‘Such a Fun Age’ by Kiley Reid: A Refreshing Read

I recently started reading ‘Such a Fun Age’ by Kiley Reid, and it was such a fantastic, refreshing read that I finished it in a matter of days.

In this blog post, I’ve put together all my thoughts on ‘Such a Fun Age’ by Kiley Reid, including a plot summary for anyone who wants to try out this book!

‘Such a Fun Age’ plot summary

‘Such a Fun Age’ follows the story of Emira, a young black woman living in Philadelphia, and working for a rich white family as their nanny.

Emira is 25, broke, and finds herself loving the child she looks after – despite finding Mr and Mrs Chamberlain a lot to handle.

She isn’t really sure what she wants to do with her life, and she feels a bit lost about her career.

The book also follows Alix Chamberlain, Emira’s boss. She has recently made the move to Philadelphia and she struggles to fit in after loving her busy, workaholic life in New York.

She is obsessed with how things appear to others, running a feminist blog and social media channels- and even writing a book about how she requests items from well-known companies in exchange for promotion.

As a blogger myself, I found it interesting (and a little unbelievable) how she managed to score such amazing product collaborations.

I loved watching as she grew from a small blogger into a panel guest, feminist writer and famous social media presence.

I thought that Alix’s character was going to be relatable, but to be honest, her narration soon became very manipulative, particularly as she became more involved with the life of her nanny.

After an incident in a local grocery store, Alix slowly becomes obsessed with Emira- to the point where it becomes very uncomfortable.

Alix wants to be in Emira’s life and she becomes obsessed with everything that she’s doing, who she’s dating and how she lives her life. She tries to prove to Emira that she is not the “typical” rich white woman- and in doing so, goes to crazy lengths to keep up appearances.

Emira starts a relationship with an older white man early in the book, and he also acts a little strange about Emira’s race.

He encourages Emira to fight battles that she doesn’t want to, and his obsession with race, like Alix, comes across as strange and creepy.

It seems by viewing Emira as “different” both these characters create her into something she’s not. Whether it’s a fetish, an obsession with looking good or just curiosity, it brings up some very uncomfortable but insightful questions about otherness and the experience of people of colour in America.

The obsession of Kelley and Alix with race is very striking in this book.

Alix is obsessed with making Emira’s life better somehow, and she wants to be friends with her to the point of pure obsession. Alix’s friends also try to make Emira’s life “better”- thinking that because they have more money, or even because they are white, they know better than Emira.

An image of the author Kiley Reid next to the book cover for her novel 'Such a Fun Age'
Picture credits here

My thoughts on ‘Such a Fun Age’ by Kiley Reid

I loved this book. It was easy to read, refreshing and fast-paced, but it also managed to effectively tackle some very insightful questions about race that I’ve not seen in other fiction.

I thought the different dynamics between the characters were very interesting.

In the book, Alix’s rich friends want to “improve” Emira in a way that is patronising. One of these friends is a rich, middle-class black woman- and she is incredibly condescending towards Emira.

It seems that as well as the issue of race, Reid also wants to show the class issues at play, with Emira struggling financially throughout the book.

The dynamic between Emira and her boyfriend Kelley was also illuminating, and Kelley’s obsession with “doing the right thing” shows his ignorance and inability to listen to what Emira actually needs.

Yes, the incident at the grocery store is wrong- but it is Emira’s choice whether she fights it or not.

Kelley and Alix have a history, too, and so the dynamic between these characters is also an interesting element. Both characters see each other as “wrong” and “right” and I loved considering the complex moral questions that run throughout this book.

In some ways, Alix acts as if people of colour are just people that white people, such as Kelley, want to outsmart and use, even though she is doing the exact same thing by being so over-protective and possessive of Emira.

This book was completely unique, highlighting important issues of otherness, class hierarchy and racial prejudice.

‘Such a Fun Age’ was a refreshing read and I absolutely loved Emira’s narration. It was honest, well-written and funny in places. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a refreshing read with very modern, realistic characters.

There were times when I felt very uncomfortable, times when I laughed out loud and times when I couldn’t believe what Emira had to go through every day.

Have you read ‘Such a Fun Age’ by Kiley Reid? Do you want to read this refreshing book? What is your favourite read at the moment?

Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

Happy reading x

60 thoughts

  1. At first this book didn’t seem that interesting, but once the racial element came into it and how Emira was trying to get her to fight battles that she doesn’t want to, got me intrigued. I now what to know what these fights are

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  6. I think it would be fun to read a story with a character who runs a blog. Would be interesting to see how that is portrayed by the author. I don’t think I’ve read anything with that angle before. This sounds like an interesting read with the story lines you’ve mentioned too!

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  10. Sounds like a really good book! Definitely one I could see myself reading. I like the sound of the friendship dynamics and the interracial relationship, would be very intrigued to see how it’s written. Think I’ll be adding this to my TBR pile.

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  15. I heard a lot of great reviews about this book, but it sounds even more interesting now! I didn’t know it would be such a refreshing read and love it when characters are realistic! Thanks for sharing x

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  22. I have seen this book everywhere & thank you for this detailed review –it sparked my interest in reading this! x

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  23. I love books about influencers with strong female characters so I’lll be sure to check this book out. Thanks for sharing!

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  27. A good book is when you can finish it in least days. I’ve seen lots of movies on black tales with whites that the comparison can’t be overlooked in them. Same seems in the book. And they even have a history? That’s a lot. It seems a great book. I’ll check kn it. Thanks for recommending. Xx
    Isa A. Blogger
    https://www.lifestyleprism.com/

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