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Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid Book Review


Reasons for Reading This Book:

One of my requests for things I wanted to do on my birthday this year was go to thrift stores. The result of my thrift store adventure on my birthday was the purchasing of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, The Body Book by Cameron Diaz, and Such a Fun Age my Kiley Reid. I am pretty proud of these thrift finds as they were all hardcover books, on my book list, and I got them for $3.46 because it was blue tag day. This book was on my book list because I constantly see it on my Instagram explore page from other book Instagram accounts. As I have mentioned in some of my reason book reviews this year I made a list of topics that I want to read about. One of the topics is racism. The first book I read this year on the topic of race was Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I knew that Such a Fun Age was also centered around the issue of race but in a different way than Homegoing. When I had the opportunity to buy this book secondhand I knew I was meant to read it. 

Content of This Book: 

Alix Chamberlain is a successful confidence-based business woman who makes her living by teaching her tips to other women. After a series of unfortunate events Emira Tucker, her babysitter, ends up in the local grocery store late at night with Alix's toddler daughter. The store's security guard accuses the twenty-five year old babysitter of kidnapping the toddler. The event attracts the attention of others in the store and leads to one filming the interaction. Emira is furious and humiliated by the whole event. Alix is determined to make things right. Emira is broke, lost on what she wants to do with her life and about to lose her health insurance. The video from the grocery store is released and it brings people and events from Alix's past into present time. The women find themselves on a path that will upend everything they think they know about themselves and each other. This book provides perspective on transactional relationships, the definition of family, and what its like to grow up. 

Themes: 

Transactional relationships, privilege, the challenges of growing up, the past always comes to light

What I Liked About This Book:

The author made the right choice by having the story told from both Alix and Emira's point of view. The author's writing effortlessly flowed from one point of view to the other. I liked how easy this book was to read. It did not take too much brain power or concentration to read this book. Every now and then you need to read a book like that. The author casually brought to light a number of issues faced by the characters. The way the characters dealt and talked about these issues were extremely relatable and I could very easily picture them happening. As someone who is both a aunt to two nieces and was a babysitter (not nanny) to two boys for a number of years, I totally related to Emira's love for Briar and her willing to do anything for her. I liked how this book felt like I was being told a story directly from the two characters. The author's descriptions were spot on and allowed me to picture in my mind what was happening and even what the characters were wearing. I can see why this book is so widely talked about because the contrast between the two characters allows the reader to relate more to one than the other depending if they are a mother or not. This book discussed the issue of race and privilege in an easy to digest and comprehensive way through social issues and the character's experiences. I personally could not put this book down and was sucked in from page one. I liked that the characters worked through problems in their head and the author included this in their chapters. This not only developed the characters but was relatable as this is what most of us do when we are trying to work through a problem.

What I Disliked About This Book:

There is not much I disliked about this book. My only real complaint is that at times Alix's thoughts were repetitive. I get that this is something that we do as humans, repeat thoughts and actions over and over in our head, but at times I asked myself why are we still talking about this. My next complaint is that the introductions of Alix friends was so quick and with so much detail that I became confused and overwhelmed by all the new characters and information that it took me almost the whole book to truly know who was who. The same can be said for Emira's friends. In conclusion sometimes the author spewed so much new information at the read at once that it was hard to digest and fully comprehend. 

Would I Recommend This Book?

Hands down I would recommend this book. I believe that I was meant to find this book at the thrift store. I truly enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait to pass on my copy to my friends. As someone who mostly reads ebooks I am so glad that I have this book in my collection so I can share it with friends and family because without a doubt this book is worth the read. I say get your self a copy!! Five stars all around!!

Check out my book reviews for 2021!!


Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!

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