I enjoyed this for what it was, a fun twisty story about a self-obsessed (white) woman who is slightly obnoxious.

However it is definitely NOT a social commentary on race and is very over-hyped in that respect. The much-vaunted incident when the MC is accused of kidnapping a child is disconnected to the rest of the novel and the characters are one-dimensional. If there had been more nuance in the characters, ie Alix wasn't just an obnoxious white self-obsessed Instagrammer or Emira wasn't a flaky kid who didn;t know what she wanted to do, then I think the message would have come across a lot better.

There was a point about halfway through where I thought that it had become nothing more than a he said / she said type movel, where it was all about who had done what in high school. It then suddenly reverted back to the 'race' theme again but then still didn't fulfil its promise.

I'd still recommend to read it, but as a piece of enjoyable fiction, nothing deeper than that.

A really brilliant read that I couldn't put down and says so much about the intersection of race, class and gender, plus transactional relationships, in modern America.

My fully review on my blog at

https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2019/12/20/book-review-kiley-reid-such-a-fun-age/

A brilliantly layered tale with complex, flawed characters going about the grind of day to day life in Philadelphia. I procrastinated the end of this book SO much (my house has never been so clean) because I really didn’t want to leave them all behind!

Really well-written character study, and the shades of grey in both Alix and Kelley were skilfully done.

Such A Fun Age has a great hook: Emira, a black woman in her 20s, is accused of kidnapping her white employer's child at a supermarket in Philadelphia. The whole thing is caught on video.

Although I think Kiley Reid has a very nuanced and interestingly detail-orientated approach to writing about the world around her, it took me a while to get into this story, and it wasn't until I read the final 100 pages in one go that I felt like I was really enjoying it. There's something about her style that put me off, I think - although I do think that her ability to write very busy but very visually imaginative group scenes is definitely something to envy! Emira is a great character, very sympathetic and engaging, and by the end I was really intrigued about Alix too.

It's a very incisive and entertaining look at American society today, particularly in regards to racism and class and privilege. I'm torn between 3.5 and 4 stars.

Despite the cover looking either chick lit or young adult I really enjoyed this book. Emira, the main character, is described from her own perspective, briefly as a daughter and subsequently in more depth as a member of her social circle and as the employee of Mrs Chamberlain. The storyline is original, interesting and pacy. It is essentially a story of relationships intertwined with issues of race,,pseudo liberalism,female friendship and honesty. A good read and a book I would recommend to anyone. It would be good for book groups as you would never stop talking about the characters

Emira, a 25 year old African American babysitter for a“Clinton” supporting, tv presenting/writing, white, wealthy family, who move to Philadelphia, call upon Emira’s services late one night after an egg was thrown and smashed a window in their house following the presenters comment made on tv. As a result of the late night babysitter trip to Market Depot, Emira encounters a situation where the store security guard and another woman think she has taken the child, and refuse to let her leave. The altercation is filmed by a man in the shop and between him and the family she is working for, the highlighting of racial issues, by them, ensue.

A story with a racial bias premise, but what stood out to me more was the character of Emira overall. A young 25-year old woman having her life and decisions about her life made for her, whilst feeling and being a bit stuck and lost in her life direction, unsure of what she wants to do, but loving, caring, looking after a young 3 year old of the family she works for, whilst they don’t really know their own child’s needs. The people around Emira, and who she works for, are making decisions about her life and best interests, without the decision being hers, and she is pulled and caught in the middle of it. Whilst thinking they are doing what is best for Emira, turns out they are doing what is best for themselves, until she stands up for herself.

An interesting read, but feel it needs tidying/cleaning up a bit in places, to help the story flow better.

I loved this book! Such a Fun Age speaks volumes on the subjects of race, class and privilege through witty and astute writing. I genuinely found parts of it enlightening and particularly the character of Emira to be likeable and highly relatable. Would definitely recommend this book.

On the surface and if read quickly, then this book could be seen as a light hearted read that keeps you entertained until the end. However, when you take the time and look deeper you see that it encompasses race, feminism and privilege.

