I really enjoyed this book. I was excited to read it when it became the book of the month. I liked the characters and found most of them very relatable. I was not a fan of some of the language.

I enjoyed this book so much! I cant really explain exactly what I liked the most. It was just different. Throughout the entire book Im like am I a Alix fan? or a Kelley fan? or neither? or both? I was just liking each of the characters. The story absorbed me. I was feeling all the feels for Emira and loving her relationship with each of the characters! I highly recommend this book! It was an interesting take on many issues. Loved it!

This is a fantastic and very timely novel. Reid has created three interesting, complex, often infuriating characters. The fascinating drama that builds between them feels completely earned, and Reid skilfully examines how class and race intersect to create privilege.

I was nervous about reading Such A Fun Age for fear of another Little Fires Everywhere Situation...A book that was almost universally beloved that I HATED and that had a similar level of hype and, I believe, a similar intended demographic.

So. Phew! Such a Fun Age was a MUCH better book. Worth the hype, fascinating, and—in the current sociopolitical landscape—important.

In some ways this feels like a “little” story. There is no great, epic tragedy. No one of note dies, let alone gets murdered. But while the story feels hyperpersonal to the characters, it has broader implications for us all, and I would argue that the microcosm approach Reid takes to the issue at hand almost makes it MORE powerful.

This isn’t happening to the masses in the story, or to a larger-than-life figure. The characters are just everyday people, which I think makes the impact of what occurs that much more meaningful for the rest of us average humans.

I also think Reid has given us an exceptionally unique and important take on racism and racial relations that is different than what we typically see. What happens to Emira in the early pages of the story is horrifying, but it’s the smaller, interpersonal issues that precipitate from that event which give this book such an original perspective.

It helps too that (aside perhaps from the bigoted security guard and tattletale customer in the grocery store scene), no one in the story—whatever their faults—is a truly KKK-style racist monster. This is everyday stuff, and I would stress that every white person in America ought to read this to understand that racism and other types of bigotry are an everyday occurrence for marginalized populations.

Though overt hate crimes, hate speech and the like are obviously a scarier, more egregious, and more threatening form of racism, there are many smaller, more nuanced components to the issue that get glossed over or ignored by those who have the luxury to do so.

And did I mention that it’s just a darn good story? Reid delivers through her fascinating characters as well. Emira is of course likable and easy to root for, but she’s far from a one-dimensional heroine. And while I wouldn’t class either as exactly likable, Alix and Kelley are riveting characters as well.

So excited to see what Reid gives us next.

This debut novel was so compulsively readable and hard to put down. However, while the premise was timely and important, I felt as though the book wasn’t fully fleshed out at times. Some of the characters felt more like... caricatures rather than actual people. And I so wanted to shake 25-year-old Emira and wake her up - she seemed to almost be numbed to her life and to what was happening around her. I can’t really say more about this here without adding spoilers, unfortunately. ⁣
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Despite my personal feelings and complaints, Such a Fun Age is such an easy read, and involves a topic that is so relevant to today’s political climate, that you must pick it up. It will provoke thought, and hopefully conversation, and that is what we need to continue the move toward change. ⁣
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Much thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the advance copy for review.

I loved this book, but definitely went in without much of an idea what to expect. The part mentioned in the blurb – where Emira is stopped by police while at the grocery store with the young (white) girl who she babysits – is a catalyst for the action, but is not a major part of the book itself. At its base, this novel is a compulsively readable commentary on the well-meaning white savior who wants to “help” and “protect” and “advise” the (in their minds) poor, misguided black character.

For a book that is about something so deep and multi-layered, it was an extremely fast and enjoyable read; in fact, I flew through this novel in an afternoon. I loved and hated all the characters in turns — they were extremely well-written, layered characters. Some parts were so incredibly awkward I had to put the book down for a few minutes to take some deep breaths. The plot was simple enough to get into, but the underlying messages about racism and privilege and feminism were so nuanced that I find myself still thinking about them for days after reading the novel.

