I enjoyed this book I thought the characters were engaging and likeable. It was an easy book to pick up and put down again and had a good plot line. I didn’t feel compelled to finish the book in a hurry but it wasn’t a bad book either.
Many thanks to both the author and net galley for me allowing to read this book.

Absolutely brilliant - couldn't put it down. Incredibly perceptive and a quite uncomfortable read in all the right ways.

Such a Fun Age might seem like a Nanny Diaries type book but it's more than that. It tackles the complexities of race and class in our every day relationships. It also includes complexity of character and motivations. I found myself trying to figure out who to trust. It's a fairly quick read but it packs a punch. The writing was a bit clunky but I had so much empathy for Emira, I couldn't wait to see how she developed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Such a Fun Age’ by Kiley Reid in exchange for an honest review.

Blogger Alix Chamberlain has created a successful brand showing women how to live their best lives. She is deeply shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is accused of kidnapping her two-year old daughter, Briar. No, this isn’t another crime thriller about an abducted child but a literary novel exploring issues of class and race in modern day USA.

When a store security guard and customers in an upmarket supermarket see a young black woman out late with a white child they assume the worst. A crowd gathers and a bystander films everything on their phone. Emira is furious and humiliated and Alix resolves to make things right.

This initial scene is familiar territory from any number of viral incidents, and while it plays an important part in the later narrative, Reid uses restraint in not over emphasising it.

I am wary about saying too much about the plot, though a great deal hinges on someone from Alix’s past entering Emira’s life setting up a potential conflict. I did wonder if this strained credibility but strange coincidences do sometimes happen in life.

Both women have their strengths and weaknesses, both make mistakes. Overall, I found Emira easier to relate to than Alix and her painfully awkward desire to prove that she is not racist by seeking to befriend Emira.

Reid has said in interviews that she is perplexed that advance readers have suggested that Emira represents herself. Yet while she describes her own background as more privileged than Emira’s, she also relates that she had worked in childcare for six years, including being a nanny to rich people like Alix. I would suggest that while not autobiographical she has drawn on her life experiences and observations to create this assured debut.

While race is clearly an important aspect of the narrative, Reid also explores friendship, marriage, love, motherhood and more. It’s a character driven novel that has multiple levels. I can imagine that it will prove popular with reading groups as it is both readable and provides plenty of topics for discussion. Indeed, it has already been chosen by Reese Witherspoon as the January selection for her popular Hello Sunshine online book group.

While I wasn’t aware before reading of its prepublication buzz, I can appreciate why it is being heralded as such being a comedy-drama that examines important issues in an accessible way.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it features on the longlist for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

I am so sorry to give a single star review as I did not enjoy this book. I found the book very difficult to read due the style of writing, the language used and a feeling as I was reading that it had been written as a young adult novel then other times as a literary fiction novel looking at race issues. Too confusing as not a clear message or style to the book. Ii felt it very chunky and disjointed ini that the story just did not flow.


I am not sharing this review far and wide due to the one-star rating I am leaving as I do not believe it would be helpful. I will share to goodreads as there are a good range of reviews on there and as a blogger I am aware that all reviews are welcomed. I am so sorry that I did not enjoy this book but this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid has been on my schedule for months, and I thought that, as such, it deserved to be my first read of 2020. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but it had its moments.

Having graduated college with no clear idea of what she wants to do with her life, twenty-five year old Emira Tucker has since taken on a series of part time jobs, her favourite of which is babysitting Briar Chamberlain. Briar is a precocious three year old, and a little too tiring for her career focused mother, Alix, to handle while trying to build her ‘brand’ and also care for a newborn. Alix, and her husband, TV anchorman Peter, are vaguely grateful for the care Emira provides, and both are horrified when late one night they call on Emira for help and the young woman is detained by an over-reaching security guard at a local store who believes she may have kidnapped Briar, not only because Emira is dressed for the party she was attending when the Chamberlain’s called, but because Emira is black, and Briar is white.

While underscoring the major themes of race, class, and privilege, this incident is not actually the focus of the novel, but it is a catalyst for change in the relationship between Alix and Emira. Feeling vaguely guilty about the incident, and worried that Emira will leave their employ, Alix becomes fixated on befriending her. Emira would prefer to forget the whole thing, she has other things on her mind, like her lack of career, and a new beau, Kelley Copeland, whom she met the night of the confrontation in the store.

While low key conflict related to race and class simmers in the background, Reid doesn’t pit the white and black/ rich and poor characters against each other, instead she thoughtfully explores the varying experiences, understandings, and motives that affect their viewpoints about themselves and each other. As the story unfolds from the perspectives of the two women, Reid also examines additional themes such as identity, motherhood, friendship, and career.

Not being American I can’t pretend to understand the cultural dynamics which underpin Such A Fun Age, but I did find it well written, nuanced and thought provoking.