Emira is a 25 year old college graduate who doesn’t know what to do with her life. Alix Chamberin is a motivational speaker and blogger, whose daughter Emira babysits for. Alix has never paid too much attention to Emira until an incident one evening, where afterwards Alix decides to focus on Emira and take her under her wing.

The book shows the assumptions people can make about those of different ethnicity and economic status. The author manages to do this in a compelling way and by switching between the two characters perspectives, the thoughts and feelings of both are shared well. I really loved Emira as a character and you see her develop and become herself as the story progresses. There’s also something likeable about Alix and despite her privilege, there’s also a naivety about her and the feeling of being in her own little bubble, unaware of the troubles face.
Definitely a good debut read from this author!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘Such a Fun Age ‘ by Killy Reid’s a fantastic novel with an important message. I wasn’t sure when I first started reading it but as I got into it I was hooked. The book looks at race from a slightly different angle than usual.

I struggled with this one a little bit, it just didn't hold my attention. The concept was interesting, and I think it had an important message but I didn't connect with the characters. It almost felt like it was written from the head instead of the heart.

This book made me uncomfortable - in a good way - and yet I couldn't put it down. Reid perfectly skewers white saviours in a way that only a black author could. She also touches on issues of race, class, money, ambition, growing up and feminism while her prose remains so readable that you want to devour the entire book in one go. I was slightly disappointed by the ending and the reveal about one of the characters, but it didn't dim my enjoyment of the novel as a whole. Reid is one to watch.

This is a great read. The writing is punchy and it's easy to keep turning the pages. There is more going on with Emira than just the video that kicks the story off and she's given a chance to show different sides to the reader.

I wish that we didn't lose some of the nuance with how some things are revealed at the end but I also know that some readers will like the clarity that they're given. While it's not exactly subtle for a lot of it, there is actually still room for a reader to interpret lots of things and to consider aspects of the characters and their lives that aren't addressed in the book but surely shape them as people - like, if Emira wrote letters asking for things I'm pretty sure they wouldn't arrive at her doorstep no questions asked.

Such a great book, its an engaging story that draws you in from the start, as we follow Emira a young African American woman as she almost gets arrested for kidnapping the white child she babysits. Thereby sparking some major white guilt in her employer and eventually changing her own life. The characters are really well formed and believable, I loved Emira and the relationship between her and Briar the really sweet girl she looks after. Elmira has really great friends, the only one who doesn't come out well is Alix, Briar's mum, although she's interesting and complex.

Such a Fun Age is one of those books that makes you think and question every character the whole way through. It would make a perfect book group title as it will definitely provoke discussion. The plot centres around Emira and Alix Chamberlain. Emira is employed as a babysitter, and when called upon to look after three year old Briar one evening, she is accused by a security guard of a possible kidnapping. Briar is white and Emira is black and her boss Alix is horrified at her treatment. Another customer, Kelley Copeland, filmed the incident and after another chance meeting on a train, him and Emira begin dating. He is also white and when her boss discovers he is her ex-boyfriend from high school, the plot takes a disturbing twist. Questions of race and prejudice are set to make Emira question everyone and everything. Is her boss overcompensating because of an innate prejudice? Has her boyfriend got a fetish for black women? Ultimately, Emira who has felt lost for so long, takes back control of her own life in a dramatic conclusion, and finally finds her voice. A really thought provoking book that is current, original and thoroughly enjoyable on many levels.

Like so many of us, Emira is in her mid-twenties and feeling adrift. She works part time as a typist and the rest of the time as a babysitter – not a nanny – for the wealthy Chamberlain family and their 3-year-old, Briar.

She’s about to lose her parent’s health insurance, and has a nagging feeling that she should get started on ‘the rest of her life’, but isn’t quite sure where to start. There’s also the fact that she adores Briar, the first daughter now somewhat neglected with her new baby sister on the scene. Reid writes of the bond between them so beautifully, painting Briar in a very real way as a curious, enchanting child who is similarly devoted to Emira, ‘Mira’.

