Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Star rating: 4.5/5

Kiley Reid's debut novel is a striking story about racism and privilege. 

Summary:

Emira is the babysitter of three-year-old Briar Chamberlain. Emira and Briar are at the grocery store one night when Emira, who is black, is accused of kidnapping Briar, who is white. The incident was filmed by a white bystander named Kelley, and while Emira doesn't want the footage shared, she and Kelley begin a relationship. All of this happened the same day that Mr. Chamberlain said something racist on television and is receiving backlash, and Mrs. Chamberlain sees the incident with Emira as an opportunity to grow closer to her and prove how "not racist" she is. To complicate matters, Kelley turns out to know Mrs. Chamberlain from high school. Both believe the other to be racist, both claim to want what's best for Emira, but both seem to be using her for their own selfish benefit. Such A Fun Age takes a unique perspective on racism, black fetishism, and white privilege. 

Review:

This book is an absolutely stunning debut novel. Reid was able to portray the deep complexities of racism and microaggressions in ways that I have never read before. What I loved about this story is that it is COMPLICATED. I was conflicted the entire way through on how I felt about both Alix Chamberlain and Kelley. What struck me the most is how much Alix played herself as a victim, that I as the reader could see clearly that Alix really believed that she was the victim in all of these things that had happened to her, and that she was an absolute saint for trying to "help" Emira. White saviorism at its finest! This book stirred up so much anger for me. 

The only thing that detracts half a star for me is that I really don't feel like I got a solid sense of who Emira was outside of being a babysitter. Her whole character seemed to be constructed around how much she loved and adored Briar, and I think that does say a lot about her, but I needed more to feel like I could connect with her. Part of the point may have been that Emira was clearly still trying to figure out who she is and what she wanted in life herself, but I still feel like there could have been some deeper character development there. (Honestly, I feel like I saw more personality from her best friends.) If you enjoyed  books such as An American Marriage and Little Fires Everywhere, I highly recommend this one!