When I requested to read this book I was unaware that it was a short story collection. I loved Rachel Khong’s 2024 novel Real Americans and I thought this was her next novel. I was very inspired by and appreciated this story collection, which are united as they have different main characters but they are all asian women.
The stories range from the absurd, to the magical, to the beauty of every day. The first story is about a woman eaten by a crocodile on her honeymoon at age 30, and her life in heaven, only to fall for her husband of 1 day almost 50 years later. This story was very romantic. I also liked the story of a young woman who was the only friend of an AI sex doll, teaching her English and culture just by speaking to her. Then later feeling sad that she was going to be sold and have a new life in Cleveland. All of the stories were very emotional or raw. I love the internal dialogue and I found the characters to be quite lovable, while flawed. In one story the US government required everyone to take a vaccine that led everyone to see other people as their own race. What a fascinating concept!
If you rarely read short story collections, like me, I would encourage you to read My Dear You. What I really liked is that they didn’t all have a defined “beginning – middle – end”- some were just an image, and I never knew when the story was going to end. Most of them I didn’t want them to end, they left me wanting more, but in a good way.
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the ARC. Book to be published April 7, 2026.
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