I recently read an Entertainment Weekly interview with Kiley Reild that referred to Such a Fun Age's "neat trick: nestling a nuanced take on racial biases and class divides into a page-turning saga of betrayals, twists, and perfectly awkward relationships." This neat trick is why Fun Age is such a compelling read, and I had trouble putting it down.

25 year old Emira is hired to baby-sit the Chamberlains' (Alix and Peter) toddler Briar three days a week. Early in the book, Emira is stopped in a grocery store in the Chamberlains' affluent Allentown neighborhood while a security guard questions what she's doing with a white child. The moment is caught on video and Emira is forced to call Peter Chamberlain to clear up the misunderstanding. This racially charged incident leads Alix Chamberlain to overcompensate by becoming obsessed with Emira and her life. There are lots of plot surprises, and all along, and I found myself cringing at the many missteps of the white characters as they tried to "save" Emira.

Emira felt like a secondary character and a pawn in the drama between the white folks in Such a Fun Age. She is very much a woman in her mid-20s - struggling to find a career that includes health insurance, dating, finding ways to still spend time with friends who make more money, and sometimes splurging on a leather jacket when she has extra cash. And like many books I've read with mistreated nannies, she absolutely loved and adored the child she cared for. I really appreciate how Reid was able to weave some serious topics into such compelling and readable prose. I was nervous as to how this one was going to end, but it's wrapped up nicely. I highly recommend this book, and white people take note, don't do what the white people in Such a Fun Age do.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for offering a free e-copy of Such a Fun Age in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me of Little Fires Everywhere. No there is no racism related stuff, but the tone of the this book matches. The balance of daily life being tipped and everything comes tumbling down in a sec.

Emira Tucker is a young black babysitter for Alix Chamberlain's eldest daughter, Briar. Emira likes her job but she is also tensed about her future. She doesn't know what she should do as a career, how to get a job which can cover her medical insurance. She is lost and does not know what to do.

Alix, on the other hand runs a blog, known in a circle of social media, mother of two with a newsreader husband. She on the other hand finds it difficult to manage so many duties and yet want to continue her blog work.

Their life starts to take a turn, when Emira is accused of kidnapping Briar at a grocery store. Even though the misunderstanding is resolved, Emira is shaken and a bystander has taken a video of the incident. Emira doesn't want the video to go online, she gets into a relationship with the man who took the video and after the incident Alix has started to take more interest in Emira.

A lot of twists and turns with relationships and so called "white liberals" who make life hard around. This was a concept new to me, I have not read on this topic and this was an eye-opener for me. Well written and a good read.


Thanks to NetGalley for ARC in exchange of honest review.
Happy Reading!!!

meet emira tucker — you’ll be rooting for her from the start. she’s a black, 25 year old trying to get her life together. she babysits part-time for the chamberlains, a rich white family in philadelphia.

after a family emergency, emira ends up at a grocery store with blair, the oldest chamberlain daughter, and gets accused of kidnapping. the whole ordeal ends up getting caught on tape and emira and mrs. chamberlains’ lives are forever changed from the events that unfold after.

i devoured this book. it’s easily one of the best debut novels i’ve read. it tackles so many complex issues like racism, classism, and cultural appropriation in an extremely readable, wild, and page-turning plot. the alternating POV between mrs. chamberlain and emira was so well executed and made certain points of the story even more cringe-worthy. i’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

thanks to netgalley and putnam for the free digital review copy.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Random House for the copy of this ebook in exchange for a review.
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Such a Fun Age is freaking magic. I needed it so much - Kiley Reid’s breezy writing and superbly crafted characters - that I read it on my phone so I could peak it at it at all times.
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I think the magic of the book is its simplicity - at its heart this is a story about race and class - as well as its complexities - it’s so much more than race and class and intricately weaves those themes into a story of love, friendship, parenting, childcare, and childhood. The story feels classic and so NOW and of the moment. I feel it could speak to anyone but it spoke directly to me.
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Summary: Alix is a wealthy white mother of two and Emira is the young black babysitter who cares for Alix’s toddler. The book’s plot is driven by an incident early on in which, after a late night family emergency Emira takes Alix’s child to a grocery store to get her out of the house she is stopped unfairly by a security guard and not permitted to leave as it is believed she may be kidnapping the child. The prejudice is palpable and the event goes a long way to fuel the plot progression.
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I really loved the ways in which the plot demonstrates these casual, commonplace micro (and some macro) aggressions. While not ending in violence or blatant overt racism, they are effective in demonstrating the truly pervasive nature of racism. There were moments that inspired rage and sadness but a lot that inspired cringe faces and eye rolling. All moments led me to think more and deeply about my racial and socioeconomic privileges and the ways I operate in the world as white woman, a mother, etc.
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This book was, from start to finish, a full blown delight. I love these characters (even though some are super problematic) and want to keep going with them. I love this book and recommend it to everyone. 5 stars easily.

I feel like this was one of my most anticipated books to start the new year so when I found myself with some time after Christmas, it was the first book I picked up. I can absolutely see why Reese Witherspoon chose this for her January book club pick and why everyone seems to be talking about this book.