On her own and at her best, Briar was odd and charming, filled with intelligence and humour. But there was something about the actual work, the practice of caring for a small unstructured person, that left Emira feeling smart and in control.

One night, the Chamberlains call upon Emira in a panic. They’ve had an incident at the house and they need her to come and look after Briar for a few hours. Emira takes Briar to the supermarket, where they wander the aisles, Briar enchanted by the colourful packaging and bright lights. But the sight of an African-American woman with a white, blonde little girl walking around a supermarket late at night catches the eye of the security guard, who accuses Emira of kidnap. The whole incident is captured on video by a well-intentioned white male bystander, Kelley, who encourages Emira to release the video. Mortified, Emira adamantly rebukes the suggestion. Being in the public eye is the last thing she wants.

Privilege, class and race are at the heart of this compelling and intensely readable debut novel. It exposes the difficulties of talking about race with well-meaning white people who are desperate to prove they aren’t racist – and in doing so veer dangerously close to developing a white-saviour complex. Briar’s mother Alix, known simply as Alex before her personal rebrand, is one such character. Whilst Emira is technically staff, Alix is determined to have her as ‘part of the family’, horrified at the supermarket incident and desperate to somehow atone.

Reid has developed nuanced characters who avoid falling into stereotypes. She takes a simple premise, adds a racist encounter, and crafts a narrative that centres the African-American voice in an exploration of contemporary society and racial politics through the lens of everyday people in everyday interactions. A deceptively deep and important novel for anyone looking to better understand the difference between impact and intent, the gaping racial and social divides in 21st century America, and the challenges of talking about it all – written with an accomplished lightness of touch.

This was a brilliant read. I began it thinking it was going to be a light and easy story, but quickly realised that it was going to go far deeper than this at the point at which our main character Emira is challenged due to the colour of her skin.
This will really change your perceptions of life as an African American and the racism and issues that they still face in their every day lives. The writer skilfully takes us on a thought-provoking journey. I definitely recommend this one!
Thanks to netgalley, the publishers and author for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Absolutely enthralled and gripped by this fantastic, timely and important novel - about race, privilege, class, motherhood and female friendship. There were so many jaw-dropping moments I need new and better face cream!

When Emira Tucker is wrongly accused of kidnapping the daughter of the white woman, Alix, she babysits for, it sets in motion a chain of seemingly unconnected events that work together to implode both her life - and Alix's. I don't want to say any more but the pace and grip of this book was incredible - and the voices of Emira and Alix were powerful and strong. This one will stay with me for a long time.

A book I managed to finish within a day, which, recently has been a struggle for me!

I was intrigued by the blurb. Would this story about a young African American woman, who worked for a successful white family, be something like a lot of social themed novels recently, chanting #BlackLivesMatter?

Well, it did, a little, but that wasn't the entirety of the novel.

Emira, the babysitter is a twenty-something woman, similar to many out there, unsure of the direction of her life, plodding along, trying to find where she really wants to be.

She just happens to be black.

And the regular babysitter for Alix and her family, looking after two-year-old Briar, and on occasion, her baby sister, Catherine.

Alix is a thirty-something woman, married with her two beautiful daughters and a successful husband, riding on her own social media successes, and in the process of writing a book.

What happens one night in the local grocery store, when her babysitter is falsely accused of taking a child, who is obviously not hers, sparks a chain of events that explore so much more than racial stereotypes. Sure, that is a big part of it, but it is approached from two very different angles, that of a black woman, and that of a white woman.
Neither is racist, but both have stereotypes foisted upon them by others.

Add to the mix, crossed wires, and past secrets, and you have one heck of a delicious novel!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was good!! Utterly compelling, yet insightful, political, powerful and an perfectly perceptive novel for our times.
Elmira is a babysitter for the Chamberlains. One evening, called away from a party to help them out in a crisis, she is stopped with her toddler charge by a security guard in a grocery store. Setting off a series of events dealing with race, class, privilege and more this is a really well written novel that has wide commercial appeal. Loved it.