. The alternative was to spiral, become lost, take the wrong side.”

“We spend too much time thinking about our victimizers, who never think about us, and our pain begins to define us even when it no longer has anything to do with them. While our victimizers may forget, we remember and remember, as if we’re only living to remember. That’s how it becomes so easy to never notice when we become victimizers ourselves.”

*the final version has not been released, these are from the uncorrected galley.

[Mary C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of a Korean American family where the daughter Jane and brother Kevin were always competing for their parents' approval. Trying to meet their parents' expectations lead both on paths neither really wanted. As Kevin grows distant and the parents' marriage falls apart, Jane comes to realize that her parents sacrificed their own desires to help their children attain the American dream. The cost of assimilation and the realization that no matter what is accomplished, the first thing noted is one's ethnicity.
#AmericanHan #AlonquinBooks #NetGalley

[Libriar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The Kims are the only Asian family in Napa, California in the 1990s. The dad has owned several successful small businesses, but is always looking for ways to be even more successful. The parents want their children, Kevin and Jane, to be successful in life. Readers see what happens to this dysfunctional family as the children navigate adulthood. This is a character-driven novel that, although it wasn't necessarily enjoyable, has lots to discuss. ARC courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.

[Barb Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "American Han," Jane spends much of the book complaining about her mother. As a mother to adult children, I was not amused.

But Jane and "American Han" tell a much deeper story, one that explores the Korean experience in America. That experience includes racist depictions of Asians in movies, stereotypes of the "perfect" immigrant or Asian math whizzes and the problems with trying and failing to "fit in" in a new country.

Ultimately, Lisa Lee's novel explores the ways such pressures can create a situation that eventually will combust and leave a family shattered.

[JXR · Rating 5 out of 5]

slow-paced, almost tantalizing novel with some impeccably lyrical vibes and stylization and characters that feel incredibly real. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.