Poor Tamira.
Poor 'Aleeks'
And maybe, poor little Briar, the odd but engaging child who is looked after by Tamira while her mother Alix tries to write. Alix comes across as an 'influencer, blogger. a woman who is very much involved in herself. Tamira, a girl from 'the other side of the tracks' really doesnt know how to cope with the household and the demands made upon her., but is loving and caring with Briar, understanding her needs more than her own mother.
When Tamira is falsely accused of kidnapping the child, Alix takes over the story and seems to want to meld Tamira into something she's not. It's almost as though Alix is in love with her, needing to touch her and become girlfriends with her..
Needless to say nothing turns out as planned. I found the ending a bit hurried, a bit too obvious.
But still enjoyed reading this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.

I’ve been reading a lot of complimentary things about Such A Fun Age and I’m pleased to say it did not disappoint at all. The story centres around a family with two young children and their babysitter. After a disturbing incident at a supermarket, things become complicated between Alix, the mother and Emira, the babysitter.

There is so much to unpack in this clever and witty book. It is an incredibly astute commentary on class, race, gender and privilege. After the incident in the supermarket Alix becomes kind of obsessed with making Emira her friend. It is a strange and fascinating relationship filled with nuance and awkwardness. There are numerous twists and turns as the story evolves which genuinely took me by surprise and threw so many issues between these two women into the mix. Emira spends all her time as a babysitter with the elder of Alix’s two children, two year old Briar, and the relationship between Emira and Briar is perhaps my favourite aspect of Such A Fun Age. It feels so completely genuine and honest. Briar is frequently ignored by her mother who favours her younger sister and the way Emira understands Briar and gives her her complete undivided attention is so heartwarming.

I was one hundred percent engaged with these characters who are all incredibly compelling – especially Emira and Alix. I also loved the way the author dealt with the ending. It was in no way melodramatic or overdone but there is a subtlety to it which is clever and effective. The whole book has a sort of bittersweet tone which feels really authentic. Such A Fun Age has already become one of my favourites of the year and I can’t wait to read whatever the talented Reid writes next. This book is the kind that will stay with you and leave you thinking about it long after you have turned the last page.

For 2020, I want to read books that make me think and feel a bit uncomfortable because I want to lear . I chose Such A Fun Age as the first book that fits this description. I really liked Emira, our main character, so it was easy to lose myself in the story.

On the surface, the book is a fun/dramatic story about 20/30 something year old women and a bit of boy drama but when you start to think about what you've just read, you realise how layered the book actually is, it explores race, gender, wealth and privilege and how these dictate everything in life, whether we believe it to be the case or not, in an interesting way. A really interesting read that kept me engaged for the entire book.

Graduate Emira is drifting in life, she has no motivation to join her friends in their corporate jobs even though the money and the benefits would help.  She works in the gig economy juggling an office role with three days baby-sitting.  Her charge Briar is a smart three-year old, daughter of a local TV news reporter and his wife Alix.  Alix has moved from New York to Philadelphia for her family but is creatively blocked.  One night Alix calls Emira to help with a family emergency but as Emira takes Briar to a local store she is accused of kidnap.  Her knight in shining armour is a preppy white man who becomes Emira's boyfriend but he also knows Alix.

This book is very hyped as one of 2020's next big things.  It's entertaining but not as clever as it thinks it is!  Reid tried to make her characters three-dimensional within the confines of the cliches she has set for them but none are particularly likeable and the story is less a commentary on society and more a series of set pieces.  I admire what Reid is trying to do, to address social concerns about race, political correctness and class politics in an amusing manner and to a certain extent it succeeds.

Such a Fun Age already has a buzz and having been unable to put it down, I can see why. We meet two narrators: Alix Chamberlain is a white woman in her 30s who is a successful blogger and founder of the #LetHerSpeak feminist campaign, and Emira Tucker is a black woman in her 20s who babysits Alix's three-year-old daughter Briar and is not quite sure what she wants to do with her life. It's a running theme amongst Emira's friends and a constant source of worry for her that, 'Emira was a bit late to adulthood.' 

Such a Fun Age has a truly gripping opening scene and from that point I was hooked: Alix asks Emira to take Briar out of the house briefly one night, while Alix deals with an issue at home. Emira takes Briar to a local store where a security guard basically accuses her of kidnapping Briar. This sets the tone for the race, white privilege and class issues that this book tackles head on.

The story follows the relationship between Alix and Emira and after the above incident, Alix decides she wants to befriend Emira. Emira is not sure about this idea. What this book does so well is skilfully showcase two complex lead characters. The way that each woman treats the other - subconsciously or not - due to their respective race and class is brilliantly explored and the anxieties and emotions that each woman goes through as an individual feels so authentic.

It's one of those books that the more you think about it, the more you appreciate how layered the narrative is. It has the above overarching commentary, but is also a story of Emira developing her own sense of self and confidence. It is also a love-letter of sorts to the amazing people that work in childcare, it talks about how babysitting is not seen as a 'real job' and yet is one of the most influential and hardest of all.

