Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What a light yet intense story. Couldn't put it down! The author did a great job building up the characters. It was hard to tell who was on Emira's side till the end, which kept it interesting for sure.
I feel weird rating this book, because there’s nothing wrong with it exactly, but it was not my cup of tea! If you like reading about meandering and messy interpersonal relationships this book might be for you. Definitely an interesting perspective on race, and well written, but every time I read a “literary” type book I’m reminded that it’s just not a genre I usually find compelling.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Second Wednesday Book Club February 2025 read
Long Story Short: Emira Tucker is babysitting for an affluent white couple when she is accused of kidnapping, and the whole ordeal is recorded by a random stranger. The mother of the children, Alix Chamberlain, becomes infatuated with Emira and vows to help her, whether Emira likes it or not.
It's admittedly been a while since I finished this, but my overall impression is that Such a Fun Age is forgettable. You could call it Such a Good Premise, because it really has so much potential but ultimately falls flat. The only thing that saved my rating was the front cover's mention of satire - the characters and situations are way too stereotypical for this to be anything someone could take seriously. Harsh criticism aside, I loved Briar and Emira's relationship and the Thanksgiving scene was very funny.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Craft: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Long Story Short: Emira Tucker is babysitting for an affluent white couple when she is accused of kidnapping, and the whole ordeal is recorded by a random stranger. The mother of the children, Alix Chamberlain, becomes infatuated with Emira and vows to help her, whether Emira likes it or not.
It's admittedly been a while since I finished this, but my overall impression is that Such a Fun Age is forgettable. You could call it Such a Good Premise, because it really has so much potential but ultimately falls flat. The only thing that saved my rating was the front cover's mention of satire - the characters and situations are way too stereotypical for this to be anything someone could take seriously. Harsh criticism aside, I loved Briar and Emira's relationship and the Thanksgiving scene was very funny.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Craft: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Would have been a 4 stars except the ending fell apart for me. It had a lot of potential but just didn’t quite make it. That said it was compelling enough that I listened to the audiobook in less than 24 hours. Definitely a page turner.
One complaint, and I realize this may have been very intentional, was that all of the characters seemed very tropey and lacked nuance. Similar to my complaints about the characters in “Little Fires Everywhere” each character seemed to reflect or was supposed to reflect one stereotype and therefore made it hard to like anyone of them (except for when Emira is with Briar which is where her character really felt authentic). Also, I know what Kelly was suppose to represent but i felt we were supposed to jump to conclusions about him (based on the words of a very untrustworthy source) without the story backing it up. As such, the little blip about him at the end (which is supposed to confirm that the source was correct) just didn’t work for me.
In the end the story itself is very compelling. The characters were not, in my opinion, but I do judge harshly stories where the characters lack nuance, so take that for what’s its worth. I will say the level of frustration I have about the ending probably reveals how invested I was in the story, so that is a credit to Kiley Reid’s writing. I still stand by the fact that it is an absolute (stay up an extra two hours) page turner.
One complaint, and I realize this may have been very intentional, was that all of the characters seemed very tropey and lacked nuance. Similar to my complaints about the characters in “Little Fires Everywhere” each character seemed to reflect or was supposed to reflect one stereotype and therefore made it hard to like anyone of them (except for when Emira is with Briar which is where her character really felt authentic). Also, I know what Kelly was suppose to represent but i felt we were supposed to jump to conclusions about him (based on the words of a very untrustworthy source) without the story backing it up. As such, the little blip about him at the end (which is supposed to confirm that the source was correct) just didn’t work for me.
In the end the story itself is very compelling. The characters were not, in my opinion, but I do judge harshly stories where the characters lack nuance, so take that for what’s its worth. I will say the level of frustration I have about the ending probably reveals how invested I was in the story, so that is a credit to Kiley Reid’s writing. I still stand by the fact that it is an absolute (stay up an extra two hours) page turner.
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes