Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid is a must for reading groups, we joined in on this book club gem and read it with a group of friends. It lead to an exciting and fun discussion. The story provokes a few questions and it was interesting to see everyone’s thoughts and insight into the story.

This just might be the perfect one right now to find some friends and connect online to discuss this one. I know a group you could read it in!!! lol

For us here we had some different thoughts here that affected our overall enjoyment to the story. We could really see the different types of readers come out while reading this one and in our reviews. So on to our reviews.

Brenda’s review

The story starts with an exchange caught on video between our main character Emira and a security guard in a grocery store. This could have of went in a familiar way to exploring racism and the number of viral incidents, however, things that a fresh, more interesting direction than I expected.

Kiley Reid takes a simpler, enjoyable, entertaining yet still thought-provoking approach here and explores the other side, not everyone wants to be seen. Emira doesn’t want the video on social media, and what she as her own person not as a black woman wants out of life is explored in the story.

The dynamics between the characters are insightful and also refreshing as Kiley Reid explores the ownership the characters feel over Emira as a black woman. She skillfully weaves this in while exploring privilege, race, employee/employer dynamics, motherhood, and friendship. I enjoyed the dynamics between Emira and Briar, who she babysits but felt something was missing there. I wanted to feel that Emira’s role with Briar was more important than I did.

The biggest question I had and we had a few different answers in our discussion was, “What age was such a fun age?” and What is the title referring to?

Norma’s review

Thought-provoking, powerful, and absorbing!

SUCH A FUN AGE by KILEY REID was a book that I was extremely excited to receive and I am happy to say that I was just as excited about it after finishing the book. This was such a surprisingly great debut that starts off with quite the opening scene and then mellows out a little bit where the mood switches to being a light, easy-breezy story but to be totally honest it was nothing but. It was such a complex and layered story that was packed full of heart.

KILEY REID delivers a clever, captivating, and intriguing story here that is told in an empathetic and sincere voice that really makes the reader think. The narrative was fun and satirical and never once did I feel like it was intended to be any other way. I didn’t feel that the author was making us feel a certain way she was allowing us to feel it all on our own and come to our own interpretations of how we would react if we were put in the same scenarios as they were. I was definitely putting myself in these characters shoes and examining my own feelings. This book definitely made me think!

I wouldn’t necessarily say that I really connected or liked any of these characters, except for maybe little Briar. She definitely stole the show. It was the story in a whole that definitely made this such a great read for me!

Lindsay’s review

 An easy read that lacked the emotional connection and powerful punch that I had expected.

This book is all the buzz lately. I couldn’t wait to dig in and see what all the hype was about. I’m not sure if the overhyping is what made me feel like I was missing something or this simply wasn’t a powerful book for me. Yes, there are some very heavy topics covered within these pages, but the way they are presented didn’t impact or resonate with me.

From start to finish the narrative made me feel distanced from the characters and storyline. I never felt completely immersed in their lives. It was like I was being told this story without being given the opportunity to truly experience it. Often times the dialogue felt awkward and somewhat forced which further distanced me from the characters. I didn’t like the way the changing perspectives overlapped – it often felt choppy and lacked flow.

Overall, it was an easy, quick read, but not one that lived up to my expectations.