Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong

★★★★☆ (4.2/5)

Rachel Khong’s novel Goodbye, Vitamin is a journey of forgiveness, responsibility, and self-discovery. This coming-of-age narrative follows a broken family over the course of a year as they grapple with the devastating reality of Alzheimer’s. Khong uses small, everyday interactions between a father and daughter to encourage readers to treasure their time with their loved ones.

What makes Goodbye, Vitamin stand out is its authentic voice. Khong’s prose feels casual and unadorned, yet serious and emotionally attuned. The novel is structured like a journal, with short entries that reflect how memory can feel disjointed and incomplete. This form suits the subject matter beautifully. The relationship between Ruth and her father is at the heart of the novel, and Khong paints it with tenderness and complexity, capturing both the sadness of loss and the love that binds them.

While the premise could easily lend itself to melodrama, Goodbye, Vitamin avoids sentimentality. It’s a story about the inevitable changes time brings and about finding humor, connection, and even clarity amid those changes. Khong invites readers into Ruth’s world and, in doing so, into their own reflections on family and memory.

In just over 200 pages, Goodbye, Vitamin manages to say so much about time, love, memory, and the bittersweet beauty of fleeting moments. Khong juxtaposes humor and pain, sheds light on important topics, and encourages readers to reflect on the fragility of the human experience. Every minute detail of the book feels intentional, creating a moving, endearing, and vulnerable story.