Absolutely loved this book. It took me a long time to pick it up but I could not put it down when I did. Thank you net galley for a copy of this title in exchange for a review.

Loved this book. Great development of story through the diverse characters. All wee a bit stereotypes but needed to be to move the story along. Probably appeal to a younger audience more than mine but great fun to read.

A quick read packed with very meaningful topics, it had me hooked from the beginning. Without given anything away, I can honestly say that this book shed a very original light into the aspects of white privilege and the “saviour complex” some white people have. It shows the importance of having a voice and the contradiction that some white people show of wanting everyone to have a voice but feeling they “have to give others a voice” (everyone has a voice, no need for “saviours” but for people to actually listen and believe in equality).

This book shows how prejudice, possessiveness, entitlement... can be easily masked in someone’s head as “trying to do good” or “trying to get closer to someone and understand them”... when it is nothing but a delusion and a lie to them feel better about themselves and build their own ego, validation and “how woke they are”.

With some very likeable and some pretty un-likeable characters, a packed storyline, fast paced writing and plenty of important topics raised, this is a very quick but important read that I’d definitely recommend.

4.5 stars
Such A Fun Age is a book that I had been hearing a lot about and was very intrigued by, particularly because of the recent discussions about racism in the Media. I have to say that this book wasn’t at all what I had been expecting, in a good way. Due to the hype surrounding it and the awards that it has won I was expecting a very deep, hard to read book when in fact the opposite was true. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was an intriguing, absorbing and thought provoking read.

The characters in this book were great creations that I enjoyed reading about even though I didn’t particularly warm to any of them. They were quite complex characters and I liked that the author gave the reader access to their thought process so we could understand more about where they were coming from. Alix was particularly baffling for me as on one side she seemed to be this very professional, together women but on the other seemed to only care about her looks and getting a teenage girl to like her. As a mother myself I really disliked her for her casual attitude towards her children particularly her eldest. I didn’t understand how a mother could act like that and some of the scenes involving this made me feel quite sick. Emira was probably my favourite character and I particularly liked her friends who seemed absolutely hilarious. Her relationship with Alix’s little girl warmed my heart and I loved how much she seemed to care about her. I didn’t like she put herself down so much for not having a career when she seemed happy and was pleased when she did stand up for herself about this.

It did take me a little while to get into the writing style of this book but once I was in I found the book very absorbing and hard to put down. I quickly found myself wrapped up in the lives of the character and I liked the way that the author kept changing my mind about whose side I was on. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next and which way things would go. I’m glad I read this as a buddy read as this book did raise a few questions for me and I was happy to have someone to discuss stuff with. For this reason I think it would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss.

Huge thanks to Bloomsbury Publishers for giving me a copy of this book via Netgalley and to Bethan for buddy reading this book with me.

This was an interesting read, looking at issues of race and class. However, if I'm honest, I was expecting slightly more from this book. Maybe it's a victim of its own success, as I had seen so much hype around it's release that I probably went in with my expectations set a little too high! That isn't to say it's a bad book at all - there's a lot to be considered and discussed here. However, I would have liked the nanny's character to be developed a lot further, and I felt there were some slight issues in terms of pacing. Still worth a read!

Funny laugh out loud book. Not my normal read but I'm so glad that I read it. Thank you for the chance to read it.

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. I felt that the whole premise which the book is marketed on: the idea of a girl being accused of kidnapping a girl in her charge potentially as an act of racism was a good one, but unfortunately the rest of the book has nothing to do with this and so I felt it was mis-marketed.
The lead character behaved in a way that was very confusing: was she a party animal or a sensitive thoughtful woman who behaved much younger than her years.
The relationship with her employer was just odd!
I know most people loved it - so it was more a situation of it’s not you; it’s me!

After the BLM movement went nuclear (and rightly so), I told myself I would make sure I read more novels written by POC. Unfortunately this novel didn't feel like it was written by one - the characters felt undeveloped where I felt there was room to showcase some real insight and overall, the narrative felt like it was a mission to hit a word count. Disappointing after hearing so many great things about this book.

Sadly, I found "Such a Fun Age" too... shallow, the characters undeveloped, the dialogues strange. I wanted to see more, to learn more about the protagonists, to understand how they tick. The big reveal at the end fell flat, same with the characters development - it seems that they were left with what they started. The best thing about the book was a little girl named Briar, an extra star for her.

