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Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

45 reviews

lectora21's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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seawarrior's review against another edition

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reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a gripping novel, with a poignant final paragraph. Emira's perspective drew me in immediately, she's still finding her way and doesn't fully see herself as a "real" adult, but still manages to possess more wisdom and self-respect than the older characters attempting to mold her do. Emira is a perfect foil to Alix in many ways, she's not invasively interested with the private life of others, nor does she have interest in using people to create more status for herself. Most importantly, she doesn't obsess over these things and herself to the extent that they trump her dedication to raising Briar, as Alix does. Tragically, Emira seems to have more affection for Briar than Alix, and is quicker to notice when Briar is upset or overwhelmed. I felt this created a really interesting and sad dynamic; Emira knows that her life will improve once she quits babysitting Briar, but finds it so difficult to leave that she's nearly willing to sacrifice her own self-interests, while self-interest is nearly all Alix focuses on, to the detriment of Briar and Emira. 

While Emira and Alix are opposites, Alix and Kelley are eerily similar to each other. The pair both seemed to think of themselves as Emira's savior in a way, though Emira never asked for their help or wanted it. They both exploit Emira's presence in their lives to bolster their own self-esteem and sense of righteousness, and both do so in ways that insidiously seem loving at first glance, and are only brought to light by understanding the context of their past exploitation of Black people. I was relieved that by the end of the book,
Emira accepted that Alix and Kelley were both right about the worst parts of each other, but that she owed nothing to either of them. Going forward, Emira finds her way by trusting her instincts and the people who love and admire her even when she doesn't serve as a symbol to prove their goodness.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. It was a very entertaining and engaging read and provided social commentary on race and class without overly traumatizing the Black protagonist who led the story. 
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megannoelle's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

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sierranorgan's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A simple story with some many deeper undertones. I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved it! The way it was written made it a perfect transition to an audiobook! 
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mayapants23's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jonbrady's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

Such a Fun Age is a proper page-turner about modern millennial living, privilege, white saviours and black fetishists and the kinds of micro-aggressions that permeate our lives. 

Emira Tucker, down-on-her-luck Black twentysomething, takes a babysitting job for women-empowering blogger Alix Chamberlain - who sees herself, her upmarket home and her Cody family as the life-changing opportunity Emira has been waiting for. But when Emira is racially profiled in a supermarket and the incident is caught on camera, what flares up between the pair reveals much about both and how their race has dictated their lives and the struggles they face.

Kiley Reid’s debut has much to say about the modern power dynamics between Black people and white people, particularly the white people who are seen to make the grandest efforts and gestures to be “anti-racist”. Some of the bit parts aren’t as fleshed out as they could be, and the closing scenes perhaps amp up the conflict a little more than expected, but this is a great study that asks why, so often, Black people are characterised only by what they do for those with white skin. 
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alisazhup's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I agree with other reviewers that the ending was underwhelming (all the discussions the book opened were abruptly sealed), but up until the last 10 or so pages, I was extremely impressed by the complex character dynamics. I loved this.
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strudel_doodle's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I'll be honest: I really don't know what the point of this book was. I'm pretty sure it was to highlight the struggles that the young black protagonist faced during her post-college years, but the book as a whole really did nothing for me. 

As a long-time former babysitter, I can relate to some of the situations Emira found herself in, mostly regarding how much she loved the children she worked with, and honestly also how she sometimes judged the parents who seemed less-than-interested in their own children. Conversely, while I was mistaken for the mother of the children I cared for on more than one occasion, I cannot relate to the situation Emira found herself in at the market, where she was mistaken for kidnapping a child who didn't belong to her, rather than being her caregiver. 

I also didn't really see the need for Kelly's character throughout the book. While I understand that it created a common link between Emira and Alix since he dated them both (not at the same time), it just seemed to me that it was another level of unnecessary drama. I didn't feel that he really contributed anything to the book that we couldn't have gotten from other characters instead.

Alix's character was disgustingly self-centered and filled with white privilege, not to mention systemic racism. Everything she did was with her own self-interest in mind, no matter how she tried to convince herself (and others) that she was looking out for others (usually Emira, who she seemed to view as a charity case more than anything else). She just really infuriated me.

It was heartbreaking for me to read about Emira having to leave the Chamberlain family - especially sweet, innocent little Briar. I have dealt with this personally on multiple occasions, especially having to face the knowledge that someday soon the child(ren) won't remember you, and yet you will always love them. This, for me, was always one of the hardest parts of parting ways with a family I worked for. This is really the only part of the book I truly resonated with.

Overall, I just didn't care much for this book. While I can see the importance of telling stories of BIPOC and some of the everyday struggles they face (in this case, racial profiling and stereotyping), I don't think this was the story to do that. The plot was noticeably lacking and seemed to kind of jump from one place to the next, and the characters were not fleshed out enough. 
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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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