The only reason I chose this book to read was because it was picked by Reese Witherspoon's book club. It was an ok read but came to the end thinking there really wasnt much to the story. None of the characters were particularly likeable and felt the story just fizzled out.

I spent the first few chapters of this book not too sure where it was going and whether it was worth carrying on, but it really was!

A great story around diversity, and human interpretation of demonstrating diversity.

DNF at 54%. This book starts out strong, with a killer of an opening scene. I was hooked! Sadly, from there, the author lost me a little. The characters were not developed strongly enough IMO, to the point where I had to keep referring back to the back of the book to figure out if this character was the same as the one that appeared earlier. This led me to lose interest and having read some reviews from people who felt the same, I decided to set this book aside. There is a lot of hype around this book so I know lots of people don't agree with me here.

I liked the idea of the storyline - a black babysitter is suspected of abducting her white charge - but am not sure I understand the reactions of the people concerned. I liked her and her relationship with the little girl but couldn't warm to the other characters.
Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy of this book

The hype surrounding this book was real, I was a bit apprehensive to read it in case it didn't live up to it. But it didn't disappoint!

Go buy this book and read it!

5 stars

Such a Fun Age is a pretty sharp social satire about race, privilege and the funhouse mirror distortions of social media. It opens with a young black woman, Emira, being suspected of abducting the white toddler in her care at a grocery store. I expected this incident would be more explosive, but it just sort of happens and then everyone moves on with their lives for a while as Emira doesn't want to cause a fuss.

But it acts as a catalyst, because Emira starts dating a white guy, Kelley, who happened to be there, filming the confrontation on his phone. And it turns out Kelley knows Alix, Emira’s wealthy white boss, from high school. So her boss and her boyfriend have a history, and this is the central conflict of the book for the most part—the two of them vying for Emira’s attention and each attempting to pit her against the other, while she’s more concerned with getting a job that provides healthcare. Amid the crazy, Emira’s pragmatism and lowkey vibe make her an endearing character.

The writing is very descriptive, and I don’t mean flowery. Everything is described—what the characters look like, what they wear, their gestures and facial expressions, the furnishings in any room. There’s a lot of dialogue, and not much introspection. The characters of Alix and Kelley are both flawed, and ultimately unlikeable, but I do enjoy that in a book - plus Emira was a really well developed character and her relationship with Briar was a lovely touch too. The overall effect is like a gossipy TV show rendered in words, one that’s entertaining but also has a lot of smart things to say.

This shows the discrepancies in the ways that women of colour are treated compared to their caucasian peers.

It’s interesting & a quick read and the ending was realistic and unfortunately not necessarily the happiest.

Absolutely loved this look - I couldn't stop reading it. Kiley Reid writes with such authority that she pulls you into her characters' worlds and refuses to let go. Shocking, moving, hilarious and painful in equal measure.

If I'd read the book summary before reading this book I probably wouldn't have bothered. I am however really glad I did. This is a well written and believable story of a young girl trying to decide where her future lies and dealing with both class and racial prejudice from both her part time employer and her boyfriend both of whom don't seem to realise that their really prejudiced. In some ways a story or every day life for the world.

I have to admit, I didn’t get this book at all. I feel like I’m in the minority here, but personally it felt like an aimless, pedestrian story without any clear focus,

The actual premise the story was based upon - that black people are more likely to be unfairly accused of misdemeanours, and whether the perpetrators of these injustices should be named and shamed - is a very real and interesting idea, however I just didn’t enjoy the telling of it at all.

Of the main characters, Emira is quite likeable but slightly irritating in that she seemed to drift along without real purpose. I’m guessing that Alix, her employer, was written as a self-centred annoying person - a blogger who asks companies for freebies so she can review them - as she had little going for her, and the boyfriend Kelley wasn’t much better.

Sadly not for me.

Summary

Such a Fun Age was an interesting and thought provoking read.

Such a Fun Age is essentially about a privileged white woman taking it upon herself to interfere in her young black employee’s life by offering unwanted help.

Emira is out celebrating a friend’s birthday when her employer, Alix, calls her asking her to take her young daughter Briar to the grocery store to get her out of the house.

Whilst in the grocery store a security guard and concerned woman challenge why Emira is in the grocery store at that time of night with a small white child. The situation escalates and a young man films the whole thing.

When a figure from Alix’s past turns up in Emira’s life it sets of a chain of events that will unsettle the lives of both Emira and Alix.



A few quotes

“It was almost astonishing that Emira’s daily babysitting job (a place of pricey onesies, colourful stacking toys, baby wipes and sectioned dinner plates) could interrupt her current night-time[sC1] state (loud music, bodycon dresses, lip liner and red solo cups…Under the veil of two strong mixed drinks, the intersection of these spaces almost seemed funny, but what wasn’t funny was Emira’s current bank balance: a total of seventy-nine dollars and sixteen cents.”