While initially gripping and fast-paced, "Such a Fun Age" quickly became repetitive and dull. It is not a bad book, but I think there are better books (which also cover the issues of discrimination, injustice and racism).

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the book for free in exchange for a fair review.

After reading so many rave reviews I was really looking forward to reading this.... however I was left feeling just 'meh'.

I think the author set out with some great intentions - looking at race, class and more, through the eyes of a babysitter and her employee. However, the story telling doesnt quite hit any of the marks.

Although it is an easy read, I did find the plot just ambled on.

I was also super surprised to learn the author is a POC... I just assumed from the way she wrote that she was white. Im so disappointed as she could, as a WOC, have developed the nannies character so much more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

An incredibly compelling novel that I absolutely raced through. It was a hilarious, incredibly entertaining read, but also very moving and emotionally powerful.

I enjoyed this book and found myself reading multiple chapters at a time, which doesn’t happen often.
A story very relevant to these times and told in a non preachy way.
I can see this book being enjoyed by a wide range of people.

Such an excellent story - it makes you think end is the perfect book club story for discussion. I raced through it.

A rollicking, often funny read that grapples with topical issues of race and class. Full of contemporaneous language and references that captures the zeitgeist. A satire that illustrates the limitations of well-meaning wokeness, especially when people are unable to recognise their own privilege.

The book is right on the pulse of a very complex and explosive racial conversation that is taking place in America specifically in this book but is happening truly everywhere people of multiple races converge. This will be very easily sold because of that but the lyrical fluidity to the writing also helps.

Such a fun book! I read the first chapter earlier in the year and set the book aside, thinking it was too hip for me. I’m glad I decided to try again – it was such a good read, so assured and contemporary. Once I got past that slightly contrived first chapter, I found it really addictive. The laser-precision plotting and characterization reminded me of Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen and Zadie Smith at their peak, but the sassy voice is all Reid’s own. There are no clear villains here; Alix Chamberlain could have easily filled that role, but I felt for her and for Kelley as much as I did for Emira. The fact that I didn’t really think anyone was completely wrong shows how much nuance Reid was able to work in.

The complexity of the race relations comes to the fore when Alix realizes that the ex who, she’s convinced, ruined her high school career, is now her Black babysitter’s boyfriend. The question of privilege is as much about money as it is about race, though, and Reid shows how these are inextricably intertwined. The last line, seems to finger wealth as the biggest contributing factor to how out-of-touch people like Alix are. Emira genuinely loves the precocious little girl she babysits for, but she is also desperate to find a real job that includes health benefits. While I don’t think this was Booker Prize material, I do think it’s Costa or Women’s Prize fodder (depending on the release date and eligibility; I think it missed out on the Women’s Prize longlist, inexplicably) and I’m looking forward to Reid’s next work. [Only one line felt off to me: “This comment felt like he’d reached in her chest and shooed her heart as if it were a bug that had landed too close.”]

Absolutely adored this book, a true and honest portrait of life in modern day America looking at the impact on a racist encounter on two very different women.

LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED THIS. Such a powerful read. Brilliantly written and full of humour and life.

I have heard so many positive reviews of this book, so much hype, i was scared it wouldn’t live up to it. The cover didnt pull me in but once I started reading, well, I was hooked. A brilliant powerful story, the characters truly come to life and were so well written it felt like I knew them. Exploring race and power dynamics this is a timely book written in such a contemporary style, it’s so easy to fall into, I didn’t want it to end.

I completely understand the hype for this novel- it is a sparky, pacey, well observed account that is charming, uncomfortable and completely of the moment. Exploring racial, class and economic disparity in a nuanced way, we see examples of each situation from different characters perspectives. Many of these instances are presented to the reader by how Emira experiences the reaction others present to her, being hyper aware of their “wokeness” and outward appearance, rather than her feeling directly affected. I loved exploring how Alix perceives herself against what Emira actually thinks and feels about her, which is often indifference; and in contrast the familiar and informal dialogue between Emira and her friends- especially depicted on their nights out. Such an incredible story that picks through so many topics in a rich and layered manner. Enthralling.