The novel grabs you right from the beginning when Emira, called in late at night to help the family she babysits for, gets confronted in a very Caucasian grocery store and accused of kidnapping the little white girl she is with. The story quietly unfolds from there. I loved that racism was at the core of this story but it was almost hidden behind a thin gauze and never outright examined. It's there, it exists in all of our lives but what does it REALLY look like. The author utilized dual POV throughout the story, letting us view the events and relationships through Emira's black lens and Alix's white lens. Honestly the best and most heartbreaking relationship in this book was that of Emira and Briar. It really brought full circle the examination of the role of race in our relationships and what baggage we bring with us into them.

I will definitely recommend this book to people. It was thoughtful and deep but still an exciting page turner. I love when fiction is deep without sacrificing the genuine enjoyment of the reader.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The author did a great job highlighting race relations in the story but I had a hard time identifying with the characters. Elmira’s relationship with her three year old charge was the heart of the story. Maybe the personalities of the others in the book were needed for the author to relay the story but they fell flat for me. That being said, this was still a powerful book and a great debut novel.
#SuchAFunAge #NetGalley

I enjoyed so much about this book. Emira, a young 20-something who lands a job as a nanny to a smart, precocious little girl, is trying to figure out her career path in life. Her new boss, Alix, begins to see Emira as somewhat of a lost soul who needs a savior, and Emira’s new relationship is with a man who may or may not have some sort of fetish for black women. The book is interesting and kept me reading.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid.

Emira is at a crossroads in her young adult life. She loves being a nanny to her sweet young charge Briar, but she doesn't know how much longer she wants to babysit for a living. But these feelings are quickly intensified when, after being called in late one night for a family emergency, Emira is questioned by a grocery store security guard about the legitimacy of Briar actually being under her care. It's late, Emira was at a friend's party, so she was dressed as such, and the real kicker, Emira is black and Briar is white.

This. Book. I can totally see how it ended up getting so much publicity before even hitting the shelves. I got a lot out of it, and learned at how much harm a "well intended white person" can cause, especially if they are acting in their own self interest. Modern day racism looks much different and done more micro-aggressively than what we read about in our history books. I highly recommend this!

This book was completely unexpected, in the best way.

As a 32 year old white woman, I have only ever experienced life through my own white eyes. But what I love about books is that they open our eyes to the experiences of others.

Kiley Reid’s debut novel, Such a Fun Age, introduces Emira, a young black babysitter for a wealthy white family. She supplements her income with a second job, but it’s her relationship with the precocious Briar Chamberlain that brings Emira joy.

An altercation with a grocery store security guard, filmed by a well-meaning bystander, is a pivotal moment, early in the book, which shows exactly how difficult it can be to be black in America. But it isn’t the only example of racism in the book—simply the most obvious. Reid also highlights many common micro-aggressions faced by people of color, even at the hands of well-meaning, “open minded” individuals.

What I loved about the story is that none of the characters is wholly good or wholly bad. To have such one-dimensional characters would cheapen the narrative. Instead, Emira, her employer Alix, and her very white boyfriend, Kelly, are all fleshed out characters, with both blind spots and good intentions. They’re, in a word, human. The colorful cast of secondary characters create additional depth to the story.

I also appreciated that the story wasn’t tied up neatly with a bow at the end—that, too, is just like life.

My second read of 2020 was definitely a strong ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Thank you to @netgalley for my e-ARC I’m exchange for my honest review.

This book was really really well done. It mixes deep issues such as race and privilege into a book that is laugh out loud funny at times. I flew through the audiobook last month and keep thinking about it. Just how genius Kiley Reid is to write such a fun book that centers around issues people often have a hard time talking about. I feel like I haven’t been able to put into words lately on why to read some really good books. My brain just can’t get around how good it was too formulate why it was so great. So just take my word for it and start you year off right by reading this one! ⁣

Such A Fun Age was an interesting read. There's a lot packed into this book -- coming of age, friendships, family relationships as well as race and privilege.

I was expecting an insightful look at these topics in the same vein as The Hate U Give. However, for me, this book was a disappointment. The characters were underdeveloped and stereotypical; the dialogue was horrible -- often stilted even though it was intended to be conversational and in some case just plain unrealistic. Everyone's motivations are questionable. So, instead of rooting for any of these characters, I found myself turned off by all of them.

It was a great premise that was poorly executed. Maybe my expectations were too high for this debut book.

This book is amazing. Great commentary on race and class, and in some ways age as well. Perfect way to start 2020.

I shared this story as being a hilarious read… which it is if you have a “laugh at my pain,” “now, I can look back and laugh at it” outlook on the micro and macro and physical racial aggressions Black women feel in the workplace.

The story begins with an altercation in which the main character, Emira, is called in the middle of the night, while she is at the club with her friends, to go back to work and take the child she is caring for out of their house because her white boss is dealing with the “racial tension” of his words as a news broadcaster in Philly… chiiiiile! This sends us on a spiral of Emira caught up in many white folks’ dark twisted fantasies of their wildest racist dreams and trying to one-up other white folks (and folks dealing with internalized racism) as being the least racist.

