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A review by nahret
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
4.0
Oh, where to begin... It's been a wild ride. This book is about the kind of racism that might look like it's "not so bad", but in the end, it's still racism.
Emira is a black woman in her twenties who babysits at a white woman's house. Alix is the kind of white woman we know from the left side of the political spectrum: she determinedly, painfully, embarrassingly, tries to be woke. In this fashion, Emira becomes a status symbol of Alix being the right kind of white person. Who, coincidentally, can also tell who all the wrong kind of white people are.
The story did an excellent job of keeping my feelings around Alix ambiguous. Did I like her? Not really. But she tries so hard! Yes, desperately hard. That's the entire problem, of course. Emira is in the position all of us (PoC, and especially WoC) find ourselves, where we have to manage the feelings and egos of the white people around us. The book drives home how white poeple view Emira not as an individual, but as the representative of her demographic, with all the symbolism and pathos that goes with that.
Now, the book treats all of these topics with the necessary gravity, but also with a lot of humour. All of the characters are really well-drawn and feel substantial. Special shout-out to the author for her ability to generate a child character I actively liked. As the reader, you also get to roll your eyes a lot, for all the reasons that feel good. So, highly recommended!
Emira is a black woman in her twenties who babysits at a white woman's house. Alix is the kind of white woman we know from the left side of the political spectrum: she determinedly, painfully, embarrassingly, tries to be woke. In this fashion, Emira becomes a status symbol of Alix being the right kind of white person. Who, coincidentally, can also tell who all the wrong kind of white people are.
The story did an excellent job of keeping my feelings around Alix ambiguous. Did I like her? Not really. But she tries so hard! Yes, desperately hard. That's the entire problem, of course. Emira is in the position all of us (PoC, and especially WoC) find ourselves, where we have to manage the feelings and egos of the white people around us. The book drives home how white poeple view Emira not as an individual, but as the representative of her demographic, with all the symbolism and pathos that goes with that.
Now, the book treats all of these topics with the necessary gravity, but also with a lot of humour. All of the characters are really well-drawn and feel substantial. Special shout-out to the author for her ability to generate a child character I actively liked. As the reader, you also get to roll your eyes a lot, for all the reasons that feel good. So, highly recommended!