Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

Thank you to Libro.fm and Penguin Audio for the advance audiobook copy of Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid, which came out today.

This is the author’s first novel, which surprised me because the writing was so polished, and the dialogue was so wonderful.

While the themes in this book (race, privilege etc.) are heavy by nature, they are addressed in such a readable way that they prompt you to think hard about them, but don’t stop you from turning the pages with abandon. I also found the main character, Emira Tucker extremely relatable and likeable.

The audiobook was narrated by Nicole Lewis, who did a superb job with all of the characters and the pacing of the story! You can grab your own copy of the audiobook (while supporting local brick-and-mortar bookstores) by clicking the button below. Or you can grab a physical copy here.

Synopsis:

A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. A mother to two small girls, she started out as a blogger and has quickly built herself into a confidence-driven brand. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make it right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Ageexplores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” the complicated reality of being a grown up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.