I recently read an NYT interview with the author, and Reid highlights how late-stage capitalism has us all acting strangely for some change. Every type of racism, as well as the concept of ownership and all types of ownership, and how they are intersected with capitalism are highlighted as themes in this novel. However, the dialogue between the friends is real as hell, and the interactions and interior lives of the characters are detailed to the T.

I recommend this read for interracial book clubs and those in interracial relationships of all kinds. Reid inadvertently asks readers to examine their actions and thoughts as they relate to the interior decisions we make in our lives and how our race and socioeconomic status intersect to inform our decisions.

Seeing the title available for review and knowing that it was a Reese’s Book Club pick, I could not resist downloading it and I’m so very glad that I did. I could not put this book down. This is one of those stories that make you cringe, grind your teeth, scream at the characters and KEEP. TURNING. THE PAGES. The story follows Emira, a recent grad struggling to figure out what she wants to do with her life, and Alix, a mom and business owner trying to figure out where to go from here. Emira takes a job as a babysitter for Alix’s toddler, Briar to supplement her already part-time role working for the Green Party. The conflict begins when Emira is stopped in a grocery store by a security guard assuming Emira has taken the child. Oh, if this was the last source of conflict that Emira, Alix and Briar endure. The story revolves around the reality and real-life implications of racism and how it is ingrained in how we navigate situations in life. The things we think, do and say without thinking, how engrained some behaviors and beliefs are and how we have a propensity as a society to assume the worst about others and the best about our own intentions. I could not put this book down and it cost me a few hours of sleep, but was well worth it. Emira is our heroine and I enjoyed getting to know her (as much as she lets us) and rooting for her to prevail. If you can get your hands on this book, you are definitely going to want to do so. It will be a high profile book and although most celebrity book clubs get a selection wrong every once in awhile, this one is a winner! It’s the debut novel for Kiley Reid and I’m thrilled to see where she goes next. Loved this book!

This was such a good book. The writing was so enjoyable and the story line unique. I used to babysit a LOT and I know have two toddlers and use babysitters so I thought the babysitter relationship aspect of the story was very interesting.

Such a Fun Age is a story about two women, Emira, a 25 year old African American who seems a little bit lost with what she wants to do but doesn't seem too bothered by it and Alix, a 30-something mom of two who has become a semi-famous blogger. The struggle each women faced was so relatable to me. Emira is a babysitter for Alix and working two jobs to make ends meet. The plot begins when Alix calls in the middle of the night for Emira to come pick her child up while they deal with the police after a disturbance at their home. When Emira, who was dressed for a fun night out, picks the daughter up and takes her to a nearby supermarket, she is accused of stealing the girl.

This book seems like a light read because of the enjoyable writing style but that's not the case as it deals a lot with race issues. I thought the author handled the race issues very respectfully, without being preachy and it really makes you think. I think this is a good book for all to read and I really enjoyed it.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I am blown away. This book is absolutely amazing. It has absolutely everything and addresses so many important issues and is written in such an exquisite matter.
Alix is a New York City girl who is relocated to Philadelphia with her two small daughters for her husband’s job. There she hires Emira to babysit her children. After an incident of racial discrimination occurs, Alix is horrified and becomes borderline obsessed with helping Emira and finding out more about her. The book has so many amazing characters and switches the point of view beautifully. This is hands down a five star book for me and I cannot say enough good things about it. I will be recommending it to all of my friends and family and to all of my book clubs. Thanks once again to NetGalley.

Grateful for the opportunity to read this book. This book got A LOT of hype, but I feel it was warranted. I love the exploration of race, as well as the nanny dynamic. Very interesting and eye-opening read that I will be recommending to many!

Happy Pub Week to Such a Fun Age by @kileyreid

Thank you to @Putnambooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this one which is out now!

Wow guys wow! This is a must read for 2020!! I knew from the first chapter that this one would be important but I had no idea the impact it would have on me by the final pages.

This story is told from the perspectives of Alix and Emira. Alix is a successful blogger married to an anchorman and mother of two daughters. Emira is a 25-year old black woman who is hired as Alixs babysitter. In the opening chapter there is a scene in a grocery story that sets this story in motion.

This is so much more than race, privilege, and growing up in your 20s. This book was so complex and powerful and I feel honored to have read it. These characters are so relatable especially Edmira! They have moments you praise and moments of flaw and that is how you know you have a work of greatness!

Thank you Kiley Reid for the perfect book to end 2019!

What book are you starting 2020 with?

#bookstagram #arc #pubweek

Loved this book. It has racial and economical issues between relationships that don’t get publicized often. If you are not in that situation you don’t think about. Loved Emira’s desire for success even though she was in a career that was beneficial for her emotionally. And it’s a book with a sock it to me ending!

This book was unexpected. But wonderful. Kiley Reid write this story so well. It’s hard to believe that this is her debut novel. I just loved the relationship that Emira and Briar had. Alix frustrated me so much but it was okay. I also just wish things would ended differently between Emira and Kelley. If you haven’t read this, do so ASAP!