The one criticism I have is that I think this book would be even more effective if Alix was a little more sympathetic. I think that we tend to have this picture of racist people as “other” and think “oh, I would *never* be like that”. Alix here is a girl who has grown up rich and is honestly a snob. She develops a weird obsession with Emira and proving how good she is through helping her. We learn a lot about her childhood and family life, and not much of it was something I could connect with. At times she is even portrayed as a bad mother, which I think hurt the narrative in the long run. It could have been even stronger if Alix had been able to engender a bit more compassion from the reader rather than so clearly being a pretty terrible person, at least in my view.

Overall, this was a great read and I absolutely recommend it!

I’ll definitely be looking forward to more title releases from Kiley Reid. “Such A Fun Age” is such a well written book, that touches on heavy topics such as racism, privilege, and status but in an engaging story.
I feel like the character development was the shining star in this book, the main characters have distinct voices, and personalities which come across very real. I loved the sweet, endearing relationship between 3 year old Briar and Emira. Briar’s personality also made me smile and laugh multiple times while reading this book.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid was a really entertaining book. I really enjoyed reading it and it’s one of those books that you just can’t put down. There were a lot of surprises throughout and even though this book dealt with some serious issues such as racism the writing was very light hearted and fun to read.

What a great book! It starts off with Emira being accused of kidnapping the child she babysits. Alix, mother of the child is very successful and sees this as an opportunity to get to know Emira better and to “help” her. It is told in both characters point of view. This book explores privilege, race and class in today’s world.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

The tricky thing with tension in novels is to find the right balance between I-gotta-know-what-happens that keeps a reader up late into the night and oh-man-I-can’t-handle-this that makes a reader put it down, unable to return. This book strikes exactly the right tone that kept me up well past my bedtime without making me sick to my stomach with dread. This is one of the most nuanced, deeply felt commentaries on race and class in America that I have read in quite some time. I highly recommend this book to any kind of general fiction reader.

This was a book I couldn’t put down; I’m always drawn to stories that pertain to real life. This one seems quite important in society today, sadly I’m sure stories like this happen more than we hear. We are brought into the life of smart, young black woman who gets caught up in the drama of a white socialite mother. It’s a story about racism, but it made me think about the person I was in high school and if we can change and learn from our mistakes. A quick read that hooks you from the start. I would definitely recommend.

Emira has an English Lit degree but is part time typing and babysitting as she feels lost and is trying to find her niche after leaving University. Her health insurance which is linked to her parents until she is 26 is about to expire and she needs to really be looking for a "proper" job but doesn't want to give up looking after Briar, a toddler from a rich white family whom she has come to love. The family call Emira late one eveing when she is out clubbing to look after Briar in an emergency situation. Their home has been egged and the police are about to arrive and they want Emira to take Briar out of the house, so she goes to a late night organic/health food store where a customer alerts the security guard to a balck woman "inappropriately" dressed with a young white child. Emira is confronted by the guard and the incident is videoed by a liberal white guy. I couldn't get my head around this scenario. I do believe that one could easily be taken to task by a guard at anytime of the day (has happened to me) but the family have a huge house, why can Emira not sit with Briar in her room whilst the parents deal with the police downstairs? This is the first in many unlikely happenings and coincidences in the plotline that ensue.

I read an interview with the author in the Guardian and was really intrigued to read this book as it was billed as a profound work on racism, privilege and liberal over thinking. However, I didn't find it to be profound at all. It was enjoyable as a kind of almost "chick lit" style read rather than something deeper, although having said that it does give some pause for thought (e.g. Do white guys who only seem to date black women have a fetish?).

The black women in the book were meant to be from rich and/or professional backgrounds but they all spoke like they were from the "'hood." which I found jarring. I also found the "situation" the rich white employer and the educated but poor black babysitter found themselves in was very contrived (What are the chances?).

I enjoyed this as a "light" read but I don't think it is deep or partcularly well crafted.

