Book Review: My Dear You
Here’s my review of My Dear You by Rachel Khong. Leave a comment to chat about it, or with your book recommendations. And check out the poll for June’s book club pick in Community Notes!
My Dear You by Rachel Khong is a smart and surprising short story collection, as each of its stories blend the hard truths of the world we live in (racism, capitalism, and other isms) with creative imaginings for the present and future while simultaneously highlighting the sincere value of love and loss in all its forms, evolutions, and origins. Each story touches on a profound human experience like dating, working, conceiving or not conceiving children, and navigating mortality alongside one’s close relationships and purpose. Yet each story also evokes a different set of emotions throughout. Be prepared to laugh, cry, rage, think, wonder, and reflect a lot when you read this book.
The collection includes ten short stories, most of which contain elements of speculative fiction.
‘My Dear You,’ the title story, is about a woman who is killed by a crocodile on her honeymoon and struggles to remember her new husband in the afterlife, yet it is surprisingly upbeat and funny at times.
In ‘The Freshening,’ the U.S. government mandates a drug that makes citizens perceive everyone as their own race and gender, unpacking the complex pros and cons and neutralities of such a scenario.
The protagonist, who is struggling with infertility, adopts a cat with her husband that has demon-like glowing eyes that trigger unsettling, vivid hauntings of her past relationships, and present relationship hang-ups in ‘Tapetum Lucidum,’ which somehow ends up being more relatable than scary.
In ‘Serene,’ a factory worker develops an attachment to the AI sex doll she is responsible for selling, leading to a surprising and unexpected ending that somehow isn’t creepy or all that disturbing.
‘Good Spirits’ also includes a factory setting in which factory workers, who perform rote, repetitive tasks, are startled by a troublesome ghost that seems to have invaded their workplace, exploring how ancient cultural beliefs and superstitions persist, even within the context of rapid, faceless industrialization.
In ‘Colors from Elsewhere’ the protagonist, who is dealing with the devastation of a miscarriage, visits an acupuncturist who recruits her philosopher sister to help diagnose the protagonist’s inability to reproduce, which ends up being literally out of this world and as absurd as it is comforting.
And in ‘D Day,’ we follow two close friends as they make their choices, after God announces humans have 30 days to choose an animal to turn into on their last day on Earth as humans, ending the collection on a hopeful, bittersweet note.
The other three stories in the collection are a little more ‘realistic’ and less speculative but still flow seamlessly alongside the others.
‘Slow and Steady’ is a story exploring imposter syndrome and the fear or uncertainty that comes with making major life changes and is grounded in themes of memory and romantic longing.
‘The Family O’ is a more realistic social commentary and dark comedy that focuses on a group of Asian American women who bond and plot revenge against a white man who fetishizes them and treats them as interchangeable on a dating app, though the protagonist is left in the lurch by the group in the end, as well.
‘Red Shoes’ is perhaps the most melancholic story in the collection, exploring themes of loss, longing, and the fragility of relationships and life, focusing on the pain of missed opportunities, romantic disappointment, and the effects of carelessness in everyday life.
Each story in this collection, whether speculative or not, is centered on Asian or Asian American women primarily in their 30s navigating the realistic pressures of dating, infertility, marriage, friendship, and the realization that life is finite in a world full of societal pressures where technology and the spiritual unknown intersect. It delves into the absurd but is still emotionally poignant and relatable, capturing the beautiful strangeness of being alive in a modern and sometimes subtly hostile world.
I would recommend this book to fans of Khong’s other fiction, Real Americans and Goodbye, Vitamin. And I would recommend it to those who enjoy reading smart speculative fiction that has a strong human pulse beating behind it. These stories will keep you on your toes as they allow you to traverse the unknown and ever-evolving spaces of identity and relationships.
Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon? Leave a comment to start a discussion. Or tell us what we should read and review next!
And don’t forget to subscribe to receive future book reviews in your inbox, along with other engaging posts.
© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.
Want to express your appreciation for this post?
Daily Drafts & Dialogues is fueled by loyal readers, caffeine, and shares with kind words, so any support you can offer to keep it and me going is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, thank you so much! — K.E. Creighton
Community Notes (New!)
In this new section of Daily Drafts & Dialogues, you will see additional notes on posts and what’s going on in the broader Daily Drafts & Dialogues community, more in depth questions to spur further dialogue, polls, discounts, contest opportunities, helpful links and resources, and opportunities to have your comments and work featured in the new Community Spotlight section below in future posts.
Community Spotlight
This new section will FEATURE YOUR WORK AND VOICES. Leave a thoughtful comment on a Daily Drafts & Dialogues post for a chance to have your writing, links, and profile featured here.
Egalitarian Book Club
Currently Reading: Westward Women by Alice Martin (Join the buddy read here.)
Recommended Reading Schedule:
Week 1 (May 1-10) — Chap. 1-7 (Part I)
Week 2 (May 11- 17) — Chap. 8-14 (Part II- III)
Week 3 (May 18- 24) — Chap. 15-21 (Part III- IV)
Week 4 (May 25- 31) — Part V, remaining chapters
June Pick:
What would you like to read together in June? Poll closes in 4 days!
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
Amerkia by Franz Kafka
A Brief History of Living Forever by Jaroslav Kalfar
Daily Drafters Features and Exclusives
Paid Subscribers: Check the chat for daily writing prompts, tips, inspiration, feedback, dialogues, and other exclusive content.
SEE YOUR WRITING FEATURED HERE IN FUTURE POSTS
Learn more about what Paid Subscribers get here.
Current Special Offer: Message me right after you switch to Paid to receive your first 30 days of chat access free.