Such a Fun Age certainly gave me food for thought; it's clever, insightful and written in such a fresh, engaging tone of voice that I couldn't stop reading.

An odd book in which everyone will find a different meaning.
Emira Tucker is a part-time babysitter for Briar, the peculiar but lovely toddler of Alix Chamberlain.
The two couldn't be more different and hardly know each other until Emira is confronted by a security guard who accuses her of having kidnapped the child.
While Emira wants to leave it all behind, Alix is determined to change Emira's life for the better. She may have no experience with racism, but she is confident and made it her job to make women as driven as her.

But things don't go as planned, their relationship unearths some stories from Alix' past and Emira doesn't know who to trust anymore - any neither do we.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid is absolutely unputdownable. Set in Philadelphia it deals with race, class and money in a thought provoking and also incredibly entertaining way. The story is so clever, the characters are great, the dialogue is brilliant and funny. I’m not at all surprised to hear that Lena Waithe has bought the film rights and I can’t wait to recommend this book to everyone.

This is one of the best books I have read this year, and I can't wait to see it fly in 2020. I absolutely raced through it, and resented having to put it down to get on with my life. It's gripping, sharp, illuminating and written with an impressive deftness and sensitivity. I identified with all of the characters and the author handled the competing perspectives really well. I will read anything Kiley Reid writes.

A stunning debut from Kiley Reid, "Such A Fun Age" is a multi-layered novel. I was particularly interested in the notion of how we see ourselves and how we imagine that others perceive us. From both Alix and Emira's point of view, we are able to explore womanhood, feminism and racial stereotypes.I also really loved the way Reid includes the children throughout. Often in novels, children are seen and not heard but our author successfully recreates reality, which often includes random and funny interjections from the small folk at inopportune moments. I couldn't put this book down and can't wait to hear more from this writer.

"Such a fun Age" is a novel that will make you laugh and cringe at the same time. In her hotly anticipated debut, Kiley Reid presents us with some uncomfortable truths and makes us think about our own bias and privilege. If you think it is not your cup of tea – bear with me, it is worth it. In the story we follow two women. Alix Chamberlain is a white, middle class mother of two, who is finding it hard to find her work-life balance in suburban Philadelphia, far away from New York, where her friends are. Emira Tucker is her black baby sitter, trying to figure out what to do with her life, how to get her health insurance sorted and how not to be jealous of her friends successful, adult lives. The book opens with Emira being accused of kidnapping her employer’s daughter – Alix is horrified by this incident and her need to make up for this injustice leads to unforeseen consequences.
I loved the way in which the author presented main characters of the book – all of them fully fleshed and multi-dimensional, each of them with their own agendas, motives and emotions. We get to observe their actions and in questioning them, we are also required to confront our own preconceptions and prejudices. There is so much to unpack here – white privilege, white saviour complex, everyday racism that is still so ingrained into our lives ; there is also space to discuss the meaning of boundaries, meaning well but doing it from completely wrong reasons and so much more. But at the same time, it is a terrific story, nuanced and full of different point of views. We get to decide who is wrong and who is right, and whether there is actually one answer to it.
My only problem with this book was the ending, as I have found it too abrupt, when compared to the pace of the whole story, But even then, I thought it was an excellent read and I would recommend it to everyone.

SPOILERS AHEAD:


I really enjoyed reading this book. It was really well written and it really gripped me, so definitely up to the hype.
However, I’m giving it a 4 star rating because I did not like the ending: everything just happened too fast, and surely if she had had a problem with Kelley before she wouldn’t have just realised it in the last 10 pages of the book, but before? Also, a lot of the characters were pretty flat and stereotypical (think Alix’s friends and her husband). Other than that, it was actually a fantastic book, and I would definitely recommend it

I adored this novel. Smart, fast-paced and incredibly clever, I read it in a rush of excitement and awe. It's hard to write a book that is so entertaining and thought-provoking and also offers something that feels new. Recommend unreservedly!

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up

This is a quick and easy read, but I feel the blurb over sells its meaning and message. I found the book very simplistic and I found the behaviour and the situations that the characters found themselves in considering the age they were supposed to be very unrealistic and and essentially unrelatable, making the story feel very unauthentic to me.

This just didn't meet any of my expectation or do anything for me, but I think this could be a great book club read as I think it will be quite divisive and open up discussions about important topics surrounding race and privilege..

A brilliant debut that is so very layered with a richness of commentary on the day to day lives of the main characters but also about power, privilege, code-switching, family, dating, parenting and so much more. It was only about half way through that I started to really appreciate the depth that the story was bringing, analysing the interactions between Emira, her boss,her friends, her boyfriend and most of all the utterly bewitching Briar.
So clever and an addictive read. Different sides of Emira emerged and I loved her character. It reminds me of the authenticity and on point social commentary in Little Fires Everywhere, it is such a thought provoking read