This was an interesting and at times uncomfortable read. The characters were fleshed out, felt real, and none of them were too likeable - which makes a great book, in my opinion. The language in this novel also flowed really well, and it was so easy both to get into, and also to finish. Some parts about the whole story were maybe a bit too convenient and unbelievable, which is why I won't give this the five-star rating. However, overall this is a solid novel with a strong narrative and an important message.

This was fantastic! I love faster-paced stories, as well as character-driven stories, which don't always go together, but I thought this book did it seamlessly. This book also really made me think about how class, and wealth, and especially race play into everyday life. Overall it felt like such a story of the human condition and it does a great job of narrowing in on so many different little parts of life and wraps those all together to show how they influence the bigger parts.

How do you accurately describe a book that was both light enough to binge-read but also tackled difficult topics? I'm not sure I can do it justice. This book was a breath of fresh air. It follows babysitter, Emira, a black college graduate who is put in a very difficult situation. She babysits for a prominent white family, and while out with her friends one night, is begged to come over to take Briar (the white couples child) for a bit. It's a weekend, not her usual time to babysit. She also explains that she is not in her usual attire, as she is out with friends. Alix, her employer, is desperate and will pay just about anything to have Emira come over and take Briar. Emira agrees and they head to a local grocery store. Briar is enamored with Emira, and I loved their relationship so much. While walking around to kill time, Emira is confronted by a white security guard. The security guard questions what Emira is doing with a white child, assuming it's not her child and assuming the worst. While this confrontation goes down, a man is videotaping. This man offers the video and the chance for Emira to take this evidence and sue the security guard. Emira declines, not wanting to deal with any publicity like that and asks him to delete the video. He agrees to deleting it after emailing it to Emira, where she can decide if she wants to use it at a later time.

Emira goes back to her employers after having to call them to prove she is Briars babysitter- super humiliating and degrading. Her employer, Alix seems to try and make up for what was done. Suddenly, the man who took the video appears in Emira's life again and that's where things get interesting. He has a connection to Alix, Emira's employer. As things unfold, we see the power of privilege and the power that deals with wanting to "save" others (especially POC). This is a very timely novel, and I look forward to see what Reid puts out next!

I have so many thoughts and feelings after reading this book. I think that is what Reid wanted her readers to feel after reading her novel. This was such a wonderful book that pulled you in and kept you reading. It is hard for me to write a review because I just have so much that I'm still digesting. There are so many deep rooted themes that make you think. All I know is that you have to read this book. You will not regret it.


**Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.**

I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t love it either. I was very excited for this because I’ve seen so many good reviews but it kind of fell flat for me. The way Alix obsessed over Emira gave me ‘Get Out’ vibes. I think the topic of racism is very important, especially today. I just did not like the way it was laid out. I also felt like the plot and twist was revealed very early in the novel and the rest of the book just talked about the every day life of the characters. I did love Emira and Briars relationship! I also liked how Emira was a 25 year old who didn’t have her life together because I feel like so many people feel pressured to be on track with society’s timeline. Overall, I did enjoy the book but it won’t be one of my top reads of 2020. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I loved this book! The characters had so many dimensions, I found myself loving, hating, being frustrated with each of them at different times. This book had so many layers, yet was a very easy read at the same time. I will definitely recommend it to other readers!

The Rundown...
RR Rating: 5 give-this-debut-author-a-shot stars
Format: Ebook*, 320 pages, pub. Dec. 31, 2019
RR Synopsis: A thirty-something white bougie blogger becomes irrationally infatuated with her toddler’s black babysitter.
RR POV: For some reason, I thought SUCH A FUN AGE would be a twisty dark novel, but it’s really freshly-voiced, page-turning literary fiction.
Recommended Readers: Book clubs, latest & greatest modern fiction fans, and people who thought THE HELP was problematic.
Do animals die?: Yeah, but (spoiler alert) it’s a goldfish from natural causes.
Also of Note: A pivotal scene takes place at Thanksgiving, so maybe earmark this for a November read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I was not able to get very far in the book. I am sure this book will appear to some just not me. Thank you