“Hi, sweetie” The woman bent down and pressed her hands into her knees.

“Do you know where your mommy is?”

“Her mom is at home.” Emira tapped her collarbone twice as she said, “You can just talk to me.”

“So you’re saying,” the guard clarified, “that a random woman three blocks away, asked you to watch her child this late at night?”

“Oh my god, no. That’s not what I said. I’m her nanny.”

My opinion

I think in general it makes you think about checking your help is wanted before you offer it and you aren’t overstepping the mark. In the case of Emira and Alix here ‘help’ was clearly motivated by other factors though and wasn’t completely from an unselfish place.

I thought the characters were well written and I particularly liked Emira and Briar.

My only criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed and I ended the book feeling dissatisfied. There were a few things I felt weren’t resolved and things I wanted to know but maybe they just weren’t resolved in the way I wanted. The conclusion of the book is why I haven’t given it a higher rating.

2.5 stars rounded up.

The premise of this book is important and it had great potential. Sadly, I just could not get into the book. The writing seemed slightly immature as if it was aimed at teenagers. The storyline was also slow moving and at points lost all momentum. At times the story felt rushed as if the author was running out of ideas.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having read some mixed reviews on this book I was not sure what to expect, but my feelings are quite mixed. I really liked the main character Emira and her babysitting charge Briar. It appears that Emira is the only person who really 'knows' Briar and has her best interests at heart.
The book centres around race and class. I think for such controversial topics it generally handles these quite well. It certainly captures people in their efforts to try and let everyone know that they are not 'racist', they manage to achieve the exact opposite. There were certainly a lot of cringeworthy moments where Alix/Alex (Emira's employer) and Kelley (Emira's boyfriend) try to impose their beliefs on Emira as to how she should live her life.
An interesting exploration of a young woman's life as she tries to become more of an adult in a world where people seem to treat her as a child.
Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this digital ARC.

I enjoyed reading this book, which although slow to get started was an interesting story. We follow two women, Alix and Emira, and the events following an incident of racism in a grocery store. The narrative from the two characters is well thought out and thought provoking to see from both sides.

💫 BOOK REVIEW 💫
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reed.
It would be an understatement to say I tore through this book. It was so addictive that it’s definitely set me back on the assignment I’m meant to be writing 😅

I think @peachesreads hit the nail on the head when she said in her review of this book, that you should go in blind. It’s a wild ride, and I’d hate to spoil any little bit of it. The story centres around two women, who have a working relationship, which then changes one night when Emira (the employee) is confronted when babysitting one night.
The novel is fact paced, and quite light in the forefront but it does highlight issues on racism, feminism and motherhood. Reading this book left me with a lot of questions at the end about the characters and their actions.
Such a wonderful debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more of Reed’s work.

You are taken straight into Emira’s world from the very first line when she has an emergency call on her mobile during a very lively birthday party celebration. This is not one of the standard family dramas but a much more interesting novel about race and class. I am not in a position to comment on it’s authenticity since I am not from either world, just somewhere in between.....lower middle class teacher! However due to this I have an understanding of Emira’s status as I worked for several years in a private nursery and the dynamic between parent and child carer is variable and Kiley portrays this very well.

Individual behaviour of the main characters is that they seem to have the best of intentions but it does show how much our personal experiences affect our perceptions of the world and our unintentional reactions to events and situations. Altogether a really well written and paced novel dealing with interesting and current issues in our society.

Thank you Netgalley for free copy in exchange for unbiased review.

As soon as I saw this was Reece Witherspoons book club pick I had to start it and I was not disappointed!

Such a Fun Age is a fascinating look at issues like race, class, privilege, motherhood, finding yourself and personal relationships.

Kiley Reid is tremendously talented and I cant wait to read more from her. Well done on a great debut novel. Not a bad book to start 2020 with!!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

A fun fast paced read with interesting characters. Emira was really likeable but I could never make my mind up on either Alix or Kelley - sometimes I liked them, sometimes I didn't.

I'd definitely recommend to others and look forward to future reads from Kiley Reid.

4 stars.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for my free reading copy.

I haven't read a book quite like this before. The psychology at play in the story creates a wonderfully character-driven plot, which Kiley Reid pulls off seamlessly. She moves between commentary on class, race, age and love so smoothly that you hardly notice her doing it, and this is the true gift of the book. The underlying unease of the conflicting elements adds a pace to the story which keeps you moving through and I really enjoyed the ride. The addition of Briar, who the main character child minds for, adds moments of comedy and sweetness, to break through the tension. I had thought that the ending might be slightly more devastating than it was, but it is probably just a more realistic ending for a book that makes some very accurate and cutting commentary on today's world.